Emperor's Reckoning

"Heh," Cecile smirked before she looked at them both with keen interest. "What do you want from me, really? I'm just a good old housewife."

"I can tell that you're not ordinary," Farash smiled before she muttered, "Especially if you can tame someone like that."

"Hmm, and you?" Cecile looked at Sakya.

"He told me to ask you for permission," said Sakya.

"Hm? You met him before?" Cecile raised her brows.

The adventurers started whispering to each other and gossiped all over again. The fact that Sakya had met Lyon before might not a big deal for some, but a hot new wind is still hot no matter if it's painful or not.

Sakya had her brows twitching in hearing some of their mumbled words before answering Cecile with a nod, "Yes, I met him at the peak, where he showed his excellent prowess."

"Sakya, I never thought that you would be that bold, tch! Looks like I'm underestimating you," said Farash with laughter.

Sakya's cheeks turned red, "N-No! It's not like that! I just saw him defeating a Great Ivory Wrym all by himself! There was nothing erotic at all!"

"She never mentioned anything erotic though," Cecile chuckled.

"Kh?!" Sakya looked down with her cheeks pouting.

"A-A Great Ivory Wyrm?! All by himself?" Moris gulped in disbelief before he asked Sakya once more, "Oi, oi, are you nuts? Do you know difficult it is to beat that beast even in a party of four?"

White Crow raised his brows before he looked over at Lyon. "Brother, you did that?"

"Well, I told the beast to leave but it attacked me instead," Lyon shrugged his shoulder, "so I did what I needed to do."

"Alone?" White Crow asked once more.

"Well, she was there," said Lyon, "Though, she was wearing a weird—"

"I was there witnessing everything unfold," cut Sakya with a cough.

( He cut down a Great Ivory Wyrm all by himself? ) Baiyun frowned. ( Then what is his purpose here? Why is he declaring himself as her brother-in-law, why now? ).

"However, I'm not staying here in the gala for long," said Lyon with a smile before he turned. He took Zelena's chin up before turning her face left and right. "Wow..." his eyebrows raised while the others were petrified.

Nobody had the guts to even touch her hand, but he casually owned her chin and played with it. The jealousy was fuming, but the state of the severed Bahamut's head reminded them of who he was, and what was he capable of.

"Whut?" Zelena's cheeks were pressed together.

"You are her spitting image," Lyon smiled wryly. "Oh man, this is going to be troublesome."

"Kh!" Zelena threw his hand away before crossing her arms, "In case you didn't know we're twins."

"Ho?" Lyon smiled, "Why would you reveal something like that now? I was surprised when I mentioned her name, nobody knew her."

"Twins?" The White Crow widened his eyes and shared the same expression as the rest of the adventurers.

"I... what?" Moris furrowed his brows.

"They are twins..?" Nise couldn't believe her ears and as well the rest of the party.

"Things took a wild turn real fast," Farash muttered before she smiled. "Always surprise after surprise with him."

"Heh," Cecile smirked. "You have not the slightest idea."

Sakya furrowed her brows. ( So that means there was a chance that they were swapping and we wouldn't notice at all? ).

"Now that you're here, I think it's fine," said Zelena.

"Heh, you're quite a sneaky one, at least your personalities are the polar opposite," said Lyon. "I mean, c'mon, don't you guys usually have a mole, different eye colors, different hairstyle, or something? This is going to be quite a gamble when I... uh.... hehe~" Lyon grinned as he looked at the ceiling.

"When you what? What are you thinking?" asked Zelena as she squinted her eyes, "She is right, you're a hopeless pervert."

"But she still married me, hahaha!" Lyon proudly laughed.

"What did she even see in you?" Zelena sighed before she took a step back. "The gala will continue, but I'll be retiring early."

"Ah? Fang?" Baik called out.

"Oi, you," called out Lyon.

"Huh? It's Baik," Baik frowned.

"Alright, no need to be so tense, relax, here, your dagger," said Lyon as he lobbed the weapon.

"What?!" Baik raised his brows before he caught the dagger naturally. His eyes widened realizing it was the weapon that was supposed to be in his hand. "When did you?!"

