Emperor's Reckoning

"Hmm?" Cecile raised her eyebrows. "I'm surprised, I thought you would sulk in a corner."

"W-Well, I didn't say I like it, but damn, do they really call me that?" asked Lyon. He indeed had found some clues of why he would be called something like that. After all, he knew himself.

"They called you that," said Cecile as she nodded. "I was there, oh, you can also ask Graham, he would tell you the same thing."

"Nah, I won't ask him about it, he seemed to be biased toward the truth," said Lyon.

"Meaning?" asked Cecile.

"Meaning that he is more likely to tell me that they wouldn't say that," said Lyon.

"Really? Graham is an honest kid, you know," said Cecile with a smile.

"Yeah, well he is not a kid," said Lyon as he squinted his eyes.

"He was though," Cecile chuckled. "So you would believe me instead?"

"You are the woman that I married, right? Of course, I would choose you over someone else," said Lyon with a smile.

"That's sweet of you, but you have two more others," said Cecile.

Lyon's petrified his smile before Cecile chuckled.

"No need to be that tense, our life was not smooth sailing for sure but it was fun due to the waves."

"Due to the waves, huh. I hope the waves rolled out nicely," jested Lyon.

"No, they crashed a lot actually," Cecile chuckled.

"I'm not surprised," said Lyon as he nodded.

"Hehehe," Cecile chuckled. "But it was colorful."

"I bet," Lyon smiled. "I wish to see it, or maybe, 'experience' is the correct term here."

Cecile smiled before she took a piece of bread from the extravaganza long table beside her. "You know..."

Lyon was listening.

"We used to go through thick and thin together, we were once really broke we need to steal, we were once really rich we didn't even get out of our little mansion for the whole year. We really went through a lot."

"There were times where I doubt that I will see you again," said Cecile as she looked at the piece of bread that she took. "There were also times where I feel like we will be eternally together, just the two of us."

Lyon smiled as he shifted his glance to the ground. He refrained to say a word.

"There were times where I thought that the opponent would be impossible to beat, and you were there with that smirk of yours, keeping us afloat to the light of hope albeit your face dyed red from your own blood."

"There were times where we would be graverobbers, inside someone's ancestor tombs, trapped for weeks. Then again, you got us out of there eventually. Though, sometimes I did."

"I love everything about you, Lyon."

Lyon smiled.

"But I do hate you for one thing," Cecile's smile vanished.

Lyon's heart sank as he heard what she had just said. His goosebumps rose as his eyes trembled. His heart thumped wildly.

"I don't mind you flirting with other women, or other women flirting with you."

*Thud!

One random cultivator suddenly passed out before another, and another, and another. Lyon noticed them but his eyes were fixated against the beauty who had just crushed the peace of bread in her hand with her strong grip.

Cecile turned her glance back to her husband. Their hands still connected from the entwined fingers as she inched closer.

Lyon's eyes widened as he saw her auburn eyes turn glassy before a warm streak of emotion ran down her cheeks. "C-Can you promise me one thing?"

Her tears dropped from her eyes to his nose but Lyon didn't blink. The cracked voice of his beloved wife made his soul tear. "W-What?"

"W-When you feel weak when you feel hopeless when you feel like nothing can be helped," Cecile cried before she embraced him tightly.

Lyon could feel the tears dripping against his hairs to his scalp as he was buried in her bosom. His goosebumps shook as he could feel the woman had her hands trembling.

"Please, know that you are not alone, please, let me be with you, promise me, you won't hold it in!"

Graham could be seen in an alley with his arms crossed and his head down. Kesya was on the roof with her hair fluttered against the chilling wind. Assid was in a different alley with his glasses reflected against the moon.

"Promise me, Lyon..."

Lyon opened his arms before he returned her embrace. "I promise, sorry for making you worry and wait for far too long."

"?!" Cecile opened her eyes wide as she looked down with a gulp. Her pupils shrunk. The young man gazed up to her eyes with a smile on his face, however, his bearing was different.

*Thump!

Graham, Assid, and Kesya opened their eyes wide as their goosebumps rose. They immediately knelt from where they stood. Lumina who was still eating in the restaurant had her pupils shrunk as her wings instinctively spread out of her will. She could see her hands trembling whilst holding a fork.

The whole Afurnae suddenly found themselves suffocating from the increasing pressure of the atmosphere as nature themselves, bowed to his name. None of the cultivators were conscious.

"L-Lyon... is that you?" said Cecile.

"Who else but me that can embrace you like this? Also, The Perverted Adventurer, really? Of all the nicknames they gave me?" Lyon jested with a smile.

"You... you're back?! You're back!!" Cecile hugged her tightly.

"Woah, wait a minute, you might break my spine, Cecile!" said Lyon with a smile.

"I don't care, I won't let you go!" said Cecile as she buried herself to his shoulder.

"Sadly, you have to let me go, Cecile, this is just temporary," said Lyon with a smile.

"?!" Cecile looked at him, "B-But?"

"But, what? This is just a neat little trick," said Lyon as he smiled proudly. "But I will keep the promise. Once I opened that door, I and I will become one. At the time, surely I will be at my weakest because I will experience my whole life in a short period of time."

"But!"

"I don't have much time, so while I'm here...

"Graham! You look like an old man now haha!"

Graham smiled wryly.

"Assid! At least give me one sip of wine if you can't make the Monkey King's Wine!"

Assid nervously nodded.

"Kesya! Err, you look good in long hair!"

Kesya blushed on the roof.

"And then Grandpa Sun, Grandpa Shen, and Kindest Grandpa Bapho..."

The three mystical beasts revealed themselves as they looked at their grandchild.

"Thank you..." Lyon smiled. "We will meet again."

He gently cherished Cecile's cheeks before kissing her tender lips. As both of them closed their eyes, the immense atmosphere that Afurnae suffered gradually diminished.