Emperor's Reckoning

Inside the guest's room, the two men sat against each other. One with crossed arms and legs the other with a full-body black Mythril armor. The two of them stared at each other without saying a word as Tuey's glance darted back and forth. She gulped as the two of them unknowingly let out a mountainous pressure against her, she felt undeserving to be in the same room as them but couldn't pucker up the strength to even excuse herself.

"Tuey, what do you think about the man in front of you?" asked Lyon with a smile on his face.

"Eh?" Tuey was taken back by the sudden question Lyon just threw.

She couldn't believe that he would ask such a sensitive question right in front of the man himself. This was not how gossiping works.

She profused greatly on her forehead as her tail rose in an alert. She tugged Lyon's cloth before looking at him with begging eyes. There was no way she could answer that question right now, especially since both of them were technically a criminal in their own right. (Older brother, please, you're joking right?) thought Tuey.

Lyon raised one of his eyebrows as he looked at Tuey's begging eyes. The two of them stared at each other as Tuey's exerting her utmost effort to gain some sort of lenience. However, Lyon was unperturbed before he suddenly let out a chuckle.

"You remind me of someone if you do that."

"Eh? Who?" asked Tuey. She was surprised for a second before she could understand that chances were Lyon would have met with other demi-humans before her.

"Fenrir."

"Oh? What race does he belong to?" asked Tuey with a beam of curiosity. Unbeknownst to her, the mountainous pressure was lift-off just like that.

"Oh, he is not a demi-human, he is a dog... I think."

".... eh? How cruel!" Tuey was smacking his arm with her little arms repeatedly but the latter felt nothing as he rubbed his chin in contemplation.

"Hmmm, he is probably a wolf though because he looks like one."

Tuey pouted, "What a bad master you are! How come you don't know if he is a dog or a wolf."

Lyon shrugged his shoulder, "Hey give me a leeway here, how am I supposed to know if he is a wolf or a dog?"

"What do you mean? You could have seen his mama right?"

Lyon's expression turned flat as he looked at her in the eye, "Fenrir was born from an egg."

"..."

"Older brother stop joking."

Lyon shrugged as he opened his arms. He knew he couldn't convince her otherwise. Fenrir was one big mystery on his own. Chances were that Fenrir was a wolf hence the name he took from certain mythology back on earth, but the fact that he was born out of eggs puzzled him.

"Black knight, do you know anything about this?" asked Lyon casually.

"...." he didn't answer.

Tuey was agape as he asked such a question to his own enemy. Of course, the latter won't answer.

"Hmm..." the black knight looked down as he touched the chin of his helmet.

(WHY ARE YOU CONTEMPLATING!) screamed Tuey inside her heart.

"Now hear me out," said Lyon before he continued, "To make it easier for you, is it possible that a wolf could breed with a chicken? No, probably not, but what about a goose?"

"Hmm... I'm intrigued," muttered Shen.

"I swear, the only thing that keeps me sane with you is the booze," muttered Sun as he gulped another.

"Arrrgh! I hear nothing!" screamed Tuey as she covered her ears.

The black knight raised his hand, "I'm sorry but I do not have the answer for that question. However, never mind that, one of the knights said that you require my presence."

Lyon shrugged his shoulder before he nodded, "Yes I did, there are a couple of things that I need to ask."

The black knight gestured with his hand opening.

"Am I criminal or a guest here?" asked Lyon with a smile.

"Guest," the black knight immediately replied.

Lyon's glance darted from the helmet to the fruits on the table. He grabbed an apple from the basket before savagely ate it. The crunch in each bite didn't bother the black knight but it did bother Tuey's anxiety. 

She knew how both of these two could probably end up destroying the ship they were on if a fight were to break loose.

After gulping a chunk of the apple he replied, "Your arrival is too perfect don't you think?"

"Just right after I finished with that Imp and his host, you and your armada came like you were about to war. The time was too perfect to be passed as coincidental no?"