"I forgot," Lyon shrugged his shoulder. "Well, since she is retiring the night, I will do the same, catch you guys later."

"Wait!"

"No," Lyon immediately replied before the clanking of armors finally passed him and spread his limbs to stop him from advancing further. The former paused with a sigh, "What?"

"Please let me introduce myself," Harmon grins, "I'm Harmon, the proud steel, the Body of Leviathan."

"The Body of Leviathan?" Lyon raised his brows before he crossed his arms. He raised his chin and revealed his sharp eyes, "You know, you guys are overestimating yourself."

"W-What?!" Lorey frowned before he stood right by Harmon's side. "You might be powerful, but you don't have the right to be rude to us!"

"Rude? This is just fact, the reality of it all, you think you're stronger than the body of a Leviathan?" Lyon smirked. "You have no idea."

"Are you saying that you're stronger than a Leviathan?" Nise asked.

"Currently no, absolutely not," Lyon shook his head to Lorey's smirk.

"Then why are your words so high? You might be a powerful man alone, but we are a party! Don't underestimate us."

"Underestimate you? A juvenile Leviathan's tooth is as big as you," Lyon clicked his tongue and shook his head. "You guys are ignorant, to be named yourself after a Leviathan, you need to vanquish one first."

"Tch! You boast a lot!" shouted Lorey.

"Boast? It's just a fact," Lyon shrugged before he looked at Harmon. "So, I hope you have a fairly great reason to stop me."

Harmon stepped forward. "My name is Harmon, can you test your might against me?"

"I can, but you would die," said Lyon.

"Speed might not be my forte, but my defense is second to none, I withstand a tail whip from Bahamut, so I'm eager, please satisfy my curiosity," said Harmon.

"No," Lyon flat-out refused. "You might be able to withstand a Bahamut, but do you have the slightest idea how weak that beast is?"

"What?"

Lyon took one step forward before he appeared right behind them.

Baik, Nise, Harmon, and Lorey had their lungs sunk. The motion of the step was slow, but they couldn't see his foot touching the ground before he was already right behind them.

"What the...." Nise turned before seeing Lyon waving his hand goodbye.

"What just happened?" White Crow frowned. "What?"

Moris furrowed his brows, "Is it possible?"

"That's an impeccable void step," Farash muttered. "He mastered that technique too?!"

"He has so much more under his sleeves," Cecile chuckled. "And to answer your offer, thank you, but I have to refuse."

"Huh?" Sakya raised her brows.

"Are you really seeing us that insignificant?" Farash smiled wryly. "C'mon sister, give us a try, I am sure you would like it."

"No," Cecile shook her head as she caught a glimpse of Luna and Lumina leaving the gala before darting her glance back toward the two guild leaders. "We have more pressing issues to resolve."

"Pressing issue? All the more so to join us, sister. I have a lot of connections," Farash proudly said.

"I'm afraid no amount of connection will solve our issue," said Cecile as she shrugged.

"You can try," Farash smiled.

"Perhaps we can work something out about your problem," said Sakya.

"Sadly, not even all five of you would be able to resolve this issue," Cecile shrugged. "But don't worry though, we're not here to join a guild, if we did, we would already have."

Cecile shrugged before drinking the wine to the bottom of the glass. She raised one brow with a nod of approval before putting it down on the table. She stepped away from the scene with the three generals following her after. However, before she exited out she paused and turned.

"Have you ever heard the title Grand Adventurer?"

"Grand Adventurer?" Sakya tilted his head.

"I have," Baiyun answered. "A title that is bestowed to the most powerful adventurers. They must have slain over ten types of Grand-level beasts in order to have the right for the title. Grand King Leviathan is among them. What of it?"

Cecile smiled. "Well, you can consider that our second reason for not joining any of your guilds."

"What?! Are you telling me that you're a Grand Adventurer?!" White Crow opened his eyes wide as he looked at Cecile. "That's impossible, that title didn't see the light of day since forever."

"Figure yourself out," Cecile smirked before she turned and left the gala confused.