Emperor's Reckoning

The pink-haired woman put her knee to her front before she spat blood to the crater she caused. Using it as the support she pushed herself to stand up. She shrugged the dust out of her shoulders before clapping it away from her hands. She looked at the red bruise from her forearms with a slight pout before letting out a sigh.

"You okay?"

The pink-haired woman raised her eyebrows before she took a glance forward to see Lyon with a smile and arms supporting his head from the back. His grin exuded purity that was of his young age. Though he was taller than her, she felt more mature than him for some reason.

"Your woman is quite feisty."

She smiled with a hint of curves on her cheeks as she put her arms on her waist. Lyon could see no anger nor any annoyance exuding from her despite her nobility status. 

He shook his head, "No, she didn't even spread her wings against you yet."

She was surprised for a little bit before shrugging her shoulders whilst shaking her head in a surrendering way. Seeing how she admit her loss made Lyon crossed his arms in front of his chest while grinning to the point his eyes closed. There was no doubt that he was proud of his woman.

She suddenly clasped her hands together with a slight bow, "Can you, take me to the nearby city?"

"Hm?"

Lyon was a bit surprised by the sudden request before he asked, "Are you sure? I mean, with these clothes I will surely catch all the attention there."

"Oh, don't worry about it!"

The pink-haired woman grinned before she continued, "I will stay inside the carriage the whole time!"

"Eh?"

Lyon's mouth started to twitch as he heard those words of hers. (This woman) thought Lyon as he was slightly irritated. 

"Fine, it's not like it would cost me anything anyway."

Lyon shrugged his shoulders before the pink-haired woman thanked him with a grin. The woman then turned around before she reached out the door of the carriage.

"Wait."

She was slightly startled as her fingers retracted in reflex. She turned around to face Lyon before she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Just now, before you exchanged blows with Lumina, you said my name."

The pink-haired woman chuckled, "What's wrong with calling your name?"

Lyon opened his mouth before his words stuck in his throat. (There is no way I would ask if she is my woman right? The last time it did, hahaha, that masked lady was confused) thought Lyon as he carefully chose his words.

"How do you know my name? I've never seen you before and I would have never forgotten a beautiful woman such as you."

His flattery sent her in disbelief. She was lost for words as she heard what she said. Her mouth slightly gaped before it recovered quickly. Her glance darted from him to the window of the carriage. His woman was still inside and he dared to actually put flattery to another woman. She let out a breath of chuckle before she looked right back at him. (This man, is he that confident that he could handle his woman's rage, not to mention a dragon).

"For your bravery, I will answer your odd question. Yes, we never met each other before this. However, a competent competitor would seek out the information of the others. Their weakness specifically."

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"Competent... competitor?"

Lyon title his head before the pink-haired woman became suspicious.

"You... you are Lyon Torga right?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"Nicknamed, Young Emperor, right?"

"Wh-What?"

"You are Young Emperor Lyon Torga, right?"

"Well... (I am indeed an Emperor, at least that's what I knew so far, especially from Little Yoji. Hmmm... And I'm indeed young)... Yes."

"Then? What's seems to be the problem?"

"You said something about competing? What's that about?"

The pink-haired woman looked at him with disbelief in her eyes. She looked up and down at his gesture and it didn't come off as if he was joking about his question. 

"You're joking, right?"

"Joking for what?"

"Ah..."

The pink-haired woman pressed the spot between her eyebrows as she let out a sigh with closed eyes. (Now it all makes sense, there is no way my name would not be known since I'm amongst the top board. He didn't even know about the competition in the first place. No, wait, he must have known it since he won, but).

"The nickname Young Emperor... did you came up with it by yourself?"

"What? No? I don't... isn't that a title?"

"A title? No that's a nickname."

"That's not a title?"

"Wait, so you are actually an emperor?"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Bahahahaha!"

Lyon was at a loss as he saw her burst out a series of laughter before pausing and laughed once again. She even had tears on the corners of her eyes as she looked at how serious his face was.

"Hey it's true, I'm an emperor or at least was," Lyon shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah sure, please stop it... It's hard to believe you when you are topless with dusty pants, hahaha."

Lyon opened his mouth before he realized that the pink-haired woman was right. He really didn't look the type of someone that had that title. However, he was too tired to explain as it wouldn't make sense anyway. He was even confused at his own identity, let alone explaining it to others.

"Oh, he is an emperor."

The pink-haired woman immediately stopped her chuckle before she playfully darted her eyes against the window of the luxurious carriage. She could only see Lumina's silhouette behind the curtain who didn't even take a glance at her. She shook her head with a smile before she muttered.

"You have an amazing woman there."

She thought of how she was still rooting for Lyon even though his looks and attitude didn't fit to be called an emperor. 

Lyon crossed his arms with a smile as he nodded, "I know."

He looked at the silhouette before he shook his head. His heart was guilty and thorn every time he thought about how she had waited for endless days and nights for him. She must have lost hope at some point but didn't give up to the point that she forgot his face.

"By the way, so that means that I'm in this competition?"

"Huh? Yes..."

"What is this competition called?"

"The Throne..?"

"Oh.... OOH!"

Lyon slapped his thigh as he remembered. He won the Crown tournament a while back but things went from another and he somehow ended up back right on track. 

"Hahahaha! I guess I'm right on schedule after all!"

He laughed at the sky as he remembered all the friends he made back in Deo. (Everyone, we will meet soon!).

"We must move along because—"

DONG.

The three of them raised their eyebrows as they heard the sound of a bell being struck reverberated even toward the sea. They could almost see the wave traveling to the sky before a phenomenon of clouds being pierced was visible. Lyon looked at the window of the carriage and it didn't seem to have even a single crack on it.

The pink-haired woman smiled before she said, "It's starting."

"What's starting?"

"There will be four huge bells in place in the four cities. They said they were made of materials coming down from Heaven itself. Every struck would cause a phenomenon and the most exciting part is, every phenomenon is different from one another depending on the person who struck it."

"Let me guess, this could also be used as a warm-up or a test to gauge the competitors' capabilities? I don't know how it works but, wouldn't everyone could gauge their strength by sensing their cultivation levels?"

"Spot on! This is a great way to see who is who. Who is to be wary about and who is not. Especially for the betters out there."

Lyon raised his eyebrows before he let out an evil smile, "Can the competitor bet too?"

"Naturally.. not!"

"Tch... but still, one hundred huh, that's a lot of people to be in a tournament."

"Well, it is for the competition to determine the hierarchy of power between the promising youths. That's why it's called the Throne. Sure many of us had the Crowns but who exactly sits on the throne. That is the question the world wants to know."

"Heh."

Lyon crossed his arms before he let out a smirk and walked forward to the driver seat. He picked up the reign before whipped the horse and the carriage charged forward toward the nearby city down the main road.

The pink-haired woman shrugged her shoulders before she jumped and landed on top of the carriage. She sat with her legs crossed as her short hair slightly fluttering against the wind.. She forgot one person that was lying on the ground unconscious with his underwear.

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