"Kayden Harner, the Emperor requests your presence. Appear before the highest authority on this planet." The invitation had been made directly, and Lucas had received one of those as well.
Kayden floated without any fear towards the VIP area, where the emperor was surrounded by beautiful women. There were also a few mages in this area, one of them being Juno. In total, there were five mages in this area, and they were all single digits.
The emperor was a middle-aged man with black hair, a beard, and dark eyes. His presence was terrifying, representing the peak of political power on this planet. Every single person around him also had a menacing aura. Lucas felt incredibly intimidated as soon as he stepped into this room, and he couldn’t even speak as Kayden bowed and introduced himself.
"Kayden Harner presents himself to the most holy authority." It was a standard greeting, meant only for the emperor in this territory.
The emperor looked at Kayden but didn’t react. He wasn’t a fool, and he knew Kayden was different; something about him didn’t feel right. Kayden was practically a monster, and he would be removed from this planet in a few years. Once the god returned and found out about him, Kayden would be taken away. During that time, the emperor couldn’t harm the boy, and Kayden knew it. That was the difference between him and Lucas.
"I offer you a contract as a direct subordinate of the empire, with all rights reserved to the single digits." It was the same offer Lucas had received. The emperor could not distinguish the difference in power between the two, but...
"I offer you the entire Sword Mountain. Become my heir, boy, and I will give you every resource that can be bought in this world." Juno had never disrespected the emperor, but...
"Juno, you piece of shit, is trying to rob him right in front of me!" The two were childhood friends, and their positions didn’t change that fact.
"You can’t see this boy’s true talent." Kayden could accept either offer, but...
"I’m sorry, but you have nothing to teach me." Kayden’s words first shocked everyone, and then everyone’s first reaction was to frown.
"Arrogance has brought down more geniuses than stars in the sky, boy. Take up your sword and let me feel your way." Juno wanted to teach this child a lesson and then lure him to her side.
Kayden just touched his sword and...
*POOF!*
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Juno fell flat on his butt, unable to even finish unsheathing his sword. He felt his life being cut from his body thousands of times in just the blink of an eye. The entire environment went dark, and Kayden became a sword god with his katana. This was the aura of a sword path polished to perfection, something Juno had never been able to achieve in his entire life. In truth, Kayden had only imprinted an aura cut, but with his soul cleansed...
It was simply something far beyond what any common mortal from an isolated planet could even imagine in terms of power. Juno’s sword path was completely crushed, and the shock caused him to lose his balance.
"You! Who the hell are you?" This time, Juno reacted automatically and released all of her aura at Kayden, but saw his eyes flicker as he realized that his aura had been completely neutralized.
"I am the greatest talent ever born on this planet, and I hope you understand what that means." This time, Kayden’s voice was like a bucket of cold water.
Everyone there was one of the greatest mages in the empire, and yet they couldn’t keep up with the development of this situation. It was simply too fast for them to reason. Fortunately, it only took their seventh-realm brains a second to understand everything and decide what to do. Seeing Juno being defeated by a mere child weighed heavily on their minds.
At that point, they had two options: kill Kayden and then die when the god stepped onto this planet and discovered the truth, or give him the same treatment given to a budding emperor.
"Are you a reincarnation?" The emperor had read about it before but had never seen it with his own eyes. This hypothesis made everyone calm down, as it made everything easier and did not hurt their pride as talents.
"No, and I can sign a soul contract on that." Kayden’s voice was like a knife into everyone’s subconscious hope.
At that moment, they once again felt like mere ordinary mages facing a true genius. Fortunately, that was short-lived and was replaced by… fear. Kayden could understand part of what was going through their heads.
"I can sign another contract, promising not to fight for political power in this place. I probably won’t stay here for many years." Kayden’s words were just right to make the emperor look directly at him.
"A contract of friendship with the empire and the right to the same degree of power as the five of us, only ranking below us." The emperor threw out this proposal without even thinking it through; it was his best opportunity.
"Sure," Kayden said with a smile and found himself signing a non-aggression contract against the five and the empire. In addition, he was given great authority and many resources in the contract.
While the five of them smiled in satisfaction at having a talent like Kayden on their hands, the boy smiled at having deceived these five children. Considering their age... they hadn’t even left their mothers’ wombs yet.
Kayden had no problem destroying soul contracts in his soul or carrying them out even when he was lying, this was quite easy considering his degree of soul manipulation.
"For security reasons, we will not make this partnership open news, but whenever you need it, use our authorities." The emperor gave a seal with a little of his mana to Kayden.
Kayden was about to leave and return to his family, but he still had to finish this test anyway, this would be his way of paying his debt to his family for giving him the right to life again.