Ashara and Azrael suddenly heard a loud toll of a bell echoing across thousands of kilometers.
Azrael looked in the direction the sound came from and saw a massive, dome-shaped stadium.
"The Eonrift is about to open," Ashara said to Azrael. "You just need to go inside the stadium, and once the Eonrift opens, the token in your hand will automatically send you into a separate space where your trial will take place."
Azrael nodded and stared toward the stadium with a burning gaze. He had been waiting to enter Eonrift for almost a year, so now that the time had finally come, he was truly excited.
The stadium was not far from their current location, and within just ten minutes, they reached its entrance.
The entrance alone was nearly five kilometers wide, and even though tens of thousands of people were entering at the same time, there was still plenty of space for everyone.
Azrael noticed that the entrance of the stadium was covered in a faint blue barrier and everyone entering the stadium appeared to be young.
The guardians who had accompanied them did not go in.
"You can’t go inside?" Azrael asked Ashara after noticing this.
Ashara nodded and patted his shoulder.
"Only people who have registered can pass through that barrier. I will wait for you out here. Be careful, and don’t act recklessly."
Azrael smiled and reassured her. "Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be back in a jiffy."
Time flows differently within the trial site of Eonrift.
Inside the Eonrift trial site, completing a trial can take as long as one month. However, once you leave Eonrift, no more than five hours will have passed in the outside world.
"Go ahead. The path to your dreams is right in front of you," Ashara said, giving Azrael a hug before stepping back.
Azrael took a deep breath, and after bidding farewell to Ashara, he walked into the stadium.
Ashara watched Azrael’s back with gentle eyes, and once he disappeared from her sight, her expression turned completely indifferent.
"You have been following us for quite some time. Why don’t you stop hiding and show that ugly face of yours?" She said coldly, looking up.
Although Ashara spoke loudly, the people around her didn’t seem to hear her words and continued with whatever they were doing.
Suddenly, the space a few hundred meters above the ground trembled, and a man in a military uniform walked out of the void.
The man stood around 200 centimeters tall and had a bulky build. His white skin was slightly tanned, and his short black hair ruffled slightly in the wind.
After emerging, the man looked at Ashara with an awkward expression before speaking.
"It’s been a while, Sister."
Ashara looked at the man for a few seconds before shifting her gaze back to the stadium entrance.
"What do you want?" She asked coldly.
The man landed a few meters away from Ashara and spoke in a bitter tone.
"I heard from the guards that you had come here. So I just wanted to meet you... and take a look at my nephew."
Ashara didn’t respond and simply stood there silently.
’Ugh... I really need to take some classes on the topic about how to coax your little sister,’ Maelir, Ashara’s elder brother thought with a bitter expression.
"Umm... Azrael is planning to join the Slayers Academy?" He asked after a moment.
Given his sister’s personality, Maelir knew she wouldn’t have come here, knowing there was a high chance someone from the Blazeheart family was stationed at the site.
But since she had come, it could only mean that Azrael intended to join the Slayers Academy.
Upon hearing Maelir’s question, Ashara finally showed some reaction and gave a slight nod.
Maelir paused to think for a moment before speaking again.
"Why don’t you come with me to the waiting lounge? It will take Azrael a few hours to complete his trial, after all."
"No need. I’m fine here," Ashara rejected his offer without hesitation.
"Don’t refuse so quickly," Maelir said, a faint smile appearing on his face. "Some of the academy instructors will also be there. Why not come along and take a look at the people who will be teaching Azrael in the future?"
Ashara’s eyes flashed slightly upon hearing this, and she recalled what Silas had told her—why she had agreed to let Azrael join the Slayers Academy in the first place.
She hesitated for a moment before finally nodding her head.
’So easy,’ Maelir thought proudly, feeling pleased that he had managed to convince Ashara so quickly. But when he noticed the cold look she was giving him, as if she could read his thoughts, he laughed dryly and flew away.
Ashara stared at him for a moment, then followed behind.
Inside the stadium, not far away from the entrance, Azrael stood among thousands of others around him.
The stadium was massive, spanning nearly two hundred kilometers in area.
As time passed, the number of people within the stadium continued to grow. Within just ten minutes, Azrael felt that the crowd had exceeded seven million.
While observing the people around him, Azrael suddenly noticed an individual who stood out from the rest.
’That guy...’ Azrael narrowed his eyes as he focused on an overly handsome young man with shoulder-length green hair and sharp, pointy ears.
Azrael frowned slightly, puzzled as to why an elf would be here.
Some of the people nearby were also casting curious glances at the elf, their expressions equally puzzled, while others didn’t seem surprised— as if they already knew what was going on.
Although intrigued, Azrael didn’t think too deeply about it and soon lost interest, knowing the elf had nothing to do with him.
Azrael waited for nearly twenty minutes as more people poured in. Eventually, the number of participants inside the stadium reached over ten million—most of those who intended to enter Eonrift had now arrived.
Just as the time for Eonrift’s opening drew near, Azrael noticed a man entering the stadium.
The moment he saw the man’s face, Azrael’s expression shifted to a frown as something about the man looked familiar.
Activating his Infinite Comprehension Trait, Azrael sifted through his memories. His eyes suddenly widened in realization as he finally recalled why that face felt so familiar.
’No.5’ He shouted inwardly.