Emperor's Reckoning

Lyon could feel his heartbeat was increasing in pace but his breathing was absolutely calm even though the ancient tree and its almost infinite branches kept bashing at him. Not a single thing that coming out from above or under the ground managed to get close to the red blood sword. With its ability to drain, Lyon could keep up with the branches without a doubt. There was not a single misstep from his end as the leaves kept turning brown and the roots turned brittle.

"You said my cultivation is low! Hah! How laughable. This is getting boring, I'm going to use my fingers instead!"

Lyon shouted before he started to use his index and middle finger to destroy the incoming attacks instead of his knuckles. This powerful display was actually being observed by the lady with the purple lips through another eye that floated with farther distance from before. 

"Oh my."

She gasped as she put her right hand over her purple lips. She gulped at the sight of the feat that little body could do as her eyelids forgot how to close. She kept reminding herself that the little guy was actually still a peak Divine Realm Cultivator, the lowest compared to the rest of the Crown winners. 

"Yet, he is keeping up with the ancient being, extraordinary! What a species, what a mortal! So this is the power of the one that evokes the perfect resonance! The contender for the empress!"

Lyon smirked, "What's wrong Golden Wise Tree? You are getting slower and slower each half a second now."

On the contrary, the ancient being didn't answer his remark anymore. All of its concentration was pointed toward finding an opening that should have been easy with its long experience of living, however, not one spot, not one moment of a short window of time did it found any. 

"Alright, this is getting boring, Golden Wise Tree, heh. Feast Scarlet! Feast!"

Hearing the will of its master, the red blood sword spared no time and drained down the very core vitality of the ancient being without holding back.

"Why! Young man, why are you doing this to me?! What harm have I done to you?!"

"Heh, please, old tree, do you wait to get hit first before you hit back because it's your right? OR! Do you hit first because you know you were threatened?"

"What do you mean?!"

Lyon smirked with disdain on his face, "I know that you know that I.. am... pretending to take a nap!"

"Else, why would you muttered loud enough for me to hear. You thought that I would keep on pretending to take a nap, to keep my act so that you can swim inside my soul and traverse my sea of memories? You know every mortal is vulnerable once something gets inside their soul."

He said all of the words while he kept repelling the now slower branches and roots attack from the ancient being.

"Not to mention that you refuse to let me go and be on my own way, that last part seals the deal. However, what is your intention in keeping me here? I do want to know, heh, but not that bad."

"You're really sharp!"

The Golden Wise Tree didn't hesitate to praise the impossible young man even though he was about to end its vitality. 

"You perceived things differently than the others! Critical! However, your cultivation is too shallow to keep up with your mind."

"Now, now, just from that tone of yours, I know this giant tree is not your entire life. You are too calm, are you tired of pretending to be helpless? Heh, you make this too easy, you old trunk!"

"Hahahaha! Fine then! This victory is yours!"

Lyon smirked before he halted his fingers against the incoming branches that stopped imminently. The latter crumpled before it age at a dangerous speed. The golden leaves immediately turned brown before they cracked and became pieces of remnants of what the Golden Wise Tree used to be.

The giant tree trunk shriveled as Scarlet was brimming and beaming with vitality from the ancient being. Crackles upon crackles could be seen forming with naked eyes at concerning speed as the skin of the wood flaked off and rest on the grasses of the meadow.

"We will meet again, young mortal! I've set my eyes on you!"

Those were the last words from the dying Golden Wise Tree before all of its vitality was absorbed by Scarlett.

Lyon shook his head with a smile before he descended down by using his pair of tails that kept him floating in the air for a while. His little bare feet felt the ground before he grabbed the hilt of Scarlett. 

"Hm?" 

He slightly creased his eyebrows before he noticed how the red scarlet blade turned a darker shade than before. He pulled out the sword before the giant tree instantly collapsed like a speck of rain dust. Under the shimmering day, the red blood sword was no longer as red as fresh blood and he could see its gradually turning into a darker shade.

"Hmm... the thicker the blood the darker its color, I see. I wonder how powerful you are right now."

Lyon smirked before he muttered, "Conveniently, there is a good target for that."

The veins in his right arm popped before he swung the sword in his right hand down vertically in the direction of the floating eye. The wind instantly broke as a slash with the shade of black traversed forward against the floating eye before seamlessly cutting it in half and continued further to the air before it dispersed naturally.

The lady behind it had a jolt of shock as her body slightly trembled the moment the magic brand broke once more. After regaining her calm with a breath she shook her head with a smile on her face.

"Broke again, even though this time I made sure to be as clear and as far away as possible to not be detected. Lyon Torga, despite being so young, had so many tricks upon his sleeves. Oops, he was topless."

The lady crossed her legs before she contemplated with her hand on her chin, "Brazenly entering this plane, fighting against an ancient being that gave advice to the youngsters and only wearing long black pants. Does he really think that this is just a game? Either way, I'm sure that we will meet later. However, he gave out his locations by fighting that loudly, I wonder how he will fare next time. In the meantime, there is an anomaly running rampage here in this plane."

Her eyebrows creased as she camouflaged herself with her surroundings.

---------

Meanwhile in the Blue World, North City.

Under the unprepared onlookers that watched the leaderboard. Something suddenly propelled out from the gate before it rolls on the middle of the street. They were surprised by the sudden elimination but before they could gather around the eliminated one, another one follows.

The same thing was happening in South City. The Crown winners were puked out from the gate and rolled on the street before being followed by the others like them. 

The West City and The East City were experiencing the same thing. Multiple people were getting eliminated in a short window of time. 

"Tch! Who was that woman?!"

One of the Crown Winners from the East City shouted with his eyes opened wide and teeth-gritting. There was nothing but contempt on his gaze. 

"I've never seen anything like that! She took on ten people at once!"

"Her spear arts is unbelievable! However, how come she was not among the Top Boards?!"

"She left black lightning on her wake, crazy, she only glanced at me before I lost."

Fei and the rest of the group immediately picked up their hearings. There was only one woman that they knew filling those characteristics. They moved in unison before gathering around the Crown winners, ultimately Fei with her sharp eyes asked.

"Is she safe? Is she alright? Is her hair still black?!"

The winners were flabbergasted by her sudden question before they nodded

"How did you know that her hair was black? Is she one of your relatives?"

"More than that!"

They were taken back once more before they realized the one questioning them was wearing a maid's attire. 

"Err, okay, she is safe for now."

"What do you mean for now?!"

"That girl with the huge spear, she is right now, the moment I left, was facing off against one of the Top Boards."

"Who?"

"Garuda's Daughter, Ayumu."

---------

"I was heading to the loud noise of battle, but here I am meeting someone interesting. Who are you? I'm sure you are not on the list."

The pink-haired girl dimpled her cheeks as she looked at her opponent who was a few steps away.

Black lightning was surrounding the lean figure that was standing straight with her reverse-gripped spears pointed to the ground beside her feet.. Her mouth was grinning as she landed her gaze against Ayumu.