On the battlefield, the goblins were stunned by the bizarre spectacle unfolding before them. After their initial shock, they quickly realized that the knight wasn't real—or rather, they didn't understand it was a magical illusion. They simply knew that such a "grotesque creature" didn't exist in their forest, so it had to be fake!
One goblin drew his bow and fired a crooked arrow that struck the knight's phantom, causing it to vanish instantly.
At that moment, Jay burst from behind a tree near the little girl, clutching the snake that had just landed on him. He hurled it like a rope into the midst of the goblins, then scooped up the girl and bolted away.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, the goblins erupted into a cacophony of chattering and gave chase.
Jay's destination was simple: the teleportation gate they had used to arrive. As he ran, he shouted over his shoulder at Tribios, who was still clutching her mouth and giggling, "Stop watching! Run!"
The next moment, Tribios gently extended her right hand and declared, "Century Gate!"
As she spoke, a golden portal materialized above the goblins' heads. An immense suction force erupted, instantly pulling all seven or eight goblins into the portal. In the blink of an eye, they vanished without a trace.
Witnessing this, Jay wore an utterly bewildered expression. His escape gradually slowed to a halt as he stared blankly at Tribios, then back up at the slowly dissipating portal. "Your portal... can suck people in too?"
"Of course," Tribios replied.
"Then why didn't you say so earlier?!" Jay demanded.
"I was about to," Tribios countered, "but you rushed in like a hero saving a damsel in distress, leaving me no chance to explain."
Hearing this, Jay fell silent for a moment, remembering that Tribios had indeed told him to leave it to her, but he had interrupted her.
Jay looked down at the little girl beside him, and she returned his gaze. During their frantic escape, she hadn't had time to notice who had saved her or to get a good look at Jay's face. But now that she saw him clearly, he looked exactly like the ghost she had just encountered!
The girl immediately pointed at Jay and screamed, "A ghost!"
She then bolted away, scurrying behind Tribios. Clutching Tribios's arm with both hands, she peeked out cautiously, only revealing half her small head, glancing furtively in Jay's direction, looking like she wanted to see but was too scared to look properly.
Jay sighed in exasperation, pinching the bridge of his nose. Great, he thought, not only did my heroic rescue fail, but I've also left this girl with a terrifying impression of me.
Still curious, Jay asked, "So, where did you send those goblins? They're not particularly strong, but they could still pose a threat to civilians if they show up in populated areas."
Tribios replied, "Don't worry about that. I tossed them into the Nine Hells. I doubt we need to worry about the demons' safety."
-
In the Nine Hells, a demon was savoring his meal while plotting his next wicked scheme when suddenly seven or eight slimy green Goblins crashed onto his dining table.
The demon froze, staring blankly at the Goblins before him. For a moment, he couldn't process what he was seeing. "Where did these crippled, mutated Lesser Devils come from?" he wondered aloud.
By "crippled," he meant these Goblins lacked wings. By "mutated," he was puzzled by their green skin.
Just then, one of the Goblins grabbed a plate from the table and slammed it over the demon's face.
The perspective shifted back to the Material Plane, where Jay exclaimed in astonishment, "Wait, your portal can actually transport across planes?!"
Tribios nodded. "As long as I have the coordinates of the destination, or I know what it looks like, I can reach any place instantly, no matter where it is."
"This..." Jay was too stunned to speak, while Tribios turned to the little girl clinging to her arm. "What's your name?" she asked gently. "How did you end up here alone?"
The girl replied timidly, "My name is Melly. I came from the village nearby to gather medicinal herbs on the mountain."
After a pause, Melly glanced at Tribios, then nervously peeked at Jay before saying, "Th-thank you, Big Sister, and... thank you, Ghost Uncle."
Now safe, Melly realized that the twisted monster had likely been created by Jay to rescue her. Though she didn't understand why it had suddenly turned dark, she figured this 'Ghost Uncle' must be a good person after all.
At that moment, Tribios had only one thought: This child is so adorable!
Jay's lips twitched visibly twice. He sighed and said, "Little Melly, do you know the name of this place, this country where we are now? Or perhaps you know any famous cities nearby?"
Melly had said she came from a village, but asking its name would be pointless—it wouldn't help pinpoint their location.
Melly furrowed her brow in thought. "The country's name... I don't know. But the most famous city around here is probably Trinepeak Hold, right?"
Upon hearing this, Tribios was taken aback. Not knowing the name of your own country? Is that even possible?
In her previous life, even in the poorest and most backward regions, even the most ignorant people at least knew where they were born. Isn't that basic common knowledge?
But for people of this era, it wasn't strange at all. First, constant warfare between countries meant that a piece of land might belong to Country A one month and Country B the next.
Even more absurdly, Countries C and D were now also claiming the territory as their own, eyeing it covetously.
Secondly, regardless of which country controlled the land, it made little difference to the common people living there. They would be exploited regardless, the only difference being the degree of exploitation.
Thus, Melly didn't know which country she lived in—not out of ignorance, but because it simply didn't matter to her.
In contrast, the nearby major city, where Melly frequently went to sell medicinal herbs for money, was intimately connected to her life, so she knew its name.
Jay pondered for a moment before saying, "Trinepeak Hold... I believe it's territory of the Kingdom of Ukel."
Tribios asked skeptically, "Melly, who lives here, doesn't even know the country's name. How do you?"
Jay replied, "I'm a wizard, after all. Isn't it natural for me to have a broader range of knowledge? Anyway, we're quite close to our destination now."
