Emperor's Reckoning

"!!!" Di immediately escaped his house and hovered his glance at the sky. There was nothing in it but the usual stuff, however, his heartbeat didn't lie. The tremendous wave of aura even put his legs move faster than his brain.

"What now?!" The White Perch gritted his teeth before he stood at the top of the roof. He squinted his eyes before his brows furrowed. "Traces of mana..., it's going northwest." He jumped down before he saw everyone in the guild looking at him with worries on their faces. He made a shallow breath to appear calm before the others. "There is nothing to worry about."

Even though it was mere words coming out, it was able to calm them a bit. However, the White Perch was still having unrest inside his thought. ( Another jolt of fright, it was a wave, but it was far serene, yet... destructive... )

"What the hell was that..." muttered Abaddon inside his office before he sighed. "Goddamnit, can't they calm down for a second?! It's not even an hour since I stood outside my master's house like a stupid statue!"

"You did?" Mona asked.

"Huh? Oh, you're still here?" asked Abaddon before Mona rolled her eyes and exited his office.

"Ah!" Abaddon stood from the chair and almost called her name but the door was closed. He let out a sigh before slamming his ass down on the chair to a creak. He rested his back to the fullest as he watched the roof. He blinked a few times before he smiled. "I need to make a visit to Myriad Devils soon, I have a feeling that something wild is going to happen! Alright then, let's finish up these papers first and prepare the schedule accordingly.... ah wait, MONA!!!"

Meanwhile, the group was still at the front of the public notice board.

"D-Did he just say, mother?" asked Luna as she blinked before looking at Cecile who stared at the sky.

"Yes," said Lumina before she furrowed her brows, "Are we not going to follow him?"

"No," Cecile shook her head, "This is his time, this is what he needs, not us."

"But!" Lumina sternly stood in front of her. "What if he never returned."

"He will," said Graham. "This time, he won't do what he did."

"Tch!" Lumina clicked her tongue. "Don't you think that he needs us to be there?"

"No, not this time," Cecile shook her head. "If he wants us to come, he will say so."

"You agree to this?" Lumina looked at Assid.

"Young Miss has forbidden me to follow young master," said Assid as he adjusted his glasses. "However, I can assure you that the way he is now, no monsters or beasts in this continent can stop him, even if his cultivation is inadequate, he is still our master, and that fact trembled even those who sit at the peaks of heaven and peaks of hell."

Lumina had her chest heaved with a single stroke of a deep breath through her nose. Her eyes closed before her hand was grabbed. She opened them to see Cecile smiling at her.

"I'm not saying to not worry, I'm saying that you should start planting the seed of trust in him," said Cecile. "Otherwise, you would even suffer when he's just taking a piss behind a bush."

Lumina made a solemn breath as she begrudgingly nodded. "Okay, you can let go now."

"Heh," Cecile smirked before she felt a force in her grab and watched Lumina crossing her arms and looking at the northwest sky.

....

At the far northwest.

At the highest peak of the Dark Continent, a lone woman was hiding behind a huge rock with her back against it. She was taking rapid breaths but it was nothing compared to the sound of gills vibrating behind her. Her ears picked up gentle steps and the hard breath of a massive thing. She could see the shadow moving past her. Her heartbeat slightly rose before she peaked over as a flame insignia was revealed etched on her chest.

Four giant legs were walking over the meadow of the peak. The windy atmosphere couldn't hinder the pair of wings attached to its huge agile body. The scales of ivory were further enhanced by the graces of the sun as the clouds were pushed away every time it made a growl. The gills were opening and closing, yet it had a nose on its elongated head. The cold blood pupils were sinister black with a narrow vision and the slight slit just beside its eyes picked up the smallest of sound. Then the slit suddenly flexed.

The long neck raised before looking at the southeast. Its entire body shifted in the same direction with heavy breath.

