After the call ended, Sophia gave Chronos a big thumbs-up. Her face gleaming with pride at how her little brother handled himself against the seasoned Princess.

Looking down at the square through the panoramic glass window of the restaurant, it was perceptible that the crowd was quickly gathering in front of the stage. Chronos let out a conniving smile and said, “Let’s go solve your problem,” as he stood up and grabbed Sophia’s hand.

“Wait, what's your plan?”

“Follow my lead, your main goal is to aggravate and provoke a response out of whoever’s running the press conference.”

The two siblings put on a face mask and rushed out of the restaurant. The Royal Vanguards scurried behind them but were quickly instructed to shadow the sibling pair from a distance.

The Royal Vanguard leader put a finger on his ear and commanded,

“The dragon and phoenix have left the protective parameter, I sense trouble brewing, deploy squadrons 3 and 6 as back-up, snipers lock on to them, ground team scan the surroundings for potential threats but stay hidden.”

Chronos and Sophia snuck into the front of the crowd hand in hand. There were people of all shapes, sizes and colors. The anticipation was palpable, people chatted excitedly amongst themselves, cosplayers of Telluria Online were busy taking photos and there were even popular streamers giving a live broadcast of the event.

“Welcome members of our Prince Fan Club! We’re here today to finally see our mysterious hero PRINCE!!!”

“You’ve all heard about the myth, the legend and we’re just a few moments away from the start of his first ever press conference!”

“The energy here is just electric! I’m shaking in excitement! Ahhh I wonder if our Prince will finally show us his real face!”

A girl dressed up in a revealing fantasy themed Telluria Online costume was doing a live stream in front of a neon-lit drone. The live streamer was one of many, her high-pitched voice was rife with excitement, she even began to jump up and down in excitement, her long, flowing hair bouncing with every movement. Her curves swayed with every bounce, and her face was lit up with a bright, joyful smile.

Chronos leaned toward Sophia and whispered,

“Are these people crazy?”

Sophia giggled and replied,

“ Telluria Online SRPG is the single most popular SRPG in all of Tertius, their unique user count surpassed a billion just last week! “

“ And Prince is within the top 5 of most popular and influential personas in the game… how do you not know??”

“Well… I use it solely for combat practice, so I usually just log in, fight and then log out…”

“...” Sophia stared at her little brother unsure what to think. On one hand she was proud that he was so hardworking but on the other she felt an indescribable heartache for him not enjoying his childhood.

“Chronos! Chronos! Is that you???” a young boy’s shout interrupted Sophia’s thoughts. Following was a chubby 5-year old looking kid with two suited bodyguards by his side squeezing past the crowd.

“You’re a fan of Prince too? I’m his number one fan!!” TaoTie said panting, bent over with his chubby hands on his knees. There were two model swords dangling clumsily off his back and he had a replica of Chronos’s in-game outfit.

“Who’s this cute fatty Chronos?” Sophia asked, amused at the comical sight.

TaoTie glared at the mention of the forbidden “f word” but Chronos quickly introduced,

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“This is Senior Researcher Dolus’s grandnephew I told you about…”

“And this is my second sister Sophia”

TaoTie’s chubby face looked up after having finally caught his breath, his eyes widened as his cheeks started to blush while absentmindedly muttering,

“Are you an angel?”

Sophia giggled in amusement, even though the sibling pair had face masks on, their regal aura and good looks could not be hidden. Sophia’s silky white hair ran down her sleek black business suit like a glimmering waterfall and her set of white irises glimmered majestically in the sunlight.

*Smack*

Chronos hit the back of TaoTie’s head, inciting the displeasure of his two built bodyguards,

“Watch how you look at my sister!”

“*ahem**ahem* At ease… It’s a pleasure to meet you. I'm TaoTie Erinyes…” Little TaoTie waved at his bodyguards and shook Sophia’s hand.

Their brief meeting was interrupted by a resounding roar.

The three turned their attention to the podium set on the stage ahead of them and there was a young man with sharp features and piercing eyes, who strode onto the stage. His multi-colored hair swayed in the wind as his earring glimmered in the sunlight. It was Ken Yamamoto, the rumored heir of the Yamamoto group.

With a deep breath, the young man began to speak, his voice clear and strong.

