Emperor's Reckoning

Lyon had his eyes on the horizon where he could see the twin towers that Zelena had talked about prior. The spring of the meadow danced in his nostrils as the pain from the last encounter vanished. He didn't defeat the obnoxious Seraphim Cultivator, there was no need to. His priority lay straight on the woman that gave him his first kiss in this crazy world.

"Selena," Lyon grinned as he fastened his pace.

...

"That bastard!" the Seraphim unleashed a slight mana burst before turning around and revealing his veiny temple.

The high being of Heaven, the one regarded as the Paradise dweller was outsmarted by the one he looked down at. A simple trick that made him oust his rage. The embarrassing notion of a mere ant fooling a god lingered inside his mind and soul. The cringe sensation pulling the goosebumps out of his skin made his fingers crawl. However, his breath slowly paced down as he noticed something. The utter humiliation shall be under reality forever as no other eyes witnessed what just happened.

"That trick will only work once, there won't be a second one!" the Seraphim said before chasing toward the direction where Lyon had presumably gone.

...

Kesya's nose slightly twitched before she furrowed her brows.

"Did you smell something?" asked Cecile.

"This scent is really annoying," Kesya frowned. "Maybe it's the person that Empress talked about."

"The being that guarded the far end of the Dark Continent?" Cecile raised his brows.

"The what?" Farash raised her brows.

Zelena frowned. "This is bad, they might encounter Lyon."

"I wouldn't use the word might, chances are too thin that they didn't encounter him," Lumina shook her head. "Though, I don't know how Lyon would face such ordeal."

Cecile shook her head, "He is not strong enough to handle a Seraphim Cultivator at the moment."

Luna immediately stepped in, "Then we should aid him!"

"Don't be too hasty, a Seraphim might be powerful but he is not dumb either— though he may look like he never knew what book was," Cecile chuckled.

"A Seraphim Cultivator, ptui! They always had their chins up just because of the fact that they lived in Paradise."

"Umm," Farash courted their attention before she revealed a rare wry smile, "Are you guys talking Paradise? The PARADISE? The highest end-point of Heaven?"

"Yes, what else?" Lumina raised one of her brows as if Farash should have known about it.

( It's THE PARADISE?! ) Farash screamed inside her mind ( That's the highest place, the highest status anyone could get! W-What's with these people?! They spoke of the place like nothing, they also condemned a Seraphim Cultivator?? What's a Seraphim Cultivator even mean?! Why are they condemning the place that's highly sought by all cultivators?! That's the peak of the peaks of achievements! ). She gulped as she looked at the group slowly losing interest in her reaction.

Luna shook her head before she adamantly said, "Either way, it's better for us to aid him."

"I agree."

Luna's eyes lit up as she saw Graham take a step on her side.

"What's your take?" Cecile raised her brows.

"If the Daemons were on the order of that Seraphim Cultivator then they could sniff out that master is behind the murder. They might be aloof and feel that all of us are beneath their thoughts, but they would get serious if someone is holding back their plan, or even worse, interfering and actually succeeded in doing it," Graham explained.

Cecile nodded, "I understand, however, we are in a sensitive situation right now, and we don't want to alert Paradise early."

( Alert the paradise?! ) thought Farash as her eyes widened for the whole duration of the conversation. As the conversation went on, the more her heart got heavier. The identity that they held was already mysterious from the get-go, but she never thought that Paradise would be mentioned in such a negative tone. The madness of the group made her goosebumps jolting all over the place. She might be the leader of a strong guild in Myriad Devils, top five even, but she still couldn't compare to the likes of Zelena, let alone the whole group that demeaned the holy sanctuary for all cultivators. ( Are they mad..? What are they saying? It's backward! Why are they sounding like they would wrathed out Paradise?! ).

"Very well," Graham didn't utter another word before stepping back.

"I believe that young master is more than capable of handling such feather-full beings. He might lack the raw power that he once had, but his battle instinct, his prowess, his cunning trajectory, and the way he brought himself, the very elegance that can't be compared, compromised, by the whole Paradise! They envied him, a being that they looked down on!" Assid hid his glance by dilating the light shining through his glasses.

Cecile smirked, "Alright, then let Lyon handle it by himself, this is not a challenge for him yet, especially with his current cultivation and also the blessings that he could utilize freely at will."

Luna made a gulp before she hovered her glance toward Lyon. She didn't know the full situation regarding Lyon and his connection with Paradise yet. She only knew that somehow, Lyon was able to help Heaven push back Hell out of the Mortal World.

"Lyon..." Luna muttered.

"It's pretty normal to be worried about him," Cecile added after she noticed Luna's behavior. "However, we also need to keep moving regardless."

"Let's go," Lumina walked out first, leaving the rest astounded.

Cecile smirked ( Would you look at that, the female dragon actually turned more assertive than cold this time ). She shook her head before walking behind her, then the rest followed, all except Farash.

Her hands were trembling at last. She was holding it for a while, to keep her head cool albeit only on the outside. She wanted to maintain her image, she wanted to maintain her class. However, it was futile as she heard the word Paradise being tossed around like it was a place they could casually visit.

Farash shook her head before she followed the party. She might as well be the weakest in terms of presence, however, she was still the Water Guild's leader. An astonishing title that not many had achieved.

Lyon was the key to reaching the new height, she knew the concept very well. However, going against Paradise was a different matter. There was only certainty regarding rebellious behavior in Paradise, it was punishment, then death.

...

"Huh?" The Seraphim Cultivator paused and then turned around in the opposite direction. His brows furrowed at the distance that was far-reaching. He snorted before facing where Lyon had gone. "Must be a bunch of newbies trying out the new region after they survived a calamity."

He returned chasing where Lyon had gone with greater acceleration. His eyes were sharper and highly focused like an eagle hunting its prey. He shoved all of his divine sense toward the direction before his lips pointed to his ears.

"You can run, but you can't hide!" the Seraphim Cultivator laughed before advancing his speed.

...

Beasts fell over and over again as they made a trail of corpses leading to a man that was running toward the ruined city.

Lyon's smirk never left his face as hundreds of hurdles of beasts were either wrecked open or ran between with tails between their feet. His face was dyed with blood, but it wasn't his. His hands were dyed with blood and it wasn't his. His heart was beating faster than normal, but it wasn't because of the dangerous field he was on. His mind was occupied not with survivability but with a devastating world-class woman with black hair, the one that started all of this.

Then finally, the last beast fell with some of its limbs missing.

Lyon stood with Scarlet in his hand. He could smell the surmounting smell of aging wood and rotten iron. His chest was heaving up and down but his shoulder was still straight. He hardly blinks as the other beasts scurried away from the field of his vision.

The gate was in front of him. He finally made it, and now all that was left was. To call her name.

"Heh," Lyon smirked first before he took a deep breath and arched his back. He faced the sky with both of his hands by his waist. His eyes sharpened before he called.

"SELEENAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

The voice cracked open the sane mind. Every beast was threatened by the roar as torrenting mana escalates.

The Seraphim that was hunting him paused in disbelief with his eyes wide open. The significance of the roar petrified his very being as his mind was lost for a second.

Lumina's ears twitched before she furrowed her brows, "He has arrived."

"Looks like it," Cecile smiled before the rest of the party did, except for Farash who was astounded.

...

Ears twitched before eyes opened. A smile immediately formed before the beautiful figure stood up. Bask of wind fluttered her long black hair as she faced in the direction of the call. The rustling leaves and the rustling grasses were in sync and formed a harmonious melody.

"Mother..." she uttered softly

"Hehe," A brown rabbit perched on her shoulder. "That's my beloved child."