Chapter 292: Chapter 10: Grand Ceremony of the Star Empire, the Returning Saints

Year 60 of the Star Calendar. Star Empire, Imperial Capital, Dawn City.

「Before a city gate.」

"Attention, citizens of the Empire. Hearing this message means you have entered the Empire’s no-fly zone!"

"All citizens of the Empire, please land immediately and queue in an orderly manner for city entry."

"..."

Magic Spaceships landed one after another in the Docking Area outside the city, and streams of passengers disembarked.

At the same time, Transcendents and Professionals from many different Races who had flown to the Imperial Capital under their own power also ceased their flight Magic and landed in the area.

Meanwhile, the ethereal voice of the magical transmission reached every Imperial citizen who entered the Docking Area.

"Wow, so this is the Imperial Capital? It’s huge!"

"Did you guys see it from the spaceship? The entire capital is covered in buildings! You can’t see the end of them."

"And there are so many people! How long are we going to have to wait in line to get into the city?"

At that moment, within a group of Beastmen who had just disembarked, the Kobold replied to a very young-looking Minotaur beside him.

"You obviously didn’t do your research beforehand. Don’t you remember the personal identity badges the Empire rolled out six months ago?"

"We just need to scan our identity badges at the city gate. Our identities will be confirmed instantly, and we can go right in."

"And as for the crowd, of course it’s huge. This is the Empire’s Founding Celebration, which only happens once every ten years."

"Besides, I heard from my mentor that there’s a rumor circulating among the high Nobility that the great Dragon God is going to perform a Miracle this time."

The Minotaur, dressed in an apprentice’s uniform, was taken aback. He immediately asked with curiosity,

"Huh? Is that really happening? Why didn’t my mentor tell me about it?"

"Tell you? With that big mouth of yours, everyone would know in no time. I’m only telling you now because we’ve arrived at the Imperial Capital. I wouldn’t have said a word otherwise."

"Besides, we were lucky to get tickets to the Imperial celebration in the first place. It wasn’t easy. If you went and blabbed and got our eligibility revoked, that would be a total waste," the young Kobold said, looking at the little Minotaur with disdain.

"Huh? Is it really that serious?"

"’Serious?’ Hmph, I think all that Magic practice has made you stupid. Don’t you ever watch the Empire’s news channel?!"

"The Empire’s Founding Celebration only has thirty million spectator slots open to those from outside the Imperial Capital. Twenty-five million of those are reserved for the Imperial Capital District. Think about it: that leaves just five million slots for nearly four billion citizens across eighty-six Religious Countries. Imagine how insane the competition is."

"That’s why the eligibility requirements are so strict. Anyone with a bad reputation or a criminal record has zero chance."

"If you started spreading rumors about the Dragon God, Your Majesty, who knows what would happen? You could be charged with spreading malicious rumors. The punishment would be the least of your worries—losing your eligibility is the real disaster!"

"And haven’t you noticed how low-key our group leaders—the upperclassmen from our Religious Country—have been? They’re trying to avoid any slip-ups that might cost them this chance to visit the Imperial Capital."

Hearing the Kobold’s explanation, the Minotaur flinched and immediately lowered his voice, saying nervously,

"Oh, so that’s why... I’ve been cooped up in the Meditation Room trying to reach the Entry Tier lately, so..."

"Well, there’s no point in being nervous now. You should’ve paid attention earlier. Still, I have to say, you’re one of those lucky fools."

"...."

The two Beastman apprentices kept chattering, while the Docking Area was bustling with people.

Young people from many different Races streamed off the spaceships, all chattering excitedly amongst themselves.

Meanwhile, just behind this group of Beastmen, two figures who had also just disembarked from a Magic Spaceship—Human Professionals, judging by their attire—stared up at the sky, an unreadable silence falling over them.

It was because, at that very moment, the skies above the entire Imperial Capital were filled with countless bizarrely-shaped ships, constantly crisscrossing the sky.

At the same time, the Imperial Capital itself was a vista of countless skyscrapers.

Towers as clear and radiant as Magic Crystals pierced a thousand meters into the clouds.

Clustered around them were forests of ordinary, box-shaped buildings.

In short, the entire Imperial Capital District was a landscape of meticulously planned residential blocks hundreds of meters tall, yet it still retained wide, spacious streets.

Higher still in the sky, the colossal Divine Hall could be faintly seen, suspended high above the Imperial Capital.

Yes.

The Divine Hall was floating, positioned three thousand meters in the air directly over the center of the Imperial Capital.

They looked from the dense, orderly traffic of flying vessels in the sky down to the low city walls of the Imperial Capital before them.

Both of them remained utterly silent.

As they turned and walked out of the Docking Area, they saw the hundreds of densely packed queues branching off toward the city gates. Everything felt so alien.

Following the signs, they picked a line at random and queued up, all the while communicating with each other via Spiritual Transmission.

"Is this still the same world we knew?"

"It’s been less than five hundred and thirty years. How could everything have changed so drastically?"

"This transformation... it’s truly bewildering."

The man looked at the scene before him, his expression one of sheer astonishment.

The woman, however, frowned.

"These Outer Gods... no matter what they’ve built, it doesn’t change the fact that they are invaders."

"As things stand now, there’s probably no one left in this world who even remembers the gods we once worshiped."

"How are these invaders any different from the Giant Demons? They simply defeated them and stole our world for themselves."

"And as for them ’mercifully’ preserving our world’s Bloodlines... that’s only because their civilization happens to include the Human Race. We must not be deceived by this facade."