Emperor's Reckoning

The group eventually made their way to the fifth hall under the gazes of both alchemists and cultivators alike.

"Oh?" Lyon raised his brows in astonishment.

The golden shine of twilight shimmered through the giant windows. Halls of books were displayed, and strong standing pillars stood against the roof. The spiraling staircase was in the middle of the library as mana orbs started to shine a lukewarm glow. The scent of ancient vanilla and woody fused together to give out a unique experience for the visitors of the library. There were conversations between alchemists as well as there were loner readers on sight.

"Well here we are," said Renduval as he turned around. "Welcome to Alchemy Union's library!"

"This looks like a cozy place to sit down and relax," said Lyon as he nodded. "Though, all I see are alchemists."

Renduval nodded. "That's because this place is not for the public. The knowledge we have here is only for the alchemists of the Alchemy Union.

"Wait a minute, so that means we can't go in there?" asked Kesya.

"You can," Renduval nodded, "It is part of the tour, so you have seven days to experience this wondrous place."

"Sweet," Kesya nodded.

"You are going to get bored in under five minutes," said Cecile with a smile.

"Hehe~" Kesya smiled wryly. "What can I say, I'm not suitable for idle reading."

"Then, let's get in," Lyon took the first step forward. "What kind of books I want to read now, hmm..."

"Something to cultivate your soul, remember?" reminded Lumina.

"Oh right, haha," Lyon laughed as he immediately took the stairs above.

"Hmm... does young master know where to look for that book?" asked Kesya.

"Obviously not," answered Assid. "Maybe they have some recipe book here."

(Recipe...) Kesya twitched her eyebrows as she slouched whilst looking at her fellow general casually looking for a new recipe.

Lumina didn't follow her lover but instead stayed on the first floor. She mingled with the books quite easily as she casually picked one up from the shelves. Though the fellow alchemists were slightly irritated by her behavior of stacking up books, the words had spread that they were the ones that delivered the beast in the yard.

"What are we going to do now, empress?" asked Kesya.

Cecile shrugged. "You do what you want to do, I will just take a nap on the couch, I'm tired."

"What? Are you sure? Don't you want to accompany young master picking up books to read?" asked Kesya.

Cecile immediately jumped on the empty and comfy-looking sofa with her face down. She waved her hand without turning around, "He hardly reads anything."

(T-That's true) Kesya smiled wryly.

"Then how about you Graham?" asked Kesya as she turned around before finding out that he was leaning against the pillar and closed his eyes already. (That didn't take much).

"Well, I guess I will go with Lumina then," Kesya grinned as she strode forward. "Du dudu dudu."

Renduval looked at the group with furrowed brows. The member of the group was quite bizarre and he had never seen anything so diverse before. "Ah, shit!"

His eyes opened wide as he noticed Lyon had vanished from his line of sight. He immediately rushed toward the second floor with haste.

Hilde sighed. "I hope we go home without any unwanted disturbance."

"Damn, where is he?" Renduval muttered as he checked each corridor on the second floor but saw no one that even remotely resembled him. "How hard can it be, he didn't even wear a cloak for fuck sake."

Meanwhile, Lyon was casually strolling with his hands behind his head. He looked at the books lined up neatly in the bookshelves, but there were no titles that caught his interest. He kept on going with subtle steps that eventually were heard by his own ears.

"Hey..." a soft whisper was heard.

"Want to read this with me...??"

"Huh..." Lyon kept on walking as if he was compelled to. He walked through the corridors calmly but his eyes were looking left and right. He saw nothing but an array of books. Not a single alchemist was in sight but his ears didn't lie.

"Where are you?" asked Lyon before he smiled.

"Hehe, you're so lazy...."

Lyon twitched his eyebrows before he quickly turned around with a grin. But there was nothing. He frowned then. "What the...."

He found himself in complete darkness. He quickly looked left and right, the books were swallowed by darkness.

