Emperor's Reckoning

Lyon turned agitated as he saw the dragon lady poured out her tears without even blinking. He could see her tightened up upper lips as a clue that she was trying her best to cope her feelings down. His eyes suddenly turned sharp before he slowly closed down his mouth. His entire aura and bearing changed in a blink of an eye. One couldn't put the him that was burning his own sleeves versus now, even though nothing was out of the ordinary from the outside.

He tried to reach his hand toward her face before the latter suddenly opened up her beautiful draconic wings. The silver wings were shimmering under the moonlight and sea of stars. With one flap of her wing, she floated and giving lunar its cover. She slowly put up her sword against him with tears still rolling down her cheeks. 

Her throat was dry as her voice turned hoarse, "Pick up your sword."

Her glittering eyes finally blinked as she saw him with a request of pity. He could see her soul right there and then before he crossed his arms. His bare feet slowly floated away from the ground before they stood against each other.

The gemstones were glimmering from below and the stars were blazing from above. The forest could only stand in silence as they marveled at the two. 

Lyon took a breath before he put his hand forward, "Feast the blood of your enemies, Scarlet!"

The red blood sword heard the call before it plunged itself from the ground toward its owner. Lyon swiftly caught it before letting a swing or two. He smiled as he looked at her beautiful eyes that had scared many.

The two of them didn't speak but both of them knew from each other stands that neither of them will use any art. Just pure skill of a swordsman and a swordswoman. Mana was just there as an attendee. 

(Please! Please let it be you!) thought the dragon lady before she forced her eyes into focus. She took a deep breath before she put one of her feet forward.

The two of them blurred by a single step as nature was bewildered by a fraction of a second in which both of them disappeared before a sonic boom brutally reverberated the area. The clash of two swords produced sparks as some of her tears jumped out of her cheeks. Both owners looked at each other, not with a glare but mixed emotions.

Both were repelled by each other's force to a great distance but Lyon didn't hesitate before he quickly parried one of her invisible thrust that was made from breaking the wind. He had fought her before, though the last one didn't exactly exchange blows, he understood her fighting style. 

He only got a short window of time to breathe and he must choose them carefully, else, he would lose the fight. He blinked once before he felt a cold shoulder, he noticed the dragon lady was already under her nose with her sword ready to slash upward.

(Please! I beg you! I'm tired of waiting anymore!) shouted her heart before she slashed upward.

Lyon nimbly moved away with a single hair of his being cut and immediately fluttered against the wind. He furrowed his eyebrows before he returned the assault on her. Though their base cultivation was vastly apart from each other like heaven and earth, under the metallic rings of their swords, they were equal.

If experts were to saw them, they would be basked in epiphany. Both of them were gorgeous, they were not fighting to kill each other though it looked like that to the common people. They were fighting to understand each other. Every slash was a meaning, every clash was a short dream.

The dragon lady suddenly increased her tempo and forced Lyon to keep up with her. A young man not older than twenty years old was keeping up against an ageless dragon lady. They were born different, Lyon didn't even use a shred of mana nor the blessing his grandfathers gave him, yet, his existence questioned the limit of human's potential.

Blows after blows and Lyon finally sweats profusely. He didn't even have time to sneer but his smirk was everlasting. He grinned before the two met a stalemate. There was a hint of satisfaction under those panting breaths of his. He never worked out this much sweat since the training with Karina inside that forest.

(Looks like I'm hitting my limit here, hehe, sorry lady) thought Lyon before he distanced himself from her.

"Hah, hah, hah," Lyon smiled, "You can go on forever, but I will fail to keep up eventually."

The bandage around his waist was already red due to the opened wounds. His rigorous movement was challenging his very fibers and tendons. The bruises on his body were like a button of pain that regularly kept him awake. However, the dragon lady acted as if she didn't hear him and leaped forward.

Though her opponent was a wounded young man with experience that was incomparable to her. Her truth was much more important than the honor of the one that owned a sword. She was tired of waiting, she wanted it to be the truth. So far, Lyon was the closest one that she ever met that was close to him.

(I couldn't even remember his face anymore but! I know it was not a dream!) thought the dragon lady as her tears keep pouring as she poured her thrusts against him.

He could only smile as he kept on dodging, though he was not as nimble as before. His clothes were shredded little by little yet none of the thrust grazed his skin.

He finally gritted his teeth as he found a chance before swinging Scarlet against her unbreakable sword. The clash was short before the dragon lady propelled away in a distance.

"Hah, hah, hah," his breath was panting uncontrollably but a smile was still planted on his face. His shoulders were down as blood finally dripping from the bandage. His eyes were stinging from his own sweat as he couldn't keep his head straight anymore.

Both of them knew the next clash will be the last one. One single strike to determine the winner of this fight.

Her jade hair was fluttering with memories as she took her ultimate stance. The whisper of the wind rhymed her soul with a memory she always kept alive. The voice of that man suddenly rang in her ears after so long as she leaped forward.

Lyon smiled before he did the same.

The two once again blurred their figures under the naked eyes of nature. However, no clash was heard this time. Both of them had exchanged places as they both stood facing away at each other. Lyon coughed out blood before he fell. The dragon lady didn't turn around as the hair tie was cut. Her graceful jade-green hair was fluttering against the night wind as her shoulder turned cold.

.

.

.

"..Hey, what would you do when you are one on one with a powerful swordswoman??"

"Hmmm..., I did meet a swordswoman before, she is quite cute too, I tried to woo her before getting my ass kicked haha!"

"Well then that's because you are not focusing on her but her body instead, pervert!"

"Hey! She was the one that offered me to touch her boobies you know! But she lied and kicked me! Sometimes I still felt the pain from that time."

"I'm serious! What would you do if you are at the final bout against a powerful swordswoman??"

"Maybe shredded her clothes with my nimbly raw sword techniques!"

"Does your pervertedness overcome your common sense?! You would die!"

"But before I die, I would see a gorgeous goddess under those robes!"

"Unbelievable..."

"Welp, it's time for me to go!"

"Will it be next day, next week, or next month?"

"I have no idea actually haha! I heard there is this moving library or some sort."

"Library? Hahaha!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, I get it, I'm not the type to read books."

"But you sure tell me a lot of stories, though half of them are erotic! How could you tell something so obscene to a princess like me?!"

"But you are a dragon with beautiful eyes, like a slash of a sword—"

"That cut through jade, yeah, yeah, yeah you said it ten times already."

"Wow, you counted? Well, I'm honored!"

"Oh please, I only remember it because you are not only human but also a creature dumb enough to approach me with just a wave of a hand! They usually scurried away once they saw my eyes and realized my identity but you immediately praised me before you even got off the little boat as if it was your second nature."

"Hahaha! See you later!" the young man gave her a wave.

"Ah..., that idiot," muttered the girl as she watched him went to the horizon with his little boat. She put her hand against her chest as she smiled, "Next time when we met, I will tell him for sure. Next time... next time... next time...!!!"

The dragon lady opened her eyes wide as her tears jumped away. She immediately turned around before she flew toward Lyon's falling figure. Her hand reached out to him as her robes slowly ripped by itself as if someone had intentionally cut it. 

She didn't care about her naked body as she immediately embraced the fallen man. Her lips immediately conjoined with him as she spread her wings as wide as possible.. The very moon was reflected upon those wings as well as the blazing stars.