"Well, everyone's here. If there's nothing else to handle, let's prepare to enter the Secret Realm."

"Is everything okay?" Han Xing asked.

The crowd was silent for a moment.

Shen Yun then asked, "Brother Xing, speaking of which, once we enter the Secret Realm, won't the territories remain unguarded? Could that be a problem?"

Han Xing shook his head and said, "Don't worry about that. You can overlap your territories with mine, and I'll modify the defensive instructions of the Spiritual Shield to cover your territories as well."

"Then set the attack program of the Siege Crossbow Arrow Launcher Platform. If anyone attacks the Defense Shield, it'll automatically retaliate."

"Then, display the puppets from the last leaderboard rewards, and there should be no issues."

After hearing this, everyone nodded.

Han Xing's Siege Crossbow Arrow Launcher Platform has proven its power, even capable of handling multiple attacks with ease and destroying them.

With so many Golden Armor and Silver Armor Puppets, it's like an impenetrable fortress.

At this moment, Su Xiaoyang cautiously added, "If we encounter danger, Xiaoqian will help fight too..."

"It... it may look scary, but it's obedient."

Everyone looked at Su Xiaoyang's Leader-Level Tree Demon at level 10.

A Plant Series monster, and at Leader-Level, its combat capability even surpassed Han Xing's Golden Armor Puppet.

Han Xing nodded, "Since there's no problem, let's enter now."

Then, Han Xing invited Su Xiaoyang to join the team.

This team of five had taken its initial form.

And Han Xing naturally became the team leader.

He approached the Cloud Secret Realm vortex, and at this moment, a system prompt appeared.

[Do you wish to enter the Two-star Cloud Secret Realm, 'Knight Judgment Arena'?]

"Yes."

The vortex began to rotate slowly, indicating the Teleportation Gate was open.

Han Xing stepped in first, followed by Cheng Jianyong and Shen Yun, and finally Zhang Lianmeng and Su Xiaoyang.

With a flash, they found themselves in a massive plaza.

This plaza was extraordinarily vast, roughly estimated to be at least tens of thousands of square meters, with the floor paved with green-gray stones.

In the center of the plaza stood a gigantic statue about twenty meters tall, with a base diameter of more than five meters.

It depicted a human knight with a shield raised high in the left hand and a Holy Hammer in the right.

The simple pose displayed an extraordinary aura.

Beneath, a magnificent horse stood with head held high, highlighting the knight's heroic stance even more.

However, at this time, the statue was toppled from the middle, lying in two pieces.

Thick dust covered the ground, and the knight's former glory was no more.

At that moment, a system prompt appeared.

[With the neighing of horses and waving of flags, this was once the Judgment Arena of the Human Race Empire, where Knight King Grotar frequently judged the guilty.]

[Witnessed by the empire's three thousand elite knights, the guilty would be beheaded here.]

[Until one day, the Knight Judgment Arena welcomed a different group of sinners. Today, they would publicly judge the Knight Commander of the previous empire, Lymes, along with his three hundred Azure Heaven Knight Order members.]

[As the right-hand man of the Knight King, Lymes contributed immensely to the empire's rise, but recently, Grotar sought to sentence Lymes to death under the charge of betraying their faith.]

…

Everyone was momentarily puzzled.

Cheng Jianyong said, "What the heck? How is this Two-star Cloud Secret Realm different from what we played before?"

Han Xing nodded, "It is somewhat different; it even starts with an introduction."

Before they could digest this, they suddenly heard a resounding cheer.

"!!"

The five instantly went on alert as the previously empty ground was suddenly filled with thousands of phantom figures.

They were all chanting one name,

"Grotar!"

"Grotar!"

Everyone glanced toward the spectator stands' empty spot, which held a gigantic throne carved from a single stone block.

At this moment, Cheng Jianyong exclaimed, "Whoa, does this thing have a cutscene?"

"By the way, is this Lu'erta so formidable that he wants to execute his own right-hand man?"

Shen Yun exasperatedly said, "It's Grotar, Cheng Jianyong, be quiet and watch what's happening."

Amidst the crowd of thousands of knights, a man clad in white armor with a resolute face sat upright on the throne.

He rested his face on his hand, his gaze sharp as he spoke loudly downward, "Lymes, do you admit your guilt?"

Below, the members of the Azure Heaven Knight Order, bound in shackles, were forced to kneel. They had been stripped of their glorious armor and dependable steeds.

These knights, once radiating brilliance, were now stripped of their radiance, showcasing sheer misery and despair.

Seeing no answer, Grotar spoke again, "Lymes, do you admit to violating the kingdom's code and committing acts unfaithful to the God of Light?"

