Emperor's Reckoning

He is just a youngster...

The words were crippling Hezar's mind as he took a step back. They were echoing. Craving to destroy his soul.

He was a famous commander. His reputation was not built in a day. He had faced numerous life and death situations. He might not be as capable as the Elite Five of the Pala Kingdom, but he himself was a self-made man. In the cruel world of cultivation, he schemed, pried, seduced, and coerced his way to the top. Virtually he was an accomplished man, many feared him and many respected him.

However, compared to the youngster in front of him, he suddenly felt inadequate. He couldn't explain in which aspect the youngster excelled over him.

"You think that you alone can kill me? Torga?!" said Hezar as he shouted his lung away. His heart was thumping. Id only he could see himself in the mirror, he wouldn't say those words aloud. It was nothing but a threat from a scared rabbit.

"If you are fighting against one of my generals, you won't even get to speak," said Lyon as he smirked.

"Heh, such big words," said Hezar as he smiled despite cold sweat drenching his face down. "Do you see something familiar in my hand?"

"Hmm?" Lyon raised his eyebrows as Hezar showed his Returning Jade Stone.

"Oh crap!" said Lyon but his eyes were indifferent.

"Kh! You!" Hezar was not amused by Lyon's sarcastic expression. He could very well see the blatant insult.

Lyon let out a sigh, "This is pathetic, I thought you would have some backbone and fight back, but you are planning for your escape without giving it a second thought. However, the saddest part is, you know yourself, that Returning Jade Stone won't save you, else you would have crushed it by now."

Hezar gritted his teeth. He was right. It was nothing but a futile attempt to buy time for his life.

"Why!?" he cried. His eyes were bloodshot. Everything was in ruin. His fame, his career, his honor, and his reputation. He had not lived a banal life, he had lived luxuriously under the rule of King Pala. However, the existence of some random youth from the Mortal World suddenly emerge and toppled it all down with a bang of an entrance.

Hezar did not wait until Lyon responded. The middle-aged man flared out his mana before advancing forward with every might that he could muster.

Their elbows crossed one another before nearby buildings crumbled by the shock result.

"Kh!" Hezar couldn't believe how strong the youngster was, but he was more irritated by the fact that Lyon was smirking as if he didn't feel the need to exert everything that he got.

"You thought I would buy your pathetic sympathy-inducing wail? If you get to be a commander in the Pala Kingdom then the kingdom must be a shitty one! Though, I would assume that you don't care about the kingdom anymore, am I right?" Lyon smirked.

"Shut your mouth brat!" shouted Hezar. "Let me show you the difference between a commander and a pampered noble! Ha!!!"

Hezar roared before his mana-burst sent Lyon away. The latter was pushed through buildings, destroying everything in his path.

(Chance!!) screamed Hezar inwardly before he quickly crushed the Returning Jade Stone. The bits of the chunk immediately let out jade mist before he let out a hearty laughter.

"It's my win!" said Hezar before he turned around and flee. His lips were pointing upward. He got to live for another day, he got to live for the second time. Patience was something that he was particularly excelled with. Though he won't be able to live luxuriously and had to stay low for a quite sum of a time, it was better than being buried underground lifeless.

"Hmm," Lyon was not amused as he lay on top of the rubbles. "It seems like I overestimate my own cultivation."

"Not necessarily," said Sun as he revealed himself sitting nearby. "Combining our blessings into one would garner you immense power if you could control it."

"But I did just fine when I was fighting that golem ghost thing," said Lyon as he crossed his legs.

"You have it within you, or at least the past you, to control this immense power. However, relying on your talent might not be enough. Everything has a drawback, grandson, your body might not hit the limit but your soul might and you need to cultivate it carefully," said Shen before he continued, "With some real combat training, you might get that sharpness back. Make your body instinctive as before."

"I see..." Lyon sat with his legs crossed. He didn't suffer any noticeable injury, even after being blasted off through several buildings.

"Nah, the catfish is bulshitting you," said Sun before he drank his drink from his gourd under the immense glare of the True Dragon.

