Emperor's Reckoning

Biane and Clemora couldn't believe their eyes. Their sight lay on the famous blonde woman who held on top of the vile creature's shoulder, with an immense amount of blood dripping from her severed arm.

The guards were stupefied. The enemy had captured their goal, their most treasured, Golden Demoness. Their knees wobbled at the sight, as the weapon in their hands got heavier with every second advancing forward.

Time seemed to stand still. Not a word was let out from Nostria's side, at least not two.

"RELEASE HER!"

Bore with flaming rage in his heart, Jugen didn't spare a blink as he shot fire against the mightiest orc in the tribe. The veins in his temple bulged as tens of arrows zipped the sky at a frightening rate.

...

"Ho?" The king of the elf raised his brows. "That halfling surely has talent with the bow, too bad he is still weak, and add to that, that bow is a piece of trash."

...

"Heh, what can you do with those?" the chief raised his brows before one of his underlings simply jumped letting his bare chest receive all of the tens of arrows.

"Gah, this is nothing but a mosquito bite," said the orc as he landed with two feet just fine. "Not even a shed of blood, nothing but a waste of good wood and metal."

"Kh!" Jugen had his eyes trembling before he took out a dagger and rushed forward.

"Jugen stop!" shouted Sylviana, but he didn't listen.

He wobbled away toward the mightiest of orc but the guards immediately stopped him. "Get out of me! Get out of me!!"

"No! Stop it! You're only wasting your life!"

"So what! He took my sister, he took my sister!" shouted Jugen as he locked eyes with the chieftain of the orc tribe.

The chieftain smirked. "We are done here, let's go."

"Of course," Nora nodded, "Let's go to the promised land."

"No one is promising anything," answered the chieftain before both of them left.

"Hahaha! You can chase us if you want, though, you know what will happen," said one of the orcs before they rushed back to where they came from.

Not a single one from Nostria made a chase. They watched them left with gritted teeth, they watched them left with superb helplessness in their heart. One by one they drop a knee with their weapons thudding against the ground.

Sylviana's lips quivered as she looked against the ground. Her symbol of the queen, the loss of the battle was bitter to her more than it was for the rest. She had failed to meet their expectations. Though Nostria was not the target that they were after, it was one of her beloved citizens. It was a friend, a long-time cultivator that had lived in her father's era of the ruling, and even played together when she and Karina were younger.

"Young Miss," Fei said from the side with her hand clutching against her stomach.

"Fei..." Sylviana said.

Fei had her eyes opened wide in a flash as she saw her queen's eyes basked with tears that dripped on the ground. She may had succeed in defending the kingdom, but she had failed to protect one of her people. She was powerless against the mighty orc.

"Young Miss, the others are waiting for you, be strong one more time, come on," Fei warmth her shoulder, with her hand and smiled.

"I..." Sylviana nodded and gulped. She wiped the tears out of her face as her nose pointed at the sky. Her eyes could barely hide the fact that she was in tears as the hue of red was still noticeable in the broad daylight.

"Get everyone that is hurt to safety! Treat them fully, no charge!" shouted Sylviana as she forced herself by furrowing her brows. Her words cracked, but she kept on going regardless of what they thought of her. "Stop fiddling around and get to it! We don't want more casualties now, DO WE?!"

"Y-Yes, Your Majesty!" the people responded.

Not a single building was destroyed, except for the towers of the palace. The defense could be regarded as a success if one were to see the big picture, however, they all knew that they have failed to protect the one that they were after. The ones that rally up their morale when they needed the most.

"Jugen, I..." Sylviana couldn't utter a word as the man that hid his face with his head hung down passed her by.

"He shall pay it dearly, and it won't be my dagger nor my arrows."

Sylviana's pupil's shrunk before the light revealed how clenched his jaw was.

...

"They have succeeded," said Connak.

"What should we do now, Your Majesty?" asked Agist.

"We shall follow them, of course," answered the king.

"Follow them?" Connak raised his brows.

"Yes, their goals still concern me," answered the king. "If I think they do what I think they are doing, then we must stop them too."

"Maybe you don't want to meddle with this, after all, it's not worth your kingdom."

The three of them had crawling colds shot from the base of their spine toward their napes. Their necks were locked as their jaws hardly opened. They felt a presence, an immediate presence seeping right behind their ears.

"You already have free seats for the show that are performed in private."

(Who?!) Connak and Agist could only leer to their king whose perspiration was apparent.

"Who are you?" The king asked.

"Oh? You can talk? I guess you're a king for a reason, but can you turn around? I guess not," said the unknown figure behind them.

"What do you want?" asked the king as he could only leer to one end of his eyes.

"I want you not to interfere with what my Legion is doing."

Connak and Agist trembled with their brows rose upon hearing his words.

"Your Legion?" the king frowned. "To think that the leader of the group himself showed up."

"Hehe, you have taken care of my comrades, even with your most-prized Elven Wine."

"I see, so they have told you about that, heh, what's wrong, do they want some more?"

"Oh no, they told me nothing, I happened to be at your cellar on the same day."

"What?!" the king exclaimed as he balled his fists. "You mean you were there at the time?"

"I happen to visit, heh."

The king made a harsh swallow. Though he was a bit intoxicated, he couldn't believe that someone was able to infiltrate inside his own palace that far without him sensing anything. Furthermore, he couldn't fathom the strength of the man behind him.

"So, what now, I reckon that you don't want to kill me?" the elf king made a smirk.

"Because otherwise, you would be dead? Experience is a really great teacher, isn't it, hahaha. But you are right, there is no need for me to kill you, I will just ask you, not to interfere with our goal."

"What is your goal?"

"Oh, I thought that you knew already, or you just weren't so sure?"

"You wouldn't..."

"Oh yes we would, we will open the gate of Hell to the Mortal World."

Connak and Agist couldn't believe their sharp ears. Opening the gate of Hell was a grave matter that would not only inflict the Mortal World but also on those residing above.

"You're insane!" shouted the king albeit he couldn't see the leader of the Legion. "Do you know the price that you have to pay for that?!"

"You mean those in heavens will notice what's going on? They won't be that alert I can tell you that, the gate is not that big, not like the Hidden Age."

"The Hidden Age?" the king frowned. "What do you know about the Hidden Age?"

"A lot more than you. Oh dear king of elves, do you know the sins Paradise has committed?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Exactly, only those above know the story, even then they are really few, but those that reside in Hell, I reckon that they knew more than you. Especially those Dark Elves that you so feared."

"Dark Elves had not been sighted in the Mortal World for years! Not even since the day I was born till this very second, that I've ever seen one."

"Maybe they don't want to meet you? Or, maybe they stayed in Hell long before you see the world as you know it."

"Then... what will you gain in unlocking the path to Hell?"

"Bringing back the Hidden Age, of course. Aren't you a noble king? Why wouldn't you help us instead?"

"As if I would fall to your gullible tongue that easily. If I would, you wouldn't even need to show up to me like this."

"En, that's true. However, sadly, I've no time to waste anymore. It's sad, but I hope we share your Elven Wine in the future."

"Wait!" the king turned before he saw no one. He made a low heavy breath as his face turned grim.