Lyon bit another chunk of the apple before the black knight replied, "It was emperor's order."

Lyon threw the carcass of the apple toward the bin nearby with smooth transition after he furrowed his eyebrows. He never heard such absurd of a reason unless they were coming from his own mouth but Lyon couldn't read the black knight's expression inside the cool armor that the latter wore.

"So you are saying that he 'predicted' that the Andro Kingdom would fall on this day?"

The black knight refrained from answering and only bypass it with, "It was the emperor's orders."

Lyon smirked before he shook his head. (A power to predict things, that's quite nasty huh. However, if it's true, then he let the Andro Kingdom die) thought Lyon as he looked at the black knight. (Another thing that's bothering me though, he seemed to be unfazed with the word Imp I occasionally used. Does the emperor know all along about his existence, is that the reason he let the kingdom fall?).

Lyon raised his eyebrows before he chuckled.

"Eh? Older brother? You okay?" asked Tuey in a concerning voice.

Lyon stood up before he walked toward the nearby window. Seeing the endless sea, he got a clear view of how big the world he was in right now. He grinned at the vast landscape in his view as he said, "Things are about to get a wild turn, I can feel it."

"Hmm?" Lyon furrowed his eyebrows before he muttered, "Looks like you got a sneaky old rat in your ship."

The black knight nodded, "Indeed, something in the air change for an instant before it vanished."

Tuey was looking back and forth with sweat raining down on her face. From the words that both of them were saying, she had a feeling that a confrontation was about to happen. The space in the room was not big enough for the two of them to fight.

Lyon turned a glance against Tuey as the unhateful smirk appeared on his face.

Tuey raised her eyebrows, "Eh, wh-what's wrong?"

Lyon shook his head, "It's my fault, but you can't blame me Tuey, I wouldn't have remembered him have he not show himself up."

Tuey smiled wryly before she asked, "W-who are you talking to older brother? Eh?"

Lyon crossed his arm, "Aren't you going to come out? Or should I drag you out? Old man, you should retire when I gave you the chance."

His provoking was answered with silence. 

Lyon smiled, "Loewe squealed like a pig when I kill him."

Killing intent suddenly enveloped the whole atmosphere as Tuey's goosebumps rose to the highest point. The cold chill running up her spine to her nape in an instant as she noticed a shadow materialized from the nearby wall.

"You will eat those words in the afterli—"

Lyon immediately grabbed the figure by the mask before it even fully materialized. "I see, so you are the number nine from the Abyss Tower, huh, almost didn't recognize you there."

"You think your killing intent is enough to make an opening against me? Poh?" asked Lyon before he let out a punch to the gut that bent his old figure inward.

The old assassin coughed through the mask before he dropped on his knees. He tried his best to crawl backward but Lyon's footsteps kept him from escaping.

"You old fool, what kind of assassin went into killing when he is injured," muttered Lyon.

"Tch, I might have failed now, but know this! I will hunt you for the rest of my life, you will never have good enough sleep until—"

"Buhaa!" The old man was kicked in the face before he hit the wall.

"He-he-he Hahaha! Opened your eyes the next time you sleep, you might miss how you die," said Grandmaster Poh before he reached out his pocket, "?!"

"Looking for this?" said Lyon as he held a returning jade stone at the tip of his finger.

"When did you?!" exclaimed the old assassin as he pointed out his finger against Lyon.

"Heh—" Lyon paused as the black knight walked past him before kneeling against the old assassin. the latter smiled before the black knight ruptured his heart with a fist to his disbelief. Blood kept pouring out of his orifices as his life fleeted away in an instant.

"Hmm?" hummed Lyon sarcastically.

"He bothered the emperor's guest, it matters not if he is an assassin from the Abyss Tower or not," said the black knight before he stood up and approached the door. "Get some rest dear guests, the knights will clean up the mess. Our journey is quite far."

The black knight closed the door to Lyon's smirk.