Not long after the crowd dispersed—
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The deep sound of a bell suddenly rang throughout the capital. Its sound rolled across the city like a tidal wave, and the noisy streets gradually quieted.
The common people looked up as the countless cultivators stopped talking.
All the visitors wandering through the Opening Festival instinctively turned toward the center of the city.
The final bell had sounded…
The Opening Ceremony was about to begin!
* * *
Central Square, Realm Door—
After the bell, the atmosphere had completely changed.
The excitement that had previously filled the festival had gradually transformed into anticipation.
The Royal Ring Secret Realm, one of the greatest opportunities on the Cross Continent, the reason everyone had gathered here, the reason countless experts had traveled across the sea, and the reason nobles, sects, clans, and adventurers had all converged upon the capital city of Llynun—
It was finally time for it to open!
As the final moments approached, the various powers gathered together.
Petra had actually missed the opening of the secret realm in Imai, so this was her first time seeing it.
She was quite excited.
Gathering around the central stage, the crowd stretched as far as the eye could see.
A bird glided down and flapped through the crowd, and like a camera sweeping across the audience, one could spot many familiar faces.
The Blue Sea Guild and its many Guild members occupied an entire section of the square. The Dragon Clan stood together, their towering figures and draconic pressure making them impossible to miss. The Demon Clan, concealed and hidden, remained slightly more discreet, although their unique appearances still attracted a bit of attention. Representatives from the Telltera stood silently near the outer perimeter, and countless overseas experts occupied numerous viewing spots.
The elites from the United Army stood proudly, and the Imperial Army maintained order throughout the square. Representatives from the Sky Tower, the Black Tower, the Storm Tower, and the Royal Tower each occupied their own territory while quietly observing everything around them.
Students from Amaranda Academy had also arrived: one horse girl and one bunny girl, and several of their companions stood together while nervously discussing something.
Then came the Four Great Families: the Gallon Family, the Dimebeck Family, the Barak Family, and the Azurefell Family. Each occupied their own section of the crowd, and each carefully observed the others.
If one looked closely, the young masters of all four families could be seen within the crowd.
Excluding the group of beautiful girls from the Azurefell family, the other three were no different.
Finally—
Everyone's attention shifted toward the massive platform containing the Realm Door Formation.
At the same time, the royal family had just appeared…
The emperor stepped onto the stage, and beside him stood Rotell, and behind her stood Rolilly. The three of them stood together, albeit a bit awkwardly! Mm, very awkwardly!
The emperor looked serious, Rotell looked tired, and Rolilly looked annoyed. The atmosphere between them was strange enough that even the spectators could feel it from a distance.
The emperor cleared his throat and began speaking.
His loud voice rolled out, and all the spectators listened.
At the same time, behind them, Rotell shifted in place, clearly a bit too excited to enter the secret realm. She wore a light set of armor with a royal lion theme. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, and she looked around at the countless faces that had gathered.
Rolilly, unlike her sister, seemed more impatient. She wore a female battle dress with a similar royal design, lion-themed, with the Hellion Family's colors of red, white, and gold. She stood straight, looking around with cold eyes filled with seriousness, but her small face couldn't help but look a bit cute.
Both girls had lion motifs, and both girls held stunning appearances.
If not for the importance of the event, there was no doubt that they would be the center of attention.
Regardless, after a very long speech—an extremely long speech, the sort of speech only aged rulers seemed capable of giving, it was finally time to start…
-
Meanwhile—
Petra was also fidgeting, in fact, she was stomping around so much that Wind was beginning to lose her patience. Her small feet tapped as her twin tails bounced up and down, and her head continuously turned left and right because there were simply too many interesting things!
She wanted to run around and poke some people.
She wanted to collect new treasures and cause some chaos.
In her mind, the possibilities were endless!
She eyed the crowd like a greedy little beast, sending shivers down one's spine with each glance.
Her gaze drifted toward a pair of black-cloaked figures in the distance.
She could feel that these two were from the Tibon Family.
They had a similar aura to Lithra and Lethra, and also a bit like Mells' arm. It was like a malevolent force, but more ethereal, like a soul-deep sensation that slowly spilled from their bodies.
