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Having finished all the preparations Emery planned, the Royal Hunt finally began with the arrival of the next day. The group gathered in the backyard at the first morning light, but when they were about to head to where the event was being held, they found that Tatyana was waiting for them at the gate of the residence.

"Brother, please let me join the hunt," she said when she met Emery's eyes.

As it turned out, the upgrade that occurred last night seemed to have affected the brown-haired girl as well, giving her the extra strength she needed to resist the grand magus' influence.

Unfortunately, none of them could be completely sure about it, so it could still endanger her and the whole pack. Emery shook his head in response. He gestured for the others to follow as he was about to walk past her. But unexpectedly, it seemed Tatyana was unwilling to back down so easily.

"Please brother, I have to do this." Looking him in the eye as she stepped in his path, Tatyana said, "I need to join this, to prove it to you and myself."

Actually, the more she insisted, the more Emery worried it was not her who was speaking. Nevertheless, he was about to refuse her again when Beowulf suddenly interjected, making him reconsider.

"Let her participate. I will stay close and watch over her."

It was actually an accepted idea. If the old chief were to be by her side, Emery could keep tabs on her actions and also solve the [One Mind] communication problem with the old chief. After spending some time weighing the pros and cons, Emery decided to let her in.

With that, the group set off for the Royal Hunt.

But then, another figure stopped them. Annara came from outside the residence, her breath a bit ragged as she came in running.

"Great, I didn't miss you."

Under Emery's confused gaze, the red-haired girl took out a box and handed it out to all of them.

Apparently, the red-haired girl had come from picking up a set of uniforms, which were predominantly black clothes with silvery lines as accents and one that was specifically tailored for Twilight fangs pack.

Not only that, she had prepared them for the whole pack, including Tatyana, which was bizarre of her. It was as if she had predicted that the brown-haired girl would join the Royal Hunt with Emery and the others.

"I didn't expect you to be so considerate and generous," Emery said with a suspicious look on his face. After all, the uniforms Annara gave them were high quality suits comparable to Tier 4 armors – the finest materials that could be found on this planet.

Facing Emery's suspicious gaze, Annara quickly said, "Just think of this as sponsorship from me. When you all win, be sure to not forget about my support in this," a cheeky smile on her face.

Emery sported a frown in response to her words. Both of them knew the so-called sponsorship came from the pockets of Ouroboros, yet the way she phrased her words made it seem as though she was the benefactor. What a cunning person indeed.

However, after seeing everyone wearing the new uniform, there appeared to be a morale boost among the group. The uniform brought an inexplicable sense of cohesion, something Emery very much appreciated.

The whole wearing uniform heading for a tournament gave Emery a glimpse of other similar things happening in the past. A group of friends together trying to win a competition.

However, before he was about to get a glimpse of their faces, he was interrupted by Annara saying, "Go win that Hunt!"

"All right, Twilight Fang. Let's go!"

Emery and his pack of 6 jumped into the streets, making their way through the sea of people as they headed towards the Silvermane Arena.

The venue was a huge magnificent construct, no less than the Magus Academy's Grand Assembly Hall. At a glance, it seemed able to accommodate several hundred thousand spectators at the same time.

The bustling crowd was filled with mostly wolf half-bloods; the unfamiliar spectacle did not fail to amaze him. To think he would be able to see so many of his kins gathered in the same place. It was truly a festive event.

Cutting through the congregation of people, Emery and his group made their way to a different entrance to the venue. Stepping into the passage that led to the registration area for the Royal Hunt, the pack followed right behind him.

With two magus in their team, Emery's Twilight Fang should be enough to be considered the top pack among all the participants. Of course, they still weren't enough to earn the respect of those wolf packs made up entirely of magus.

Especially when they were aware of what kind of people were on Emery's team. In no time, jeers and ridicule were heaped on their way.

"Hahaha, look at that group. They brought two girls and an old man. What a bunch of wannabe."

"Hey don't say it like that. They are probably one big family" He said with a laugh "Gramps and his grandkids"

The two were deliberately talking as they passed each other so Emery and the others could overhear their conversation. Annoyed, Emery stopped in his tracks and retorted.

"Apparently, a magus can be childish as well."

Needless to say, his words angered the pair of magus. Just when it looked like they were going to escalate the situation, they quickly stopped. The reason was because a famous group was approaching.

Jason Corvin and his full elite magus team, some members had been replaced after they fell for trying to capture Tidus the Chain breaker.

When their eyes met, Emery could see the young master of the Corvin family shoot him a challenging look.

"Don't even think about winning this time"

Feeling confident, Emery stood tall saying, "We shall see."

After the Corvin pack left, they were approached by another famous group, to be precise, infamous. At the same time, the arrival of this particular group prompted the two magus to turn pale, forget their intentions and leave Emery's group alone.

It was a group of magus with white tattoos and bones ornamented on their bodies: the Bone Coyotes.

"Yo, Evan," greeted the leader of the group, Freaki, who Emery had met at the festival. "Good to see you on board. I'm really looking forward to seeing our two packs battle it out." He then added, "There are so many joining this time though. Hope you can pass the first round," before chuckling and leaving with his pack.

Arriving at the registration area, Emery finally saw what Freaki meant. There were indeed a lot of half-blood packs gathered, with just a glance he could count at least 5,000 people, meaning around 800 wolf packs had decided to participate in this year's Royal Hunt, nearly triple compared to the last event five years ago.

Among the sea of people, Emery spotted familiar groups. There were at least three packs coming from the three major factions, Corvin, Karts and Locarios. They clearly stood out from the crowd with their faction sigils attached on their uniform. N0v3l--B1n was the first platform to present this chapter.

There was also another large group of more than 50, at least a dozen packs wearing blue military-like uniforms. They were the Talbots' packs, veterans of the battlefield.

Other than that, Emery recognized another group made up entirely of fox half-blood women from the Sacred Rose. He also saw three groups bearing the Ironcrest emblem.

Finally, he noticed a few fierce-looking groups looking at him angrily, which he quickly recognized as part of the rebels. Seeing their attitude towards him, Emery couldn't help but think they had blamed him for Frostmind's capture.

Many groups with various factions and organizations behind them were present at this place. Then there was Emery, who had come without anyone's support.

Just when Emery thought there would be no friendly faces among these people, a group of large figures in metal armor approached him. Among them was one that Emery recognized, Doopa of the Titanium Wolf.

The huge man was the slave wolf half-bloods he had set free from the Desert Watch City.

"Senior Evan, I am glad to find you here."

Doopa brought with him 8 other saint realm metal wolves, all appearing similar to him.

"I brought my brothers here to participate"

Apparently, Doppa and his brothers were part of the groups of sympathizers of Tidus the Chain breakers, there were dozens of them who came to show their support for the cause.

[You have successfully registered to the Royal Hunt]

[Twilight Fangs]

[Leader: Evan Valerious]

[Members: Morgana, Beowulf, Andrei, Yoro, Tatyana]

Less than an hour later, all 5,000 participants were summoned to the arena, where the audience was ready to welcome them all.

To be continued