Emperor's Reckoning

The sky unfolds as the bell chyme and reverberated across the entire city and beyond the sea. The light was dawned from above and it shimmered the onlookers as if miracles had come to visit. They were all went agape as if they received a blessing from Heaven themselves. 

The sound wave traveled in the air before it traversed above the land and faraway reach. The sea of grass swayed against it before the sound reached another city.

Dong!

"Wha, what's happening?!"

"The sound, it's not coming from the ashen bell!"

"It's coming from outside the city!"

"Amazing! A resonance!"

"Who could have been so powerful?!"

"It must be one of from the Top Boards!"

The same thing was happening in South City. The woman who was about to cast her spell held her incantation before letting out a smile as the huge ashen bell rung. The onlookers were naturally surprised along with the other competitors and only the ones that had some capability smiled in response. The desire to fight in their eyes was apparent.

Finally, the fourth city, the West City, was feeling some impact tho it was lesser than the other two since it was the farthest from the source. However, their surprised expression was in no way lesser than them.

"Wha?!"

"Who?!"

"Impossible!"

"Why is he topless?!"

"Is that? Is that who I think it is?!"

"The one that was sitting on top of the carriage! She belonged to the top boards!"

"Garuda's Daughter! Ayuku Mai!"

"But! Who is that shameless driver?!"

The young man was topless as he held the reign of the horses. The luxurious carriage lost its glow as he was the driver. He wore nothing but long black pants and his face looked nonchalant to the onlooker's disgusted face. Either it was confidence or just being shameless the ones who knew him couldn't differ the two. 

The pink-haired woman suddenly jumped from the top of the luxurious carriage before she smiled with a hint of curves on her cheeks.

"Thanks for the lift!"

"Sure thing, Ayuku!"

"See you soon, bye!"

Lyon immediately answered with a smile and a thumbs up. Though the gesture was normal in day-to-day conversation it was not for the onlookers.

"W...What?"

"Th-They know each other?"

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"I mean, she won't just let anyone take her on the road."

"She said, 'see you soon'. No way, no way, I refuse to believe that they are in a relationship!"

The onlookers immediately began to speculate what they thought of from just that single dialogue exchange. They all started to look at the topless young man more carefully as if he was an item from another world. They looked at his face with squinted eyes before some of the females suddenly fell into a whirlpool of charm that mercilessly drowned them to the deep abyss of affection.

"Isn't he kind uh... charming??"

"Well.. he is not handsome but, that mysterious black eyes of his seemed to hold more than what it seemed."

"His charisma is.. overwhelming."

"Is he also one of the Crowns?"

"I don't know, maybe, but I would like to see him in action..."

The women suddenly turned a red hue as they imagined things on their own to the dismayed of the men. 

Lyon turned a glance against the center of the city where a huge ashen bell was erected. He smirked with a smile that would only make people root for him before he turned around and the luxurious carriage made his way toward the nearest inn.

Meanwhile, Ayuku was waving her goodbye before another female approached her. 

"Ayuku, what took you so long?"

Ayuku raised her eyebrows before she turned around and looked at the woman. 

"Ah, well, some emergency came up and I just late for a little bit."

She had light blue hair and was the same age as Ayuku. However, even the way she stood was in contrast to her. Her eyes rarely opened fully and were often left half-opened. She seemed disinterested in the world around her but Ayuku. She hid her figures under a sulking gray cloak and her beauty was often dismissed by her lack of 'living' bearing.

She tilted her head to the side to see the luxurious carriage behind Ayuku before she straightened it up and looked at Ayuku in the eyes with a glare that looked more like a sneer. 

"That's your carriage."

She didn't even ask if that was Ayuku's carriage. She blatantly told her the fact. Ayuku could only smile wryly as she scratched the back of her head with an innocent smile.

"You really never beat around the bush now do you, Madoka."

"Madoka?.... as in the High Witch, Madoka?!"

"Oh my god! We got ourselves another Top Boards Crowns!"

"This year is deemed to be exciting!"

"They said this generation is auspicious one!"

Madoka didn't care what the onlookers were saying as she tilted a little bit before seeing the back of the head of the driver. Nobody knew what she was contemplating in her mind nor could they guess. She blinked before Ayuku noticed her gaze.

"Madoka, are you interested in him?"

Ayuku lightly pulled out her cheeks as she grinned with dimples on her face. She stretched it far and wide before she played them like a dough. 

"It hurt, it hurt."

She didn't even put an intonation on her words as they lay flat without any emotion. Ayuku let out a chuckle after she let her go. Madoka's cheeks turned bright red as they got a little bit puffed up.

"Uw."

She held her cheeks with her hands as she looked at Ayuku before asking, "You sold your carriage?"

Ayuku was a little bit surprised before she shook her head, "Nope. I didn't sell it. I just lost a bet and that guy was kind enough to let me hitch ride hahaha."

"Oh. Well, that is the prize of gambling, you win some you lose more."

"Heh... I was sure that I would win the bet but in the end, he won it fair and square."

"What's the game?"

Ayuku smiled, "If he could make a level three Godhood Cultivator fall to the ground with just five attempts, then the luxurious carriage is his. Which as you now know the result."

She shrugged her shoulder as she could only surrender the pleasant carriage. However, she didn't tell the person inside the carriage that managed to take her down to the ground with a single kick.

Madoka was slightly surprised, "He won? With that cultivation level of his?"

Ayuku smiled before she nodded. She walked past her before she whispered, "With only two punches."

Madoka's eyes instantly opened wide. She knew Ayuku would never lie to her, however, the story was too unbelievable to be true. She looked at the fluttering hair of the driver before she noticed the latter took a glance to the side and revealing a smirk. She was almost instantly sent to another world that made her heart thumped.

Ayuku's voice woke her up from a stupor before she nodded. She turned around and walk to the queue.

Dong!!

The huge ashen bell suddenly rang on its own before the next in line even do anything.

"Huh?" the man was at a loss since he was just standing before it suddenly rang on its's own. As the onlookers scratched their heads before they realized something.

Ayuku furrowed her eyebrows, "Someone evokes a resonance."

"A resonance?!"

"Amazing! Who could have been so powerful?"

"Must be from one of the Top Boards."

The onlookers immediately took a discussion on their own and dismissing the man who was in front of the bell.

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East City.

Kaiju smirked before he was stepping down in pride.

Dong!

His eyes opened wide before he instantly turned around, "What?!"

A resonance had occurred in the East City as the man from the North City retracted his fist.

Dong!!

A louder resonance occurred once again to Kaiju's disbelief, this time it was coming from the South City where there was a burnt mark on the huge ashen bell as the woman stepped down with a smirk.

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Meanwhile in the Center City where there was a room where only a handful of people could enter, stood Sophia behind the woman who looked at the view from the huge window behind the desk.

"Look's like this time is going to be amazing. Each of them evokes two resonance each, now it's just from the West City is left."

Dong!!

Sophia raised her eyebrows before the woman in front of her chuckled.

"There it goes, it's as you wish."

Sophia turned a red hue on her cheek, "However, Empress, they still couldn't contest with you, the only one that could evoke three resonances, ringing all the bell from four of them with just a knock of your fist."

The empress was holding the flyer before she injected mana and an image was generated above.

"You will see why that I put that nickname before his name soon."

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