( Huh... what's wrong? ) the woman peaked over and looked at the same view. ( Is the lair being challenged? Damn it, what a bad day, I'm not prepared to fight two Great Ivory Wyrms! ) she let out a sigh. ( I guess I'll be back later to hunt it ).

The wyrm suddenly growled even louder.

( Great, I'm too late ) she rolled her eyes before her eyes suddenly sharpened. ( It's coming! ).

A foot landed on the windy grass.

"MOTHER!!!"

The woman's pupil shrunk to a dot with her jaw slacked open. ( What the...?!) She immediately peaked over before she gulped.

A man was standing unhindered by the beast that was looking at him like it was looking at a lump of meat.

"MOTHER! IT'S ME! LYON!"

The woman furrowed her brows. ( This guy is insane!! Goddamnit! What did I dream last night?! Why do I have to save this insane man?! Oi, your mother ain't here! Tch! Tch! Tch! TCH! ). She shook her head before she ducked away from sight. ( I need to find an opening ).

The Great Ivory Wyrm finally vibrated its gills and made a loud howl that trembled the peak.

( She is mad! ) thought the woman she gritted her teeth. ( Damn it, that one is going to get eaten!! ). She peeked over before her eyes trembled. ( Wait a minute... ) she saw Lyon's face. ( That's not the face of someone frightened... ) she shook her head. ( No way, he is definitely petrified! )

"Hm?" Lyon raised one of its brows as his hair fluttered against the foul howl of the Great Ivory Wyrm. He had his feet locked in place and unbudged. He deliberately slowed down crossing his arms before rising his chin a bit.

The great wyrm immediately swept the claw forward.

( Fuck! I'm too late! ) the woman immediately came out of hiding but the gale from the sweep's momentum disturbed her vision.

A loud crash was followed by a loud destructive shockwave.

"Tch!" She gritted her teeth before balling her fist. Flaring flame were burning in her eyes before she got her vision back. Then, it vanished with her eyes opened wide. The man she thought was dead, was not only standing but didn't move an inch. His arms were still crossed but the claws couldn't move further. A finger was challenging a limb of the great wyrm.

"...." the woman was speechless before she saw the man's aura in visible ashen light. The man's forehead grow out a horn, then two, then three, before all seven formed like a crown on his head.

The great wyrm had its sinister pupils shrunk before it immediately leaped back and narrowed the distance between its body and the ground as its gills vibrated.

The woman was left out even when she was not aware that the great wyrm had noticed her presence. However, the beast's eyes only landed on the man in the front.

"You have the nerf to attack me," said Lyon as took a step forward.

The great wyrm howled and forced the woman to take cover due to its devastating gale, but it couldn't make Lyon blink.

"Just because I haven't ascended to the next realm, just because I am a True God Cultivator, you think that I'm your food?" Lyon smirked before he took another step. "I'm here looking for my mother, not your trouble. LEAVE..." Lyon's goat eyes turned solemn as the crown turned to pitch dark.

The great wyrm immediately unfurled its wing and leaped to the sky and left the ground.

The woman fell on her butt as she couldn't believe what she was saying. There was never a time in her life that a beast of that size would leave just because a person told it to, furthermore in its own lair.

However, the great wyrm was not leaving the peak at all. It was hovering in the sky as blue light shimmered between its gills. Its neck wiggled up.

"Then die."

The slit just behind its ears flexed before it saw the man it was fighting hovered above it.

"Calamity Goat Art: Fourth Calamity."

Lyon clapped his hands once before he took a deep long breath.

The woman who was watching below muttered. "Wh-What's happening..."

The blue light that was about to blow dispersed into nothingness before she saw the great beast twitching in the air like something was eating it from inside. There was no growl at all before her face was swallowed by the shadow.

"Huh?!" She immediately got up and leaped away before the great wyrm crashed against the meadow. She covered her eyes with her arms before she peeked over to find the man standing upright with a ball of translucent energy hovering on top of his palm. She gulped.