Emperor's Reckoning

While Lyon had his eyes narrowed, her wife who overheard his words grinned inwardly. She averted her focus back to the two kingdoms that they left to live.

"Now then, regarding the place where my husband and friends would like to stay," Cecile smiled.

The crowd was put in suspense as they looked at the auburn beauty. In contrast to her husband, she was not as random and was more decisive. Her words contained weight that not even First Heaven could ignore.

"We will go to the Sverine Inn," said Cecile before letting everyone take their gasped. She then continued, "Therefore I hope that your courtesy matched your words."

The Queen bowed in respect, "That won't be a problem."

Hidle was disappointed by her words, but now she knew that Cecile was not just a wife to warm Lyon's bed. She was an individual to be reckoned with.

Lyon furrowed his eyebrows, "I think that inn is destroyed by the blast?"

He doubted himself for he never recognize which building was which. The stroll that he made was usually with food and festive in mind, he rarely went out with any real purpose besides having fun or just bored at home.

There was no way for the crowd to demand Lyon and his group to reimburse what happened to the neutral city. Buildings were destroyed and landscaped were changed. They couldn't believe what was once the beautiful city of Afurnae where four kingdoms exchanged their cultures, destroyed by such brute force.

"Will there be a final round?"

"Don't be stupid."

The final round was supposed to be held tomorrow. However, not only they were in a shortage of a good arena, some of their participants were annihilated too.

The crowd had a consensus inwardly. There was no need for the final round where the top ten would duck it out against one another since there was one person that stood above them all. The young man had reigned the first and second rounds before proceeding to destroy the entire city and he was from the Mortal World, the very last place they thought he would emerge.

"Big brother is really amazing," nodded Zet.

"Huh?" Porealus looked at Zet dumbfoundedly.

"What?"

"N-Nothing," Porealus smiled wryly before Zet shrugged his shoulder then be amazed once more by Lyon's unprecedented deed. (This guy is something else, damn I wish I was as naive as you).

Cecile nodded. "Good, I will thank you in advance  for your courtesy."

"Oh come now, there is no need for you to act like that, I have always considered you to be my own daughter, like Cherie's older sister," said Queen Wanda with a smile.

Hilde was irritated by Wanda's quick-witted gullible lips as she pressed her bottom lips with her teeth. She was out-experienced for sure but she knew within herself that she must not give up. She averted her glance toward Lyon. (Right now, he is the key to power, the key to ruling First Heaven. Any connection with him would bore a significant boost to one's influence. If I can't get him by my side, at the very least, he shouldn't be by Cherie's or Queen Wanda's side).

The princess from the Bolg Kingdom furrowed her eyebrows, but before she could speak a word, Lyon did.

"I wonder who will clean this entire thing, buried the dead cultivators, or reimburse the buildings that are destroyed. I'm afraid that I don't have a single coin to spare, I have zero savings in my pocket, let alone rebuild an entire city," Lyon sighed. He shook his head as his head hung down low. He seemed to have the entire world as a burden. Were it not for the context, people would be sharing their sympathy.

The crowd was glaring at him with their eyes threatening to leap out of their sockets. They couldn't believe what the youngster had just said.

(You're the one responsible for all this mess!) thought the cultivators. Though they had a united conclusion, none of them dare to say it out loud, not even a mutter, only hidden, balled fists.

'There is no need to worry about that, Lyon," said Wand, "The Sverine Kingdom will take care of this entire unsightly landscape."

"The Bolg Kingdom will not stand idly either," said Hilde as she took the role of the ruler even though her father was beside her.

"Well, problem solved," said Lyon as he clapped his hands before he bowed to both of them. "Thank you very much!"

His notoriously shameless act made Kesya chuckle her laugh. (There is nothing more amusing than seeing the empress and the emperor together settling some diplomatic matter).

Cecile smiled as she looked at her husband whilst Lumina sighed as she shook her head.

The auburn lady averted her glance before she raised one of her eyebrows as she looked at the bit of frustration that Hilde had.

"Queen Wanda, may I have a request to add one more friend to our fine dining?" asked Cecile.

Everyone knew that Cecile didn't even need to ask to have the answer. She had all the power to make everything go her way or her husband's way.

"Oh? You don't need to ask, just drag them along and they are welcomed with open arms," said Queen Wanda as she smiled.

"Then," Cecile turned around before she faced the Bolg Kingdom side, "Then Hilde, do you want to join us?"

Queen Wanda slightly had her eyebrows twitched but she kept wearing her genuine smile without fail. She might not be able to understand what Cecile was thinking but she only let her speculations inside her mind.

Hilde raised both of her eyebrows as her eyes slightly opened wide. This was her chance. She might not be able to tell what Cecile's intention was, but joining the dinner would only serve more beneficially than the opposite. Her lips were opened before she remembered her parents. She took a glance at them before she averted back to Cecile.

"Can my parents come too?"

"I don't mind," said Queen Wanda as she smiled.

"I do," answered Cecile with a smile.

Hilde and the cultivators of the Bolg Kingdom were stunned by Cecile's answer. She was basically offending the highest ranks of the said kingdom. The cultivators furrowed their eyebrows but they dare not to utter an offense. Else, they might be joining the next wave of corpses.

The king and the queen were obviously displeased from their expressions, but offending Cecile meant offending that young man, and offending that young man would signal the end of their reign over a part of First Heaven.

The king of the Bolg Kingdom grabbed her daughter's shoulder before nodding. "You have grown exponentially, use this chance wisely, you will one day rule our humble kingdom, don't miss your chance to mature."

Hilde nodded, "Thank you, father."

She looked at Cecile before she bowed, "Then I will be joining the dinner held by the esteemed Queen of the Sverine Kingdom with you."

Porealus shook his head as he muttered, "Let me guess this straight, Lyon came here without even knowing what he would win in the tournament, somehow things escalated and he destroyed the city and crushed two top-dogs kingdoms? That's wild."

(People back in the Mortal World won't even believe the story, heck, I was here and I still couldn't believe it! Like 'Hey guys, we made it to the top four, but the city was destroyed, two kingdoms fallen, and we were having fine dining afterward' Only his fanatics would believe what happened!) said Porealus inwardly.

Queen Wanda turned around to face her husband before she said, "Take care the rest."

She leaped without seeing the king's expression and landed with her two feet. She was standing directly in front of Cecile. (Woah, what the hell is this perfect proportion?!) thought Wanda as she glanced up to meet the auburn eyes.

The queen was confident in her looks and allure but the woman in front of her seemed to be born out of another world. She knew that Cecile had a special physique but she never knew how much it affected her body.

Regardless, the queen kept her smile, "Then, let's go to Sverine Inn, I will personally be your escort, come."

Cecile smirked before she grabbed Lumina's hand and made her walk with her. The latter was enjoying looking at her lover before now, she had turned a little grumpy from the forceful pull by Cecile.

"Well, isn't this set up nicely," said Lyon as he laughed before he put his hands behind his head and walked without a care for the world.

"Young master..."

Lyon raised his eyebrows before he turned around to see the three generals with Kesya in the middle. He saw her smiling.

"About your question earlier," Kesya grinned, "You are the best emperor for me, when you remember your past, you will get it."

"Hm?" Lyon's face lit up before he laughed and walked away.

Assid had his face staring down with his hair covering his expression. He muttered, "his past, huh."

Kesya's grinning face instantly vanished before she nodded.

Graham let out a sigh, "We must be ready, for master's sake."

Kesya raised her hand before she swept tears on her cheeks. Her lips quivered as she saw Lyon's back getting smaller as he walked away further.