As the forbidden words left Kael's lips, the atmosphere of the entire capital planet changed.

The sky, once a brilliant blue, turned a sickly shade of purple before plunging into absolute darkness.

BOOM!

The entire royal court started shaking.

Deep, jagged cracks spread out from Kael's feet, glowing with an unholy crimson light.

Deep beneath the foundations of the capital, in a secret chamber that had been forgotten by time, an ancient being opened its eyes.

For one million years, this creature had been trapped here.

It was a Great Demon that had once brought the Aetherion Empire to its knees.

Back then, it had taken the lives of three top-tier Immortal Kings and the combined strength of every sect in the star system to seal it away.

But seals are made of laws, and laws can be weakened by time.

Over the centuries, the seal had grown thin.

It had been waiting for a catalyst, a soul so full of greed, hate, and despair that it could act as a bridge.

Kael Sorus was that bridge.

Far below the palace, a white-haired old man, the true Ancestor of the Aetherion Empire, sat in meditation.

He was the secret guardian of the seal.

His eyes flew open, filled with terror.

"No!" the Ancestor gasped, his voice raspy. "The seal... it is breaking from the inside!"

He slammed his palms against the stone floor, trying to pour his Immortal King energy into the ancient formations.

But it was like trying to stop a volcano with a pebble.

A hellish laughter echoed through the cavern.

"One million years..." the voice hissed. "A million years of tasting your fear, Aetherion. Today, I feast!"

The Great Demon let out a massive snort of energy.

The shockwave hit the Ancestor like a physical hammer.

The old man, a powerful Immortal King, was sent flying against the wall.

His ribs shattered, and he coughed up golden blood.

He looked on in horror as the final chains of the seal turned to dust.

"Finally... FREEDOM!"

On the surface, the people were going crazy with terror. The planet was still shaking violently under the demonic energy.

The shaking was so violent that nearby skyscrapers began to tilt.

People fell to their knees as a suffocating, oily pressure descended from the sky.

This was not just power. It was pure malice.

Noah stood perfectly still in the center of the chaos.

His twelve generals formed a circle around him, their eyes cold and alert.

On Noah's shoulder, the small black cat, Beelzebub, flicked its tail.

"Master," Beelzebub whispered, his voice only for Noah. "This is a demon from the Great Demon Realm. Judging by the scent of his soul, he belongs to one of the noble clans. High-tier nobility, too."

Noah nodded slowly.

He could feel the aura.

It was at the peak of the Immortal King realm.

In this universe, that made him a god of destruction.

His power was at least ten times greater than the injured Ancestor underground.

"Not bad," Noah thought, a thin smile playing on his lips. "I was looking for a way to settle into this empire. Another powerful slave is approaching me of his own free will."

While Noah was calm, the Emperor was not.

The golden aura around the Emperor was flickering like a candle in a storm.

He looked at Kael, who was now floating a few inches off the ground, his eyes glowing with black fire.

"Kael! What have you done?" the Emperor roared, his voice cracking with fear.

Kael did not answer with words.

He threw his head back and laughed a mad, jagged laugh.

"Hahaha! You all shall die! You looked down on me! You abandoned me! Now, the Demon Lord will kill every one of you, and this empire, this whole world, will belong to me!"

The ground in front of the palace exploded.

A pillar of black smoke shot thousands of feet into the air.

From within the smoke, a massive figure stepped out.

The Great Demon was twelve feet tall.

His skin was the color of dried blood and covered in obsidian scales.

Four curved horns grew from his head, and wings made of shadows unfurled behind him.

His eyes were not eyes at all, but swirling vortexes of violet flames.

"Hello, little bugs," the Demon Lord said.

His voice was like grinding stones.

"I hope you enjoyed your little peace. Now, you will see true despair."

He did not immediately move to kill everyone. He needed to kill only a few and the rest should fell into despair.

He fed on despair.

He scanned the crowd, watching the soldiers tremble and the nobles weep.

He could feel his strength growing with every second of their terror.

"General! Attack!" the Emperor commanded, his face pale.

The Major General and the Captain of the Guard, both high-level Immortal Venerables, knew they stood no chance.

But they had no choice.

They charged forward, their weapons glowing with the power of stars.

"Die, monster!" the Major General screamed, swinging his heavy broadsword.

The Demon Lord did not even look at them.

He simply waved his hand as if shooing a fly.

CRA-ACK!

A wave of black energy swept through the air.

The Major General and the Captain did not even have time to scream.

Their bodies were instantly turned into grey ash, blown away by the wind.

Two of the empire's strongest men were gone in a heartbeat.

The silence that followed was even more terrifying than the shaking ground.

Kael, seeing the power of his "master," crawled toward the Demon.

"Master! Please! Grant me more power! Give me the strength to kill that boy Noah!"

The Demon Lord looked down at Kael with a look of pure disgust.

"Power? You want power, little worm?"

"Yes! Please!"

"Granted," the Demon hissed.

He reached out and grabbed Kael by the head.

Kael's eyes widened as he felt a cold, soul-sucking vacuum enter his mind.

His screams were high-pitched and horrific.

In front of the entire capital, Kael's soul was ripped from his body and swallowed by the Demon.

His skin turned grey.

His muscles withered.

His eyes became blank white orbs.

He was no longer a man.

He was a husk.

A puppet.

"Only by becoming my puppet will you gain eternal freedom," the Demon roared with laughter.

Kael's lifeless body stood up, moving with jerky, unnatural motions.

The Demon Lord then turned his attention to the Emperor.

"And you... the 'ruler' of this dirt pile. Your golden aura of faith tastes delicious. Let me see how long you can hold it."

The Demon pointed a finger.

A beam of violet lightning shot toward the throne.

The Emperor crossed his arms, shouting as he activated his golden aura of faith, the collective energy of his people's loyalty.

The two powers collided, creating a blinding explosion of light.

But the Emperor was losing.

He was pushed back, his feet dragging through the stone floor.

His skin began to burn under the demonic heat.

"Help me!" the Emperor cried out.

His eyes landed on the nobles, the guards, and finally, on Noah.

The Demon Lord laughed, stepping closer.

"No one can help you. I am the end of your lineage!"

Noah watched the Emperor's struggle with an expression of boredom.

He had seen enough.

He did not want the Emperor to die yet.

He needed the man to sign over the Count's estate and recognize his status legally.

If the Emperor died now, the empire would fall into a civil war that would be a headache to fix.

"Master, shall we kill it?" Fiona asked, her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"No," Noah said calmly.

"It is too early for a full massacre. We need to look like heroes first."

Noah looked at the Demon Lord and let out a soft sigh.

"Twelve Generals," Noah commanded.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" they shouted in unison.

"Intervene. Do not kill him yet. I want to see how he reacts to a power he cannot understand."

Just as the Demon Lord's violet lightning was about to shatter the Emperor's golden shield, twelve streaks of light shot across the square.

BOOM!

The Demon's lightning beam was deflected into the sky, where it pierced the clouds.

The Demon Lord blinked in surprise.

He looked at the twelve figures now standing in a protective line in front of the Emperor.

Each one of them was radiating an aura that was strangely pure, yet heavy enough to rival his own.

"Who are you?" the Demon hissed, his wings flapping in irritation. "Your power is strange."

The twelve generals did not answer.

They simply stood there, their SSS-tier physiques glowing with divine light.

To the Emperor and the cowering citizens, they looked like twelve guardian angels sent from the heavens.

Noah stepped forward, walking slowly through the crater-filled square.

He stopped a few feet behind his generals and looked up at the towering Demon.

"You are making a lot of noise," Noah said, his voice quiet but clear. "And you are standing on my future property."

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