CHAPTER 150: EX 150. DISPLAY

The Governor had many children, hundreds, maybe thousands. The man had lived since the Age of Chaos. That gave him a long, long time to get busy.

But of them all, only five were worthy of the title Supreme Heir. Not just due to birthright, but because they’d awakened Supreme Talents.

Yakamoto Hiroshi, firstborn,

Kenji, the second

Ren, third,

Sakura, fourth,

And finally, Nikko, the youngest. The anomaly, or the mistake, according to some.

Sakura had once held the place of the youngest supreme heir with pride. Then Nikko awakened. A child of a Grounder mother. A nobody. And yet she stood among them.

Sakura smiled a lot, she giggled, laughed, hugged her siblings. But behind that mask was something festering. She wasn’t just bitter, she was something worse.

A supremacist.

She despised Grounders. And those born from them.

She had led the silent war against them. Whispered poison into the hearts of their already anxious siblings. Made them believe that anyone beneath them deserved pain. Deserved to fail. Deserved to be broken.

Nikko’s awakening was a slap to her face.

She should have broken. Should have folded under pressure.

But she didn’t.

She rose. Grew stronger. And that strength made Sakura’s skin crawl.

She needed a moment to crush her. This banquet, this stage, was supposed to be a step to it.

Instead, she was dismissed like a fly by Leon Kael.

That humiliation still stung as she turned to Nikko with eyes full of venom.

"Sister," she said, her voice curdled with contempt, "is this how far you’ve fallen? Playing bodyguard to this thing beside you?" She sneered at Leon. "I knew you were pathetic, but this is just sad."

Her polite façade crumbled. There was no cheer now, only the twisted rage of someone watching a world she built collapse around her.

Before Nikko could speak, Leon leaned back in his chair and muttered loud enough for the entire room to hear:

"...Is it just me, or do I smell shit?"

Silence.

The air turned thick. Every soldier within earshot froze, unsure if they’d misheard.

But they hadn’t.

Leon didn’t even look at Sakura. He casually took another bite of meat, chewed, and glanced at her as if she were an annoying fly buzzing around the dinner table.

And across the entire hall, one single, shared thought echoed like thunder in their heads.

Shit.

****

The air was thick with tension, the kind that made even breathing feel like a risk. The entire hall was frozen, locked in the stunned silence that followed Leon’s final jab.

Then,

A soft giggle broke through the stillness like a ripple across glass.

Elizabeth.

Her hand rose to cover her lips, but the amusement in her eyes gave her away. Across the table, Nikko, normally stone-faced and silent, showed a rare glint of mischief. Her expression curled into a small, sharp grin that could cut glass.

She leaned forward slightly, voice calm but venomous, "It seems to be coming from the front."

A beat. Then she added, "And this one smells like demon shit, the ugly kind."

That was it. Elizabeth burst into a full laugh, tipping her head back.

Leon just kept chewing his meat. Like he hadn’t just shattered the fragile ego of a Supreme Heir.

Sakura stood there frozen, jaw slightly open, eyes wide, not with shock but disbelief.

Her voice trembled with fury beneath her forced composure. "Are you... talking about me?"

Leon’s response was smooth, and casual. "No, Supreme Heir. How could we?"

A pause.

"But if you feel like that... I won’t judge. Everybody has the right to be what they want. Including shit."

Laughter exploded again, but this time it wasn’t just Elizabeth. Some soldiers turned their faces away, others bit their lips to stop the chuckles that threatened to slip. They knew better. Unlike Leon, they didn’t have a Supreme Heir at their back.

Sakura’s expression cracked. Completely. The mask she wore in public, the polite smile, the refined tone, crumbled into raw fury.

But before she could unleash it, Leon raised his voice again.

"You wanted a display, right?"

She blinked, as Leon wiped his fingers on a napkin and stood slowly. "I think it’d be fun. Let’s see what you’ve got installed."

Sakura’s eyes narrowed. But just like a switch her sweet voice returned, the venom hidden behind fake warmth. "Oh? Since you’ve agreed, you can’t back out. Why don’t we take this outside?"

Leon cracked his neck once.

"No problem."

Just like that, the room erupted into motion.

What had started as a victory party for newly promoted soldiers now shifted into something else entirely.

Elizabeth, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, let out a long breath. Her smile hadn’t left her face.

’Why does this always happen when we attend parties?’ she thought. ’Can’t one end without Leon being challenged?’

But deep down... she wanted to see it. Everyone did.

The crowd surged behind them as Leon and Sakura led the way, heading toward the open training ground. The real show was about to begin.

****

The training ground lit up as soldiers gathered along the edges, buzzing with anticipation. Word spread like wildfire, Colonel Leon Kael was about to put on a display. Even those who hadn’t seen the party drama could feel it in the air.

A display in the Federation wasn’t just for show. It was tradition. A stage to prove your worth, through strength, skill, or something insane. The higher your rank, the higher the bar. For an Azure Colonel, that meant A-rank feats or more.

Leon knew what the crowd was expecting, and he knew Sakura was not going to make it easy. But that didn’t mean he was going to let her write this script.

He stood in the center of the field, casually stretching his shoulders while Elizabeth leaned on a railing and Nikko stood silent nearby, her arms folded. But Leon could tell, her mood hadn’t improved. Not until Sakura was shut up.

’She had the balls to call Nikki pathetic,’ Leon thought. ’I’m going to crush whatever she throws at me, no matter what it is.’

His face was unreadable, the same blank mask he wore when he was in battle. But beneath the surface, his rage simmered hot.

This wasn’t going to be a performance.

It was going to be a warning.