"Hm...." He furrowed his brows before everything turned dark. He looked at his palms. "I can see my hands... Where the hell am I?"

"Hey..." a soft whisper was heard once more.

Lyon gulped. "Damn, did I drink a liquor? This is some next-level hangover."

Lyon was looking left and right. Nothing but darkness greeted him. "Should I move somewhere?"

"The waterfall stream is nice, don't you think....?"

(What? What waterfall?) Lyon thought. "Goddamn it, is this an illusion?"

"This oak tree is nice, here under the shade... do you want a story?" the delicate voice was as if a string was pulled against Lyon's soul.

"What?" Lyon furrowed his eyebrows. "Who are you?"

Lyon called out but received no answer. He saw nothing but darkness. He had no direction, there was nothing but himself and the delicate voice.

"Come here! Haha! Catch me if you can!"

"Where? WHERE?!" Lyon started to move before he ran in the direction that he chose. His things rallied faster than a sprinter as his eyes opened wide. His soul was clenched by something, he was compelled to find the source of the voice that he heard.

"You're always late! Hehe, but that's alright, next time you can do better, I believe in you..."

"Damn it!" Lyon ran until he started to feel the pant. However, no matter where he looked, he felt as though he was still in the same place. "What the hell is this place! Oi! Who are you?!"

"Catch me! Catch me! haha!"

"Do you want to see the book I'm interested in? I can see through your lies."

"Here drink this, I concoct it with all we found."

"Oh? You're wounded?! Quickly, the pills, here I got some, drink it please!"

Lyon gritted his teeth as the words he heard hit him with a sense of truth. He kept on running in this endless darkness, hoping to find something that could get him out.

"Who are you... wait... I know you.... you're... YOU'RE!!!"

The veins in his neck popped as he shouted, "Maria!"

His vision immediately blurred before he was returned back to the real world. He was facing the floor on all four. He was panting as sweat fell against the wooden floor.

"Oh my, I never thought that the effect would be this dire," a hoarse voice was heard. "Are you alright young man?"

Lyon opened glared against the floor.

"I'm sorry, hehe, I was concocting something dangerous, but I forgot to leave my door open, I hope you don't mind," the old man chuckled. His hair was gray and slightly disheveled.

"You!" Lyon glared before he quickly grabbed the old man's white cloak and slammed him against the bookshelves.

"Oh my."

*Bang!

Some of the books immediately fell down and the entire library was alarmed. Lyon held the old man by the collar as he glared against the bushy brows.

"What was that?"

"It came from the second floor!"

The alchemists were immediately alarmed and rushed to the second floor.

"Oh?" Kesya grinned. "Look's like something is going on upstairs, young master's killing intent just flared for a flash."

Cecile calmly closed her eyes and smiled.

Hilde immediately rushed to the stairs. (Please don't be him, please don't be him!)

(Shit! That's at the end of the corridor!) Renduval jumped before he ran as fast as he could. (That place is near the headmaster's room! Shit shit shit!).

(Just this turn and..?!) His eyes opened wide as his pupils shrunk. His breath was taken away by the scene that he witnessed.

"W-What happened?" asked Hilde before she felt a cold breeze in her spine as she looked at what was going on. (Gah....!!) she placed her palm softly against her face.

The lots of alchemists followed before they were gobsmacked by the scene that was presented to them as well. They couldn't believe what their eyes were seeing.

Renduval's trembling hand slowly rose as he pointed at Lyon. "L-Lyon, don't you know who that is?!"

"That's the headmaster of the Alchemy Union!" shouted Renduval before a book made a thud against the wooden floor.

"Hallo~" the headmaster smiled as he waved at everyone before looking at Lyon straight in the eyes. "Hmm... though my feet may not touch the floor,  I can see that you must have experienced something bittersweet, am I right, young man?"

The headmaster nodded as he noticed the trembling glassy eyes that Lyon gave him.

Lyon looked down before he sighed, "Hah." He let the headmaster go.