On the field, more than three thousand knights involuntarily turned their gaze.

They seemed unable to believe that Lymes, the most loyal and courageous knight commander to the kingdom in battles of the past, could betray the Knight King and the kingdom.

However, among the disgraced knights, a resolute-faced man in his forties raised his head and said, "Respected Knight King, Lymes, acknowledges his guilt..."

He seemed to have given up his last struggle, humbly lowering his head.

Hearing Lymes' own admission, the other knights present looked at each other in disbelief.

On the throne, Grotar nodded slightly,

"Since you acknowledge your guilt, let us proceed according to protocol, strip Lymes of his rights as knight commander, and carry out the execution immediately."

Grotar's pronouncement equated to a death sentence for Lymes.

Lymes' expression showed no fear, but calmly asked, "Knight King, after this, can the evil god species eradication activity be ended?"

Grotar frowned upon hearing this, slightly angry, "Lymes, you are still so stubborn; I have already told you, those people are not our kin but a group of heretics who have joined the evil god!"

At this moment, Lymes asked in a trembling voice from below, "Your Majesty, you say they are heretical betrayers of faith, but they are just children!"

"I saw with my own eyes, the knights' iron hooves ravaged their village, those children covered in blood searching for their family members' corpses among countless dead bodies."

"Yet even so, those children's eyes remained so clear, they asked me, would the God of Light take their relatives' souls away?"

"How could these innocent children possibly be heretics? How could the God of Light fear a group of children?"

Lymes' words were powerful enough to strike at the soul, leaving everyone stunned.

"Silence!" Grotar's voice reverberated throughout the judgment arena.

"A new generation of evil god species has been born among humans; if allowed to grow, they will cause an unforeseen disaster, this is God's warning to us!"

"Lymes, are you questioning the authenticity of the divine prophecy from the God of Light?"

Below, Lymes remained silent.

He dared not question the God of Light or Grotar in front of the crowd.

Grotar's expression was unchanged as he continued, "Lymes, do not remain deluded."

"In view of the great contributions you have made in battle for the empire in the past, do you have any last words before the execution?"

Lymes looked around, clinging to a sliver of hope, he asked, "Majesty, it was my decision alone to let those children escape, it has nothing to do with the Azure Heaven Knight Order, could you execute only me and spare the other knights?"

Grotar thought for a moment and shook his head,

He firmly said, "No."

Lymes felt despair instantly, unable to believe as he looked at Grotar, asking, "Your Majesty, why?"

"They are innocent, they still wish to contribute to the kingdom again, to offer their faith to the God of Light!"

However, no matter how he pleaded, Grotar remained unmoved.

At this moment, sitting high on the throne, Grotar waved his hand and said, "Execute."

As he finished speaking, the edges of the judgment arena revealed several gigantic crossbow arrows.

Just as the crossbow arrows were about to be shot.

Lymes lifted his head, as if making some kind of decision.

Suddenly, a strong radiance burst from him.

This radiance shot straight into the skies, causing everyone to be unable to open their eyes.

The next moment, chains on Lymes shattered, along with the shackles on over three hundred humans.

He shouted loudly, "Brothers of the Azure Heaven Knight Order, you all still have a bright future, shouldn't bear my mistakes, I will hold off here, all sins, shall be borne by me!"

Nonetheless, the over three hundred knights looked at each other, overcoming initial confusion, they realized what was happening.

Yet, not one of these knights retreated, instead, they stood resolutely behind Lymes.

Just as in every expedition, where Lymes would charge bravely at the forefront.

This time, the Azure Heaven Knight Order stood firmly behind Lymes, without anyone retreating.

In unison, they shouted, "Swear loyalty unto death to the knight commander, advancing and retreating together with the knight commander!"

The sudden change left thousands of knights across the judgment arena in a dazed state.

Including Han Xing and others who were watching the animation.

Cheng Jianyong exclaimed, "Whoa, are they gonna fight?"

"Hey, are we gonna get dragged into this?"

Cheng Jianyong's worries were not unfounded.

At this moment.

On the throne, Grotar was not surprised; he methodically ordered, "Seal the judgment arena exit, crossbowmen prepare, shoot all criminals attempting to escape."

"Knights, suppress Lymes."

On the field, the thousands of knights quickly regained formation and drew their swords after the initial chaos upon receiving Grotar's orders.

In perfect unison, they pulled out their swords!

Clang! Clang clang!

Longswords unsheathed, belonging to the kingdom's most elite knights, advancing with unmatched momentum towards Lymes.

...

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