Emperor's Reckoning

(Wh-what?! I can't muster up an ounce of strength from my meridians!) thought the prince as he was at the mercy of the unknown youth who grabbed by the neck. He could only hold the arm that was choking him with nothing but the strength of a feather.

Lyon furrowing his eyebrows as the five fingers that hugged the prince's neck were pressing toward the bones inside. The prince's eyes bulged red as they looked at him with fear before a light inside his body jumped out, forming an astral of a man that was clearly older than the prince right behind Lyon.

"Stay your hand off my little brother!"

The astral figure was only answered with Lyon's back against him. The former gritted his teeth before saying, "Don't you realize who I am?! Don't you know the repercussions if you kill him?!"

Lyon acted like he was deaf to the ghost that was kept on talking to stop what he intended to do as he kept applying pressure to his grip.

"Insolence!" shouted the astral before he noticed the black knight was prostrating this whole time.

"Reich! What are you doing?! Do your fucking job and stop him!"

However, his shout meant nothing as the black knight couldn't even mutter a strength to even lift his head. He could only grit his teeth as he kept on trying.

Lyon smirked before he let go of the prince who immediately tumbled down and coughs. On his neck, the hand imprint was discernable by naked eyes as proof of his humiliation. One more push and his neck would have been broken.

The astral breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his little brother was out of death's grasp.

"G-g-good, hehehe, so you changed your mind after all huh, wise choice," smiled the astral as his tone turned smug.

"You're wrong, I didn't let him go because you told me to," said Lyon with a pause before he continued, "The one who has the right for his life is not me, the one who decided his fate is not me," muttered Lyon.

The astral furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you talking about."

"I'm just a  master here, a master who wouldn't let down his subordinate!" said Lyon as he kicked the prince's abdomen while he was still crouching on the ground and sent the latter flying outside the palace.

Blood gushed out of his mouth whilst he was in midair under the gentle hug of the sun before he fell down right in the middle of the road with a boom under the watchful eyes of the onlooker.

"O-oi, what was that?" said one of the onlookers as he looked at the pile of dust.

"T-thats!"

"The fourth prince!" shouted one of the knights with the red armband on his arm before the group approached him to come aid.

His eyes opened wide as he saw the horrific condition of the prince. His neck was one tap away from breaking and blood kept coming out of his mouth. If any worthwhile physician were to saw this, they would be trembling as the insides of his gut had broken and shredded.

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"Fuwah!" said Malik in satisfaction before he slammed the empty glass against the table. With his hand scrapping away the liquid on his mouth, he turned a smile as he said, "Time is of the essence, let's go Tuey!"

"E-eh? Where to?" asked Tuey.

"The show, I wonder if our performance will any be significant with your older brother here, nevertheless, you need to go and rendezvous with him fast. We will meet at the palace, I will gather all the demi-human there. Things, are about to change in this empire."

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The knight gulped, "W-W-Who?! Who dared to attack the prince?!"

He still couldn't believe that someone was brave enough to offend the Cefralin Empire to this state. It was obvious from the wounds that the prince suffered that he was at the mercy of the attacker. 

"Who?!" the knights surrounded the prince before they looked in every direction. They could only see scared onlookers rather than anyone suspicious.

"The time is nigh!" a person shouted.

Everyone darted their gaze to the huge man that was shouting from the top of his lung. The infamous ex-commander Malik.

"Malik! Y-y-you've done it... oooh you've done it now!" shouted the same knight who was trying to pick on Tuey a moment ago. 

Malik smiled, "You know this is going to happen sooner or later, it's a famous word that you selfish nobles never come across, karma."

"Tch! Enough with your slandering! You've finally act an offense against the empire, everyone!! Arrest him!"

Malik smirked before one demi-human stood in front of him. "If you want to arrest him, you need to go through all of us."

The knight raised his eyebrows before he saw hundreds upon hundreds of demi-human was surrounding Malik like an all-direction shield. They were the ones that he redeemed as slaves who had now unite under a single banner. Even if they had the cultivation power that was above them, their quantity alone made up for it.

"You trashes, don't you remember who feeds you?!" asked the knight.

"Feed?! Do I look like I've eaten anything? You fucking pig!" shouted one skinny demi-human that was almost meatless. 

"Tch! Shut up, you all should be grateful that we didn't kill you instead!"

"W-what's going on here?" asked one knight from the port.

"Are you blind?! They are trying to revolt!" shouted the knight.

The knight looked at the arrays of demi-human in front of him standing align in front of Malik. The latter smiled before making his way toward the lone knight. The towering height was enough to make the knight gulped his saliva.

"You are the armada that was led by Reich, I mean the black knight, right?" asked Malik.

The knight nervously nodded before Malik said, "You must await your commander's command, else if you act on your own now, I cannot guarantee the result would be what you want."

"Malik! Stop persuading him to revolt! You traitor!" said the knight with a red armband as spits coming out of his mouth in each word.

(Malik? As in the ex-commander Malik?!) thought the knight before he took a bow, "Understood! Thank you for your advice!"

"Gah! You traitor! First Prince will annihilate all of you for this treachery!"

Malik snapped his finger, "You are free to do as you please against these so-called knights, but leave the prince alone."

"Raaaah!!" the army of demi-human made their victory cry as they clashed with the knights. The gap in their number was enormous and the average human was afraid of getting involved.

"Hehehe! I've been wanting to shred you to pieces for a long time now, your cocky attitude has been irritating me but it all ends now!" said one of the demi-human against a defenseless bystander woman.

"No! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Yeah! But you are human!"

*bang

The demi-human's head immediately exploded as Malik threw his kick against it to the bystander's disbelief. "I will kill those who act a transgression against an innocent human! Don't forget our true goal!"

His shout got everyone's attention before they stopped rioting aimlessly. 

"Go, Tuey, to the palace," muttered Malik to the little shadow behind him.

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The astral looked at the situation below, "W-what have you done..."

Lyon smirked, "I kicked your little brother all the way over there, the rest... I don't care."

"You will pay for this!" shouted the astral before Lyon's infused mana hand grabbed him by the throat.

(W-what! Impossible! I'm in an astral form!).

"Then come all of you, but wash your neck first, otherwise I will break it just like this!" Lyon squeezed his hand before the astral broke to pieces like a slim glass slamming against the floor.

Lyon smirked before he turned around to walk to the ugly throne before he sat on it. With his hand supporting his face and his legs crossed he said, "I've already made the chance for you, an arrangement you could dream of Little Yoji, as soon as you wake up, you will meet them."

*neigh

The four stallions raised their hindlegs in anticipation as one feather from a thousand fell freely from covering Yoji. It danced against the wind and made its way outside and basked in the sky above the clattering fights from below.

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The bearer of the astral was puking blood as his soul was directly hit. His breath was panting as he gritted his teeth. There was a vow of vengeance behind that glare of his. 

"Kh! You will pay for this!"

However he coughed another blood and stained the floor red. 

"Guard!"

One of his guards immediately rushed in and was surprised by the latter's condition. However, he didn't have the chance to ask how he was before he said, "Get ready to sail! Tell mother I need to meet her! We are going.... for a war!"