Then her gaze moved toward the Gallon Family, Barak Family, and finally landed on the busty beauties from the Azurefell Family. Petra thought, 'Indeed, her decision was correct!' She nodded at her work, suddenly feeling like sparing those people was correct.
Then, her big black eyes moved towards the Dragon Clan.
Petra immediately narrowed her eyes.
Her mind turned, and she thought to herself, 'What were they really here for?' She doubted that it was simply because they wanted to enter the Secret Realm. There was no lack of secret realms where the Dragon Clan came from, and the Royal Ring Secret Realm couldn't be over 1,000 years old, so there had to be another reason. Whether it was malicious or something else, she didn't know, but as long as it didn't affect her, she wouldn't get involved… probably!
From what she knew, the Dragon Clan rarely traveled without a reason.
Did they want something inside? Were they trying to do something on the Cross Continent?
Were they just here to cause trouble?
Maybe all three…
Who knew?
Not her!
Hahaha!
Wind: "..."
Mell: "..."
The two girls looked at Petra, who had inexplicably burst out laughing with a weird expression.
Just then, Petra noticed something even stranger.
As she looked over, her gaze met another pair of interesting eyes.
She saw Rifrit, the red dragon, looking over. The moment their eyes met, he seemed to freeze.
Silence!
For some reason, the red dragon's eyelid twitched violently.
Petra grinned!
Suddenly, Rifrit's face changed, and he looked like he really wanted to eat someone. Oh yeah, he definitely remembered! How could he not? Petra had teleported him to a latrine!
"Hehehe~"
Wind looked down at Petra again.
Seeing her suddenly break out into a giggle fit, her brows furrowed, wondering what had happened.
For some reason...
She wasn't sure she wanted the answer….
* * *
Hooong!
The world shook.
A vibration so deep that it shook the entire capital ran through the earth.
The emperor had finished his speech, so after a few words from Rotell and Rolilly, the opening ceremony had concluded.
It was time.
The emperor reached for his waist, and there, a second sword, completely crimson, was unsheathed. Swoosh! The moment the sword was drawn, a spiritual energy filled with an incomprehensibly complex aura spilled out, washing over the crowd.
The realm key took the form of a guardless red sword forged from an abnormally solid crimson stone. Its blade was distinctively blocky, etched with intricate glowing runes that pulsed like a slow heartbeat down the length of its blade. The grip was deceptively plain, but the weapon radiated a volatile energy, seemingly ready to tear open the fabric of space at a moment's notice.
This was the 'Realm Sword', a kind of 'Key' that was needed to open the Royal Ring Secret Realm.
The emperor moved to the center of the formation, and while holding down the sword and pointing its tip towards the center, he thrust it down, and a crimson light erupted from the sword's tip.
Wooom!
A huge gust of wind blasted out over the crowd, pushing many people back. The sky seemed to change color as strange illusions began to twist in and out of reality. The sound of chimes echoed, carefully containing this world-encroaching light, while countless formations flickered to life, responding to an unseen force in the dark.
The Realm Door was manifesting.
The massive gateway in the center of the formation erupted with a multicolored light.
A red sword floated in its center, and countless threads of violet light entangled the Realm Sword and this strange and indescribable multicolored cloud.
The altar was an ancient and majestic structure covered in countless runes, and as they continued to light up and entangle, the scenery produced by this phenomenon was breathtaking.
Slowly, as the illusions became more and more real, the realm key began to rise from where it had been embedded, until—with an earth-shaking crack, it left the formation and began floating in the center of the storm. The moment the sword touched the auroric light—
HOOONG!!!
A massive wave of spiritual energy exploded outward!
The crowd gasped as the intense wave of energy washed over everyone.
It was warm and comfortable, stimulating those exposed with a euphoric sensation. All the pores on their bodies felt as though they were opening, and their breathing became incredibly easy. Their minds seemed to clear up, and their bodies became healthier. Injuries slowly healed while everyone's cultivation began to unconsciously rise.
People instinctively stepped forward, their hearts racing as their blood boiled.
Their desire to enter the secret realm skyrocketed.
Fame, Fortune, and Opportunities, the wheel of fate turned, welcoming them all to a prosperous future.
The Realm Door seemed to whisper these promises directly into each of their souls.
