A sharp, cruel laugh echoed right from the steps behind him. Seki stepped forward, pushing past his older brother without a shred of the admiration he had shown just the day before. The permanent smile on his young face had twisted into a malicious, arrogant sneer. 

"You really lucked out, didn't you, stupid brother?" Seki laughed out loud, his eyes flashing with opportunistic cruelty. "Get out of the way. It’s my time now."

Seki marched proudly up the podium toward the stuttering priest. Kaito, stumbling backward like a ghost, looked out into the grand audience. The reverent whispers had mutated into pointing fingers and mocking jeers. 

"Is that freak really the Duke’s eldest child?" a noble lord scoffed. "A sponge? What an evolutionary joke."

Kaito’s eyes darted frantically across the room, searching for a single anchor of safety. He looked at his mother, Lady Sazuna—the woman defined by absolute kindness. But as Kaito’s tear-filled eyes locked onto her, Sazuna looked away. She drew her silk veil across her face, completely hiding her gaze from him, refusing to look at her disgraced son. 

Then, Seki pressed his hand against the altar. 

The golden statue detonated a second time. This time, the light was not grey or broken. A massive, majestic crimson dragon materialized in the air above the altar, its jaws opening in a world-shaking roar that shattered the upper glass windows. Right beneath the dragon's shadow, an ethereal aura of a golden Sword God manifested, wrapping tightly around Seki's body. 

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[DIVINE REGISTRY TERMINAL LOG: PRODIGY ALLOCATION]

*   NAME: Seki Shinsei

*   BLESSING GRANTED: SOVEREIGN OF THE SWORD GOD [EX-RANK]

*   RACE ELEVATION: PRIMORDIAL KINGS-CROWN DRAGON

*   TOTAL RACIAL LEVEL: Dragon Sovereign (Lv. 10)

*   TOTAL CLASS LEVEL: Divine Apprentice (Lv. 25)

*   SYSTEM EVOLUTION: INSTANT SKYROCKET FROM LEVEL 5 TO LEVEL 35!

  

*SYSTEM EVALUATION: COMPATIBLE WITH ELITE MILITARY GUARDS STANDARD.*

─────────────────────────────────

A Level 35 combatant at age twelve. He had instantly surpassed elite capital knights before even leaving the church stage. 

The entire cathedral gasped in absolute, breathless awe. Spectators physically pushed each other out of the way, trampling over the seating just to get a closer view of the kingdom's new ultimate prodigy. Kaito was shoved into the shadows of the pillars, completely forgotten by the rushing crowd. 

Lord Kazuno stepped forward, his eyes locked exclusively on his newly elevated dragon-son. As he swept past the trembling, broken form of Kaito, the Duke didn't even look down. His voice dropped to a freezing, lethal whisper that pierced straight through Kaito's heart.

"Leave my sight. Cast yourself out of my territories," Kazuno commanded coldly, his heavy boots clicking rhythmically against the stone floor as he walked away. "And never dare throw out the sacred name of Shinsei again."