He then turned to Melly. "Do you know roughly which direction Trinepeak Hold is in?"
Melly pointed southwest. "It's probably that way, right? Big Sister and Ghost Uncle, are you going to Trinepeak Hold? Should I take you there?"
Jay replied, "No need for that, we can manage on our own. As for you, little one, be extra careful out here. Stay vigilant, and if you hear even the slightest rustle while gathering herbs, run! Understand?"
Jay didn't try to dissuade her from gathering herbs alone. He knew she wouldn't listen anyway. Going out to gather herbs was dangerous, but staying home and doing nothing carried its own peril: starving to death.
Jay turned to Tribios. "Let's not teleport too far this time. Take it one step at a time, okay?"
Tribios shot him a sideways glance. "You don't need to tell me that. I know."
A brand-new portal shimmered into existence before them. Under Little Melly's awestruck and admiring gaze, Tribios and Jay stepped through.
Beyond the portal lay the same forest. Tribios immediately opened another portal, revealing a vast plain with a small village nestled in the distance.
The village was quite large, with several hundred houses. It was morning, the time when people should be working in the fields, but Tribios noticed only a handful of figures scattered across the surrounding farmland, listlessly swinging hoes as if going through the motions.
Tribios frowned. "Why are there so few people working in the fields? And... are they just slacking off?"
Jay shrugged and spread his hands. "You didn't think the Grand Duchy of Augustus, where everyone works so hard, was the norm, did you? No, no, no, this is the real norm!"
It wasn't that the farmers were lazy, but rather that the crops they grew didn't belong to them. Instead, they belonged to the nobles who ruled this land.
After toiling in the fields all year, when autumn harvest arrived, they would watch as the nobles sent their carriages to haul away wagon after wagon of the harvest, leaving only scraps for the farmers themselves. These farmers weren't fools. Why would they work hard to grow crops they wouldn't even keep?
"They'd be better off gathering herbs and hunting in the mountains, then selling their wares in town for money," Jay remarked.
Listening to Jay's explanation, Tribios fell silent. The land before her was undeniably far more fertile than any in the Grand Duchy of Augustus. If the people of Augustus were to cultivate this land, their entire nation could achieve food independence, with everyone having enough to eat. Yet here in the Kingdom of Ukel, this precious resource was being utterly wasted.
Was it the fault of these commoners, for their laziness and shirking of work? Clearly not. The root of the problem lay unequivocally with the nobles!
Tribios opened another portal, and this time her luck held—a city materialized in her vision. "We've arrived!"
However, if the portal was to remain open for an extended period with constant traffic, it couldn't be placed in plain sight. Such visibility would inevitably draw attention and invite unwanted trouble. Tribios's gaze swept across the surroundings. This was yet another vast plain, offering little in the way of natural concealment.
After silently marveling at the country's favorable geography, Tribios opened another portal, this time leading to a small grove of trees on the outskirts of the city. "How about here?" she asked. "What do you think?"
Jay nodded. "This works."
Tribios pondered for a moment before turning to Jay. "Do you have a knife I could borrow?"
Without hesitation, Jay pulled a small knife from his person. It was unclear why a wizard would carry such an implement.
After taking the knife, Tribios hesitated before extending her left index finger. With her right hand, she gently drew the blade across her finger. Emmm, perhaps she hadn't pressed hard enough; the skin remained unbroken.
Reluctantly, she increased the pressure and tried again. This time, a tiny cut appeared on her finger. The pain was minimal, but the act of cutting herself still required considerable courage.
She lightly squeezed the wound, and a single drop of golden blood welled up and fell to the ground.
Upon witnessing this, Jay was completely stunned. Golden blood?! This wasn't just rare; it was unheard of and unseen! He had never heard of any creature whose blood was golden.
As for Tribios, her immediate goal was simple. Through gradually understanding her own abilities, she had discovered she could create semi-permanent teleportation portals. Even in her absence, as long as divine power remained, others could use these portals for travel.
The creation process was straightforward: use high-quality materials, then Tribios would "enchant" them with her divine power to complete the portal.
However, Tribios herself wasn't entirely sure what exactly qualified as "high-quality materials." Regardless, the Grand Duchy of Augustus was currently too impoverished to procure such materials.
Then Tribios had a flash of inspiration: her own blood must surely be the ultimate material! By using her blood as a medium, she was certain she could successfully create the teleportation portal. Thus, the scene Jay had just witnessed unfolded.
Initially, Tribios had considered biting her finger open, like the Summoning Technique in Naruto, but she quickly dismissed the idea. The pain would be unbearable, and the wound would be too large—a clean cut with a small knife would be far better.
As the golden blood dripped, Tribios realized she didn't need to imbue it with divine power at all. Her blood itself contained vast quantities of divine power. With a mere thought, a portal materialized before her, its destination naturally being the Grand Duchy of Augustus.
It's worth noting that this semi-permanent portal wouldn't remain suspended in the air, glowing gold indefinitely. It required activation. The activation method, she mused, was simple: one had to silently pray and mentally recite, "Thank you, Lady Tribios," and the portal would then appear.
Lost in thought, Tribios stepped through the portal. Upon returning to the Grand Duchy of Augustus, she squeezed another drop of golden blood onto the ground. Then, she put the injured finger in her mouth, licked the wound, and mumbled indistinctly, "Alright, now even when I'm not here, you can use this portal to move back and forth between the two places, okay~?"