Even Petra blinked, momentarily affected by this supernatural pull.
"...Aoh?" Her little mouth fell agape.
She understood that whatever power was affecting her mind came from an incredible source, because Petra was basically immune to all mental attacks. Since this strange aura could affect her, that could only mean what it was targeting was something unfathomable to the current her, and indeed, she was right to think that, because the phenomenon of connecting two worlds had nothing to do with one's mental state, instead, it was a resonance on a higher dimensional level that affected the 'two anchors.'
No wonder so many people wanted to enter! This thing practically advertised itself~!
Just then, an official stepped forward.
"The Royal Ring Secret Realm is now open!"
Boom!
"Woooooooooooooooo!"
Cheers erupted as everyone began to move!
* * *
From the back, Elena quietly watched everything unfold.
As the Realm Door opened, some old memories resurfaced in her mind.
Not memories of this life, no—memories of another. She saw Rotell arguing with members of the Blue Sea Guild while hiding in a tree. She saw a Tellterian arrow flying from the horizon and striking with mountainous force. She saw Rotell nearly die, and she saw the red dragon intervene with his ulterior motives. She saw the deal they eventually made, and she saw countless events that would happen in the secret realm, all of which had either been witnessed personally by her or divined during her third life. These were things that would happen, and they were all things that would snowball toward the future.
The Royal Ring Secret Realm was not a huge event, but this node would change many things about Rotell and Rolilly's relationship in the war that was to come.
Naturally, Elena could intervene, but she once again decided not to interfere because doing so would change too much in a future calamity. Although she already knew that it was likely too late, she still had a bit of hope that the butterfly effect wouldn't completely alter the future she knew. As for Rotell, with whom she had a close relationship, although it would be hard, Elena knew that she would get through it.
This was an event that would involve Rotell, the Blue Sea Guild, and the Hellion Empire.
But Elena frowned.
Her eyes swept past the crowd.
"Is there really any hope that things will stay on track?"
She sighed.
Eventually, her gaze landed on a group of black-cloaked figures.
Elena wondered why the Demon Clan was here…
It was obviously another anomaly, but…
She shook her head
She really didn't know if the same events in the past would happen. Perhaps… just because Petra existed, the future had already changed into something unrecognisable.
After a long moment, Elena suddenly smiled.
She turned away.
"...Good luck, little sister," she muttered.
This time, it wasn't her stage…
* * *
The Realm Door fully opened.
A crimson vortex formed in the center of the multicolored light, rotating within the massive gateway.
It was time!
After a few final words, the event organizers began to lead people in.
The surrounding crowds began to slowly enter.
The Dragon Clan was the first to enter, namely Trili, Rofill, and Popo, followed closely by Atllin and Lilit. After them came the students from Amaranda Academy, followed by a wave of adventurers. Next came the Demon Clan, the Four Great Families, and one group after another disappeared into the portal. Rotell entered with a few people from the United Army, then Rolilly entered with a cohort of palace maids and imperial guards. More and more cultivators followed. The dark races, the Blue Sea Guild, the overseas experts, and countless others all entered without hesitation.
Finally, after everyone had entered and the central square was sparsely populated—
Petra was the last to step forward!
Tap, tap, tap!
As she swaggered in, Wind and Mell followed by her sides, with Rose and Lira close behind.
The one small child and four maids drew everyone's attention.
Petra wore her black mage's robe with her big goofy hat. She had a satchel at her side and big black boots on her small feet. Concealed within her hat was a small snake, and slumbering in her hood was a big fat frog. Her eyes sparkled, and she seemed completely unaware of the surrounding gazes.
Petra hummed as she walked after the crowd with a cute little smile on her innocent face.
Being as famous as she was, countless eyes naturally turned and recognised her.
Hundreds of bounty hunters watched her enter as countless spies slipped away.
The infamous little green-haired menace had appeared at last!
Petra swaggered toward the portal with her hands hanging to her sides.
Her expression was calm.
Confident!
And completely unbothered~!
Looking at the swirling gateway, she couldn't help but wonder—
Was this going to be a new instance dungeon? Or… just a short interlude?
After thinking about it for a moment—
"Hehehe~"
Either way sounded fun…
* * *