Emperor's Reckoning



As Refl shook his head and lamented the fate of his old friend, the latter was not oblivious. He had his brows furrowed all the way inside his room. He looked over and his mind wandered inside his explicit room. 

"He is at True God, on the horizon toward Origin," muttered Drogan. "Yet, he could even count those levels way above his."

He looked at his arms and runes started coiling around his forearm. "Is he the same as me?"

He quickly shook his head and threw that idea, "Even if he is, I should have the capability in killing him in mere seconds, my body, my speed, my power, all should have excelled him... yet somehow, somehow! He was always half a step away from it."

Drogan was grim with a possible thought. He was planning to use the runes as his secret weapon when he set his eyes toward Third Heaven, however, it seems there was an even greater power that might still be lingering out there, and whatever that was, he was sure that Lyon got it.

"A power that is higher than this ancient language," said Drogan as he stood up. "It seems like I can't hold back against him if I wanted to win."

Drogan's brows raised one, "What is it, Ferece?"

Ferece opened the room, "Excuse me, captain, I..."

Ferece's eyes slightly dilated at the sight of his captain smiling with his fist cupped. ( Wh-What's going on? )

"What do you want?"

"Oh! I want to tell you that Niamh has gone toward Mortal World as we speak," said Ferece. 

"I see, Niamh has departed," said Drogan. 

"But it would be like finding a needle in a hay," said Ferece. "We know nothing about the guy at all."

"That might not be the case," said Drogan. "Niamh can handle this kind of job just fine, he is the best scout in Burgeon Swan."

Ferece stood silent. He couldn't deny the fact that Drogan just uttered. He changed the topic, "So what should we do in the meantime?"

"Prepare," said Drogan. 

"Prepare?" Ferece then grinned, "Are we planning an assault?"

Drogan shook his head, "That would be a waste of resources and power, we already set up what we need to set up."

Ferece lost his enthusiasm and was replaced with a slight confusion. "I... I'm still shortsighted, please enlightened me, captain!"

Drogan stood up and took his time walking around the room as he said, "We have achieved our goal, people all over the Second Heaven should have heard what transpired."

"I know that you want to test the water, but, do we really know the extent of his power?" asked Ferece. 

"You made contact with him, what do you think?" asked Drogan.

He looked down and watched his palms sweating. The kick that sunk into his chest still stung whenever the image replied. He felt a glare, far more notorious than the man standing in front of him. One swift kick as heavy as the mountain was all it took to humble him inside a pile of rubbles.

"Exactly," said Drogan as he turned and showed his back. "He is far beyond what we know, forget his cultivation, he might as well be as powerful as me."

"He is?!" Ferece was taken back. He had never seen his captain praising someone that high. The latter even saw the kings in Second Heaven as nothing but puppets with their strings ready to be cut off at a near moment. Yet, a man who set his eyes beyond Second Heaven was wary about a random guy that sprouted out of nowhere.

"Niamh is perhaps our key in killing him," said Drogan. "I will use everything necessary to achieve my goal, the power of Burgeon Swan shall reach out to Paradise!"

Ferece's doubt was shredded as he was carried by the tone of victory from his captain.

...

Meanwhile, under the night sky of the Mortal World, a streaking light of green jade was zipping through the sky and aiming at the luscious forest below. The light penetrated through the branches before hovering right above the ground and it shone revealing a man that was all too familiar to the Burgeon Swan family.

Niamh was standing with his feet straight. His brows furrowed as he saw nothing but trees as his welcome. "The mana here is so thin, I barely feel it."

With one tap of his foot, he was capable of leaping over the tree. He hovered over the sky with his hands behind his back, and his grimoire is nowhere to be seen. He looked far with his sharpened eyes and saw a kingdom nearby.

"A kingdom, in a place like this?" Niamh smirked as he raised his chin. "What kind of weak king would rule this kind of kingdom, they are better off being a servant in Second Heaven than here."

After a flash of thought he furrowed his brows. The man that he was looking for came from this exact place, but the source of the information was still inadequate to be called fact. He might as well be wasting his time here if the man he was looking for turned out not to be from here. 

"Let's see," Niamh closed his eyes and sent a pulse of divine sense, far stretched and wide to the nearby kingdom. He opened his eyes and revealed a smile, "Nothing of extraordinaire returned, I guess I will pay the kingdom a visit."

Niamh hovered over the air and enjoyed the view as his robe fluttered against the wind.

On the other hand, inside the kingdom that Niamh was going to, stood a female which just looking over at the window. Her maid dress was neat, clean from top to bottom, she was proper... except for her face. Her brows furrowed with anxiety. She could hear the snore of her queen inside the nearby chamber but her focus was on the far end of the sky. She couldn't see anything under the starry sky and moonlight glow, however, she couldn't shake the feeling of something was wrong.

"What was that just now," Fei muttered. Her shoulders shivered but were not by the cold, but rather something else.

Meanwhile in one of the towers, was yet another lady with striking beauty. One of her eyes was red and the other was azure like her long hair. She often hide her tails in public but, relaxed them in private. Her face shared the same expression as Fei's. 

"We are being sensed," said Kyoko with her brows furrowed. "Someone is coming."

"Eh? Is it hubby?!" Ryona jumped out of bed and looked over the window. She was blinking with glimmers inside her eyes. 

Kyoko shook her head, "He would never use this kind of trick."

"Owh," Ryona dropped her shoulders before jumping back to her bed. "It's no fun, I wonder when will he come back."

"Don't sleep yet, Ryona, we might get a surprise visitor," said Kyoko with her brows furrowed. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

Ryona couldn't slack once she heard her tone. She knew Kyoko wasn't joking around. She had to get out the bed and be prepared.

"Is someone really going after Nostria?" asked Ryona as she stood by Kyoko's side. Her eyes looked at the same horizon as hers.

Kyoko shook her head. "In the eyes of many, Nostria might have grown to become a powerful kingdom, spanning all over Deo World, but after our endeavor with the savior and expanded our knowledge, we come to realize that this place is perhaps the weakest amongst all."

Ryona sighed, "I wish hubby was here."

"He is in the Second Heaven trying to find a way for our answer and a ticket to Hell," said Kyoko. "We can't put everything on his shoulders."

Ryona made a wry smile and walked to the side. She crossed her arms and looked at the floor with a tinge of sadness, "It's funny how the situation turned, hubby used to be weaker than me, but now I can't even reach him."

"Don't be so down," said Kyoko. "We all have our own strengths, talents others don't possess."

"I can't cook, I can't clean, all I got is a big axe... or small, depending on how I want them," said Ryona before she buried her fingers into his palm, "Simak that bastard!"

Kyoko furrowed her brows as she crossed her arms under her breasts. ( Simak, the man that was responsible for our imprisonment. With how far and wide Lyon's reputation is, he should have taken notice of it, yet he didn't show up even though we got loose. What is that man, planning? Or... is he dead? Then we wouldn't have our answer if that's the case ).

"Greetings."

Kyoko had her eyes dilated as she looked over the window. Ryona turned her head as well and both saw a man they never met before, casually hovering the sky of Nostria with his eyes fixated on them.