The weekend had arrived. With it, was the first day of November.

Selina thought back to the time he found the black cat in her fridge, stealing her food. It was almost a year now.

They had done many things together and went to many places. Selina never expected that the little cat she picked up would secretly be a Dark Lord from another world.

Selina got ready early in the morning and drove the black cat to the AE Forges.

There weren’t many participants at the moment yet as the event wouldn’t start until late noon.

But the host and staff of the Hymn were already there.

Rowan directed everyone to make the final touch to the festival and double-checked everything himself.

An entire area was dedicated to the Hymn of Battlefield, this year it had triple the size than last year. There were just too many people.

Two hundreds participants from all kinds of backgrounds. There were also many more participants that didn’t met the criteria to join Mater’s army but they were still there to enjoy the large battle scale. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The participants loitered around, talking to each other.

"I have a question. We’re all here. And we’re on the same side. Who are we going to fight?" A role-player said.

"Maybe we would split into teams later?" A cosplayer replied.

The black cat and his Goth girl were on a hill overlooking the entire area. Mater and his servants had secretly constructed a large ritual on the surface of the festival. But no one could see it.

A large Octagram pulsed gently just one layer beneath the dirt.

’Whenever you’re ready, Master.’ Crow’s voice echoed in the group chat.

’Do it.’ The black cat replied.

Crow nodded toward Erin.

In the middle of the Hymn was a large construction of stones. These stones formed a circular barrier with Crow and Erin in the middle.

Erin placed her hand on the rock pillar. This pillar was shorter than the rest and was about the height of her hip.

"The Everlasting Wild... Heed my call." Erin mumbled.

Her passive ability allowed her to create a gate toward the Fey Realm at any time. By using her as a catalyst, Mater could open a large portal to Telara’s Moon Court.

Obviously, this endeavor was still above the power level of a Rank-2 like Mater. Even with the help of a Chaos Ritual.

However, Telara was helping him from the other side so the task became much easier.

Within Erin’s hand, a glowing blue orb formed on top of the rock pillar. It shined so brightly that it attracted the attention of everyone even in the middle of the noon.

"What is that? Does the event start already?"

"Woah! Sublime VFX! Technology these days can be so impressive!"

"That girl has cat ears? Is this a Furry convention or something?"

Then, the blue orb expanded, it covered the entire AE Forge, not just the area that the Hymn of Battlefield was happening.

"What are you doing, Telara? You said only 200 hundred people!" The black cat growled loudly.

"Sorry. Complications. The Sun Court is at my neck." Telara’s voice echoed back.

There were at least 400-500 people attending the LARPing event that weren’t in the participants list. There were also the staff, employees, even hidden Psychosmiths working beneath the AE Forge.

Everyone was being pulled inside the Everlasting Wild.

"Ah, sheesh! This Queen is causing trouble again." The black cat was also engulfed inside the blue orb.

When Mater opened his eyes again, he was no longer in Aeliz City. Instead, he was at some grass field with a starry sky.

It was night inside the Everlasting Wild. The stars pulsed and danced around in the sky like they were alive.

The truth was, they were alive. Everything and anything inside the Everlasting Wild could become sentient. That was why most of the Fae were animal-based hybrid. Because they had been animals before.

But animals were only one type of Fae. Tree could become Fae. Rock could become Fae. Literally anything could gain sentience here.

The black cat had spend quite a lot of time here. He stayed here for a few decades almost, to steal the power of the Fae and their techniques.

"Hmmm? My strength... It feels different."

Mater stepped forward. His entire body transformed and grew larger. He turned back to his old self, the slimy dark-haired charlatan with a wicked smile.

He should only be able to do this at Rank-4. But was able to use it now.

Mater widened his eyes. "I almost forgot... The Everlasting Wild is a realm of the mind. The mind dictates the body in this world, instead of the other realms.

My soul was a Rank-4 Warlock. So my strength here is a Rank-4 Warlock. Instead of a Rank-2 feline."

Mater grinned wider and wider. If he could use the power of transformation here...

The dark-haired man rubbed his hands together greedily and licked his lips. "I’m coming to you, Selina."

The man jumped up and tried to use one of the spells in his previous life. He fell face first on the grass.

"What?"

Mater got back on his feet and tried another spell. It didn’t work.

He might have the power of a Rank-4, but he did not have the spells of one.

"My previous Dark Grimoire was destroyed. Everything was destroyed. I don’t have a Rank-4 Chaos Circuit either. I might be able to use Rank-4 power in this realm, but I can only use what I have in the real world.

Tch. Fine."

Winds wrapped around the dark-haired man. He used Omnimotion and Carrying Wind at the same time and launched himself to the sky. He needed to find Selina and his servants, this place was simply too dangerous for them to wander around.

Rank-3 and Rank-4 beings were basically everywhere.

At the same time, Selina found herself woke up in a dry woods. She got back on her feet and looked around.

"What is this place?" Selina mumbled.

"It is the Everlasting Wild, my queen." Forus answered. The helmet was hanging loosely on Selina’s hip.

Mater had given the Abyssal Helmet to her previously in case they were separated.

Selina saw lights in another direction. She put the helmet on for extra measure.

The Abyssal Armor wrapped around her. Forus was even more powerful than before and Selina’s mind could have been controlled. But Forus would never do that. He let Selina feel the entirety of his power.

"You grew quite strong, Forus." Selina flicked her arm, summoning the long blade Senko in her hand.