Emperor's Reckoning

The tavern grew cold as the tension rose. The adventurers furrowed their brows which led to the rose of Lyon’s brow.

“Oh, what’s this? Why are all of you standing up? Did something bite your ass at the same time?” Lyon gave a nasty smirk as he raised his chin.

“Kh!” Aloy gritted his teeth as he faced the giant before him. He had never looked up to someone before, but here he was, and with a lot of witnesses too.

“Aloy is a fool, but he is not weak,” said one of the adventurers.

“Tch! Let go of me!” shouted Aloy as he threw his fist against the giant figure.

However, Graham easily caught the other fist with his other hand without even feeling a little push from the momentum. The absolute block made Aloy’s pupils shrink. Despite having his first coated with mana, it didn’t do a thing toward the hand that swallow his punch.

“Heh,” Lyon smirked. “Is this all you got?”

“I-I warn you,” said Aloy as he took a cold breath. “You don’t want to create a mess here with me.”

“It seems like your guild has the power of unison here,” said Lyon as he savored the view in front of him. They were all ready to pounce, the message was delivered loud and clear from the way they spare their glance toward him. Lyon snorted, “Is this really a guild though?”

“This is a guild of course,” Aloy said with a clenched jaw before he nervously smiled. “Be wise and let me go, let bygones, bygones.”

“Shameless,” said Luna audibly.

Aloy furrowed his brows but he couldn’t do a thing but glare at her.

“Bah, you throw a punch and then expect us to forget this? Did you forget your honor in your ass or something?” said Lyon with a smirk before he nodded up.

“?!” Aloy had his pupils shrunk before a giant shadow in the shape of a hand crashed against his face.

Graham lifted him up by the face before he threw him toward the nearest window.

The figure behind the window raised his brows before quickly moving away just in the nick of time that the glass shattered. He saw Aloy tumbling a few times and trailing dust along the way before stopping with his head against the sky.

Aloy’s face was grazed and light wounds made his makeup. One of his eyelids barely closed as he was kissed by the dusk of the approaching night. His temples had a visible indentation as he felt severe numbness inside his head. He hardly could focus his eyes as blood leaked out from his ears.

It only took one throw from Graham to best one of them and the tavern grew anxious toward the group.

“Heh,” Lyon snorted before he turned around and resumed his drinking.

“Don’t bother us, this is a warning,” said Graham before he joined the others.

*Clap *Clap *Clap

Three slow claps were heard almost immediately. All of the adventurers turned around before bowing their heads to waist high. “Boss!!” they called.

The figure was wearing adventurer garb that was perfect for scouting and hunting nearby monsters. He had a burnt scar across his neck that was visible to the naked eye. He had no weapons present, and his upper garment was sleeveless. His body was not as tall as Aloy’s, nor he was as muscular as him. His figure was slim and quite nimble. He had a smirk on his face as he stepped into the tavern through the broken window.

“I thought that there was something going on in my tavern, I heard the loud blast,” said the boss with a smirk. “I fear that you must pay to reimburse this damage that you cause, otherwise, we won’t be seen as fair.”

The adventurers laugh as they saw their boss smirking against the group.

“Huh, what?” The old farmer woke up from his slumber before he squinted his eyes and slowly waited for focus. “What the…” he saw the other adventurers standing and glaring at him. Their weapons, some of them were unsheathed while the rest was not, however, both states were equally dangerous. ( What just happened?!! ) he screamed inwardly before his eyes landed on the guy that had just entered through the broken window.

“Reimburse?” Kesya raised her brows. “When did that happen? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t feign ignorance now, I know you came from a wealthy family,” said the boss with a smirk. “You might be strong, but c’mon now, can you really take all of us?” the boss confidently spread his arms with a smirk.

“Hehehe,” the adventurers chuckled.

“Why don’t you give up and just do as the boss said?” said one of the adventurers laughing. “Otherwise, we would have to rough up your skin a bit.”

“Your guard might be strong, but Aloy was not really bright.”

“Yeah yeah! Pay the beads for an easy life, after all, you guys started it.”

“It’s just realigning karma, you know, hahaha!”

“Why should I do that?” said Lyon before he slowly put down his wooden glass against the table.

The old farmer gulped as he looked at the man that he thought had the highest strata amongst the group. The mischievous young master refused to be pushed around even if their numbers were immensely low. ( Great risk, great reward, great risk, great reward, great risk, great reward ) he prayed to himself.

“Oi, oi young master, our boss is the great Raksih! He once hunted a Hydra!”

“You know what a Hydra is? It’s a two-headed flightless dragon with no wings, but if you failed to manage to cut all of the heads at the same time, they will grow two out of the missing head.”

“This is why we called the guild, the Hydra Guild! Hehehe, a late welcome, but a welcome anyway, now pay up!”

“A Hydra?” Lyon raised his brows. “I guess I have heard similar legends back home.”

“There is a Hydra in your home too?” asked Luna astonishedly.

“It’s just a legend, I never met one, or they just died of old age, I haven’t read that much mythology in my spare time,” Lyon shrugged.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kesya bitterly spat against the floor to their disbelief. “If you meet a Hydra, you won’t even have a body left.”

Raksih furrowed his brows before he revealed two chakrams in his hands. “You say that you don’t believe me?”

“Are you blind? Can’t you look at the scar on his neck?” said one of the adventurers with a cold tone.

“You guys are all stupid,” Kesya snorted. “That is just a burnt mark, Hydra doesn’t spit ordinary fire, they spit corroding fire! The wound that beast left is a hole, not a damn mark! You also said that Hydra is a flightless dragon? Wrong! There is a Hydra that has more than a pair of wings on its back, the Great Hydra! Your shallow knowledge is even worse than me,” said Kesya with a snort.

( Did she reveal herself to be the most stupid one? ) thought Lyon with a wry smile.

Raksih noticed the stunned adventurers trying to process the words that were coming out of Kesya’s mouth. “Tch! If that’s the case,” he muttered before he swung away one of his deadly sharp chakram outside the window and spun away.

*Neigh!!!

The group’s pupils immediately shrunk in disbelief before the chakram returned to its master.

“Hmph!” Raksih caught the chakram with ease. There was fresh blood dripping from the blade to the ground as he let out a smirk. A loud thud soon followed by a crash was heard inside the stilled tavern.

The old farmer immediately stood up from his seat with his mouth gaping. His chest was heaving up and down before he made his way outside. His eyes didn’t blink as he passed Raksih and got through outside by the broken window.

He quickly looked over with a gulp before his pupils trembled. The entire caravan had fallen sideways, but more importantly, the horse that he loved the most, lost her hind legs.

The old horse was heaving up and down as her master called out her name in tears. “Dora! Dora! Dora! Girl, my girl! Don’t die on me! Not now, not like this! Dora!”

The hoarse sobbing was suddenly met with a kick from nearby adventurers.

“No sir! Stop! Stop!” the old farmer pleads.

“Get the fuck away from me you filth!” the adventurer kicked the old farmer away from the dying horse.

“Ngh! Ngh! Ngh!” ( Dora, Dora.. ) the old farmer felt his chest sinking as he looked at the dying horse who heaved as much as she could whilst taking a beating.