"Just keep doing what you doing, you will get it eventually," muttered Sun. "Oh, looks like he is getting away."

He slowly stood up before his eyebrows narrowed. He caught a little glimpse of jade-green mist permeating out from his jade eyes. He shut his ears toward the husband and wife quarrel that Sun and Shen were having on the side.

The name on his back vehemently shone before he leaped forward and left a sonic boom.

"It's too late Lyon! Hahaha!" Hezar laughed to the sky before he felt his legs getting as light as the feather.

As his foot stepped on the ground, his entire clothes had been changed to a full set of armor. Four banners were fluttering behind his back and a magnificent headdress adorned his head. Four golden tails sprung from his tailbones and the speed of his second leaped far surpassed the first one.

A hint of a dragon roar was heard and shambled Hezar's soul in an instant before he immediately turned around to face his instinctive fear. There his eyes opened wide, his body was already encapsulated by the jade light but the sharp golden right eye and jade left eye brought froze his face.

Lyon's hand was reaching toward Hezar's neck but alas, he was too late. His hand grabbed nothing but air as the jade light shot toward the sky. Hezar had escaped a narrow death.

"Tch!" Lyon immediately puts brakes by using his feet grazing against the ground.

"Torga! The next time you see my face! It would be with your knees kissing the ground!" shouted Hezar.

"Heh," Lyon smirked before he crossed his arms.

A javelin instantly appeared in his hand without him screaming its name. He took one step back as he inhale calmly. "Huu~"

He looked at the jade light striking against the sky and gradually shrinking as it went further away. Mana gathered like a torrent before it turned into jade and golden hue. Swirling around Lyon's magnificent figure the three generals immediately twitched their eyebrows. They all could sense their emperor's might even though no attack had been unleashed.

"Don't tremble on me now, Hanjiseh!" Lyon grinned before the veins in his entire body bulged. Both the True Dragon and Devil Ape were grinning against the sky.

"Crack of Desire!" Lyon mouthed.

A magic brand instantly formed right in front of his aim. He could see the other end. He smiled as he saw the jade light was coming right to the portal.

"Hm?" Queen Wanda felt shivers before he looked up and saw a magic brand, "Ma—?! Spatial Magic?! Did the Golden Dragon Kingdoms has reinforcements in place?!"

"Heh," Lyon smirked before he grinned, "Tough luck, Hezar!!"

The ground he standing on instantly cracked in an instant as he slowly but powerfully pulled his right arm past his temple.

"Hanjiseh Art!" Lyon's pupils shrunk. "Puncture The Heavens!"

Accompanied with the Devil Ape's and True Dragon's roars, he threw the javelin toward the portal before grazing the very fabric of the space upon leaving his hands.

*Boom!

The ground Lyon was standing on immediately cracked to a devastating state and shift its masses.

The javelin pierced against the magic brand before coming out to the other side. The tiny jade of light immediately met with the point of the javelin before it instantly shattered and revealed Hezar with his eyes opened wide.

"Guha!"

His chest gust out blood before his mouth coughed one. His meridians were crushed and his life instantly vanished with his soul vaporized.

However, the javelin didn't stop. The force of Lyon's throw was too strong and it was heading against the city of Afurnae, particularly, Lyon's position.

Lyon's smirked gradually lost as his eyes slowly opened wide. His eyebrows rose before his mouth gaped open. "W-Wait a minute!!"

He suddenly found himself in immediate danger. "Fuck!!"

"Step aside, master!"

Lyon raised his eyebrows before his body was pushed away. "G-Graham!?"

*Boom!

The ashen hair fluttered as Graham caught the javelin with both hands.

"Gh?!" his eyes slightly opened wide. He was pushed back as his feet grazed the ground.

His knee eventually bent before he knelt. The point of the javelin was a finger away from his glabella but the chaos was stopped. However, the reverberating shock had rendered most of the buildings in Afurnae to rubbles.

Graham blinked before he slowly stood up. (Master is still in his late adolescent years, but..) he looked at both of his palms red with bruises.