The air in the ballroom was thick enough to choke on.

Noah looked around with wide, blinking eyes, his expression the picture of confused innocence.

"Oh, Mr. Kael... you are radiating so much killing intent," Noah said, his voice trembling just a little too perfectly. "What did I do wrong? I just came here to take over the legacy my adoptive father left for me. Is it a crime to come home?"

The room stayed silent.

The imperial elite, generals who had conquered worlds and nobles who had poisoned their own kin for a title, were completely speechless. They looked at Noah as if he were a rare, particularly stupid species of animal.

"Where did this idiot come from?" was the silent question hanging in the air.

Did he truly not understand that he was a rabbit walking into a den of wolves?

"Legitimacy!" shouted a Duke from the sidelines, breaking the silence. "The seal is a relic, boy, but it is not a ticket to the throne. You think you can walk in here from some backwater planet and claim a Count's title?

A Count must have contributions to the Empire! You need military merit, planetary management, and the blood of enemies on your hands!"

Technically, the Empire's ancient laws stated that the holder of the seal was the head of the house, period.

But these nobles figured a "bumpkin" like Noah wouldn't know the fine print. They wanted to gaslight him into handing it over.

"Contributions?" Noah's face twisted into a scowl of indignation. "Don't lie to me! I know how this works! And don't you try to bully me. I didn't come alone. I brought my big brother with me!"

Noah reached back and grabbed Rudi's sleeve, pulling the massive general forward.

"My big brother is a Mythical Realm being!" Noah shouted, puffing out his chest. "He is a god among men! He can crush you all if you dare to deceive me! Tell them, Brother Rudi!"

Behind Noah, the other eleven generals felt their faces burning.

They stared at the floor, suddenly finding the marble patterns very interesting. Their Emperor, a being who could erase the universe, was currently hiding behind Rudi like a toddler at a playground.

It was a masterpiece of acting, but it was also deeply embarrassing for them to witness.

Rudi, however, was a man who committed to the bit.

He stepped forward, crossing his massive arms. He let out his aura, deliberately suppressed to the very peak of the Mythical Realm.

To the immortals in the room, it felt like a mild breeze, but Rudi made sure to look as "ruthless" as possible.

"You heard the kid," Rudi growled, his voice deep and menacing. "Get out of this house. It belongs to the Sorus heir now. Leave quietly, or I'll have to be... ruthless."

To add to the "threat," the other eleven generals stepped forward and released their Epic Realm auras.

Even Noah's parents and Naomi joined in, releasing their Diamond Realm energies with very serious, grim faces.

Noah stood in the middle of this "powerhouse" group with a smug, arrogant face.

"Now, are you afraid?" Noah asked, looking at Kael. "I'm a generous person. I won't hold a grudge against you for trying to steal my house if you leave right now. Go on! Shoo!"

For a three-second count, the ballroom was quiet.

Then, it happened.

"Puffft! Hahahaha!"

The laughter started with Lady Giara and spread like a plague. The military officers clutched their stomachs, and the noblemen wiped tears from their eyes.

"Oh, please! Save us!" one officer cried out between gasps. "A Mythical big brother! And look, an army of Epic guards! I think I'm going to faint from terror!"

"Look at the Diamond Realm 'warriors' in the back," another mocked, pointing at Eric and Martha. "I haven't seen power that low since I was in school!"

Noah's face turned a bright, angry red.

He looked genuinely baffled.

"Why are you laughing?" he roared, stamping his foot. "Why aren't you afraid? I am not joking! My brother is the strongest person I know!"

"Enough," Kael said.

The laughter died down, but the mocking smiles remained.

Kael took a single step.

BOOM.

The floor didn't crack, but the air detonated.

In the blink of an eye, Kael appeared directly in front of Noah. His face was a mask of cold fury.

As a Brigadier General and an Immortal Realm powerhouse, his speed was beyond what any "Mythical" being should be able to track.

"For threatening the nobility and the military of the Empire, and for trespassing with a forged or stolen relic, you are sentenced to death," Kael said. "Die, peasant."

Kael didn't even use a weapon.

He simply raised his hand and chopped downward like a sword. A blade of pure, compressed energy formed, capable of slicing a star in half.

He intended to kill Noah, Rudi, and everyone standing behind them in a single, messy stroke.

Noah's face turned deathly pale.

He let out a high-pitched yelp.

"Big brother, save me!"

Rudi didn't hesitate.

He dived between them, throwing his hand up to block the strike.

Kael's lip curled in disdain. It didn't matter who died first. If the "big brother" wanted to be a shield, he would simply be the first corpse.