“Greetings, citizens of Astral,” he said, his words echoing out of the futuristic drone speakers hovering around the stage, “ Today is a monumental milestone in the growth of Yamamoto Media Group! “

As he spoke, the young man’s proud eyes scanned the crowd, taking in the faces of the multitude of journalists, reporters and a wave of fans. Under the spotlight of the army of drones live streaming and recording the press conference, he announced,

“We the Yamamoto Media Group have managed to sign [ Prince ] of Telluria SRPG as our official brand ambassador! Without further ado, let’s give a round of applause to the one and only Prince!!!”

ROAR!!!

The wave of fans erupted into a resounding symphony of thunderous applause and cheers. Amidst the deafening welcome, Chronos felt his Comms Watch buzzing, a direct message from sophia materialized,

“What do you plan to do?”

“Just follow my lead!”

Chronos took a minute to scan the surroundings, accurately spotting the location of each Royal Guard and the people under Ken. His eye glowed a regal white for a moment and saw a slight glow exuding from only one of Ken’s goons.

Ken walked to the side of the stage beside his goons and a masked person took the stand. He was the splitting image of Chronos’s in-game character.

“I’m Prince and truth be told I owe my success to Ken and Yamamoto Media group, without their…”

*BAMMM*

The fake Prince was slammed into the back of the stage by a model sword. The crowd instantly fell silent.

Chronos shot a look at Sophia as TaoTie’s dumbfounded stare fixated upon him. The sibling pair levitated on the stage in an imperious manner.

“What’s going on?”

“OMG! Who are they?”

“ I think that's Princess Sophia? Am I hallucinating?”

“Did they just strike our hero down?? WTF??”

A murmur of muffled voices started spreading across the wave of fans while the reporter drones started flickering excitedly.

The fake Prince struggled to stand up but still let out a gut-wrenching roar,

“Who the fuck are the two of you?! Security! Take them down!”

*Vrooosh*

A blur of metallic black and neon purple pierced toward the fake prince and sliced off one of his arms.

“AHHH!!!”

A shower of crimson sprayed outward, the crowd once again falling into silence apart from the occasional gasps.

Ken Yamamoto clenched his fists, his face flushed red in anger. A crazed look started to manifest on his face and veins started appearing at the sides of his temple.

“KILL THEM!!!”

He commanded, this was supposed to be the day he shone. His plan would finally gain the approval of his family and solidify his place as the one true heir.

*Cracksss* *Cracksss* *Crackss*

A row of shots blasted in a straight line ahead of Ken and his group of goons, threatening to take their lives if they took another step.

At this time, the sibling pair had already taken off their face masks. Chronos took the stand with Sophia by his side. The fake Prince was now levitating by their side with Chronos’s dimensium blade hovering menacingly by his throat.

“You were spared for not knowing who you’re impersonating, the arm is payment for your insolence toward Astralian Royalty… But you have only one more shot at keeping your life…” Chronos said overbearingly.

With a flick of the wrist, the microphone levitated toward the fake Prince’s mouth. Completely unmasked, the fake prince was now sweating bullets, visibly trying his best to avoid the dagger at his throat but to no avail.

“S..STOP… Ken Yamamoto paid me to act as [ Prince ] to increase his influence within the Empire of Astral! “

“I’ll tell you everything I know, I’m just a paid actor… please I have a family…”

“He’d also mentioned that this is an important step in consuming all the media companies in Aion and by controlling public opinion, he can one day take down the entire Empire…”

*GASP*

The entire crowd instantly let out a concerted gasp of shock.

Chronos shot Sophia a glance, signaling her to act. Sophia quickly took control of the microphone and said condescendingly,

“The audacity of a good-for-nothing spoiled brat to concoct such a silly plan, you’re a disgrace to your Yamamoto Family name…”

“To all the citizens of the Kingdom of the Onogoro… This boy claims to be better than you? With this low of an IQ?”

Ken’s face was red with fury as he seethed with anger, his pride wounded and his composure shattered. He had been publicly humiliated, and his reaction was one of intense, uncontrolled rage. In a crazed roar he screamed,

“YOU FUCKING BITCH! What did you s…”

*Vroosh*

A familiar black and purple blur shot straight toward Ken before he could finish his maniacal outbreak. This time however, one of his goons who was obviously a cultivator, jumped to his defense.

“ Royal Vanguards … seize these terrorists!” Chronos let out a resounding command, his voice echoed imperiously, an overbearing aura radiated across the parameter of the square.