The next morning, Orion, his family, and his friends stood on one of the hills where the portal to Emperor Heaven Palace was stationed.
The place was crowded with people from all over the world.
Orion and his family came here early in the morning and yet so many people were already here at this time.
If someone were to look from high above in the sky, they would see a dense crowd of tiny, colorful dots gathered around the hilly area—people waiting to enter the portal to Emperor Heaven Palace.
The number of people on this planet was just a grain of salt compared to the throngs from all over the Magus Kingdom heading to Emperor Heaven Palace.
The seven havens, ruled by the seven Magi families, contained numerous small and large planets. People from all these havens would travel to the massive Emperor Haven star realm, from where they would be teleported to one of the many planets like the one Orion was on.
From these planets, people would finally journey to Emperor Heaven Palace. The outermost layer of Emperor Haven had numerous planets with portals: one leading people from all seven havens to these planets, and another leading directly to Emperor Heaven Palace.
In the grand scheme of things, the crowd on Orion's planet was just a drop of water in the vast ocean of people converging from all over the universe.
"There are so many people here!" Ryfin exclaimed, wide-eyed at the crowd surrounding the portal.
"The craze of the Stellar Prodigy Tournament and the emperor's centennial birthday has made this occasion a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Not many people want to miss this chance," Famir added.
Ryfin nodded, his eyes sparkling at the vast throng before them.
"Father is still not here yet?" Orion muttered.
"Give him some time, son," his mother reassured him.
Emily also nodded. "Father has to prepare for 'that' too, so he must be busy, and that's why he's taking his time."
Orion understood all of that, but he was just too excited to go to Emperor Heaven Palace.
"She has her circumstances, so forget about it," his mother said with a pitying shake of her head.
'Circumstances?' Orion thought quietly. He had heard some things about the Ravenclaw family and Elyn, and it seemed there might be some truth to them after all.
As they waited, the crowd slowly but steadily entered the portal and disappeared, though the number of people was so high that it didn't seem to make much difference. Still, people were indeed entering the portal and vanishing from the crowd.
Hours passed, and the crowd finally began to dwindle.
"Look! That's our ship!" Ella shouted, pointing at the sky.
Everyone in Orion's group turned to see the void ship of the Darkwood Family flying in the air. Unlike the Ravenclaw void shuttle, it landed at the distant hill's landing area.
"Let's go, our ride is here," Emily said to Orion and the others.
They all nodded and walked towards the void shuttle. A moment later, they arrived before the shuttle, where Barion was waiting for them.
"It seems I made it in time," Barion said with a smile.
He added: "Let's talk inside."
Barion gestured for them to enter the shuttle. Once everyone was aboard and settled in, the shuttle lifted off smoothly, gliding through the air.
As it approached the portal, the shimmering surface rippled, and the shuttle seamlessly passed through, disappearing into the unknown beyond.
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*Some gifts would be appreciated as well, but up to you.... *