The energy blade slammed into Rudi's forearm.

CLANG!

The sound wasn't the wet thud of meat being sliced.

It was the sound of a divine hammer hitting an unbreakable anvil.

Kael's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

His hand stopped dead an inch from Rudi's skin. The energy blade shattered into harmless sparks.

He was an Immortal! His physical strength alone should have turned a Mythical being into a red mist!

"You..." Kael stammered, his arm shaking from the recoil. "How is this possible?"

Rudi didn't move an inch.

He looked Kael dead in the eye, his face stern and heroic.

"You have to go over my dead body if you want to kill my little brother," Rudi said, his voice booming with "Big Brother" energy.

The guests were paralyzed.

The mocking smiles vanished.

They couldn't believe what they were seeing. An Immortal's strike, blocked by a Mythical ant?

It was like a bug stopping a falling skyscraper.

"How is this possible?" a Duke whispered. "How can a mere ant do this?"

Noah, standing safely behind Rudi, suddenly poked his head out.

His "confused" look was gone, replaced by a nasty, mischievous grin.

"Big brother, he tried to hit me!" Noah shouted. "Slap him! Give him a big one!"

"With pleasure," Rudi said.

WHACK!

The sound was like a thunderclap.

Rudi's hand moved so fast that even Kael, an Immortal, only saw a blur.

The slap connected with Kael's jaw, sending him spinning through the air like a discarded toy.

Kael crashed into a table of expensive crystal, his body tumbling across the floor.

When Kael scrambled to his feet, blood was dripping from his mouth.

He spat on the floor, and six of his teeth clattered against the marble.

The room was silent.

You could have heard a pin drop.

Kael was writhing with a mixture of pain and pure, unadulterated rage.

He knew something was wrong. His opponent's aura was definitely at the Mythical Realm. The imperial scanners didn't lie.

So where was this power coming from?

The answer seemed obvious to him.

A Legacy Treasure.

"Well played, father..." Kael hissed, clutching his bruised face. "You disappeared years ago, but you still found a way to spit on me. You never gave me a treasure capable of bridging the gap between realms, yet you gave one to this... this stranger. I feel no regret betraying you now. You were the worst father ever!"

Kael assumed Rudi was wearing some invisible, high-tier artifact or using a hidden weapon that boosted his strength many-fold.

Noah stepped forward, standing beside Rudi.

He crossed his arms and looked at the crowded ballroom with a smug look of victory.

"My brother is the best!" Noah cheered. "Now, Big Brother, I don't like these people. They laughed at us. Throw them out!"

"As you wish, Little Brother," Rudi said with a wink.

Rudi took a deep breath.

He didn't use a spell or a complex technique.

He simply flicked his wrist.

WHOOSH!

A super-powerful gale of wind erupted from his palm.

It wasn't a destructive wind that tore skin, but it was heavy. Unbelievably heavy.

It was like a physical wall of air.

The wind caught Kael, the Major Generals, the Dukes, and Lady Giara and every other guests.

They screamed as they were lifted off their feet.

The wind funneled them all toward the massive front doors of the estate, carrying them through the air like autumn leaves.

One by one, the elite of the Aetherion Empire were "blown" out of the castle, tumbling onto the manicured lawns and gravel driveways outside the gates.

Rudi was careful, though.

He didn't kill a single person.

In the Empire, killing fellow humans, especially high-ranking officials, was the ultimate path to perishing. The Emperor's laws against internal slaughter were absolute.

If Noah wanted to take over, he had to play by the rules... for now.

Once the hall was empty of guests, the doors slammed shut and locked with a heavy thud.

The silence that followed was peaceful.

The twelve generals finally let out the breaths they had been holding.

They relaxed their "Epic" auras and looked at each other.

"Supreme General Rudi is quite the 'powerful big brother,'" Fiona teased, stepping forward with a smirk. "I never knew you had such a protective streak. Should I call you 'Big Brother' too?"

Rudi rubbed the back of his neck, his tough-guy act vanishing instantly.

"Oh, shut up, Fiona. You saw the Boss's face. I had to do it."

The other generals joined in, laughing and teasing Rudi about his heroic lines.

The atmosphere was light, far removed from the cold, calculating world of the Empire they had just entered.

Noah walked over to a nearby table, picked up a piece of expensive fruit, and took a bite.

The act was over.

The game had truly begun.

"They'll be back," Noah said, his voice was calm,"Kael is a snake. He'll go to the higher authorities. He'll claim we are terrorists or thieves. He'll bring the Imperial Guard, or maybe even an Ancestor."

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