Chapter 6: Visitors of the Portal Land

Hearing this, Barta Lingmu, the great demon of the treants and one of the disciples of the “Gatekeeper,” could only smile wryly and shake his head.

“This is a long story, but to put it simply, the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons are currently trying to establish deeper cooperation with the United Kingdom of Humans. Due to long-standing conflicts in the past, many aspects still need powerful individuals with sufficient prestige and strength to mediate, so Master Walter, I’m afraid, doesn’t have the time to take up this work for now; I can only step in to guard the Spiritual Peak.”

“Oh… I suppose that makes sense.”

Earlier, perhaps due to Aileen’s careful attention, during the brief period when the illusion realm was connected to the real world, the attacks on Demon Town seemed particularly fierce. Even though Vilyric had alerted Mona in advance to prepare, there were reportedly significant casualties, and the defenses were nearly on the brink of collapse.

At a critical moment, South Blade Walter, stationed near the Demon Trace Fortress, put aside past grievances and led the magical beasts to support the humans, jointly fighting against the enemies. Coupled with Gatekeeper Min Chen’s control and defeat of Aileen, who was leading the aerial assault, the losses were minimized as much as possible.

Any declarations or persuasion could never match the friendship forged through hardship and life-and-death battles. Many humans, especially those soldiers who nearly perished at the hands of the blazing monsters while defending the walls, had their impressions of magical beasts significantly changed.

As word spread, people started to return home after realizing they had narrowly escaped due to the official emergency evacuation order.

With the populace now full of admiration for the royal family’s foresight, the previously criticized pro-magical policies began to be implemented much more smoothly.

Walter, as one of the strongest leading the magical beasts in support of humans, naturally shone brightly on the battlefield and earned great respect, so it was to be expected that he would be left behind to help mediate the situation.

Not discussing this topic any further, after brief pleasantries, Barta slightly turned to allow passage forward.

“Please, my master has been waiting for a long time.”

“Well then, thank you for your trouble.”

Since Vilyric was visiting the Portal Land, she had obviously given Min Chen a heads-up. After all, this place was just destroyed during the battle, and he was probably on high alert. Though the Priestess was genuinely interested in the true strength of this Gatekeeper, who had obtained some of the magical god’s powers without injury, she didn’t want to engage in a nonsensical scuffle with him.

This was not Vilyric’s first encounter with the portal connecting to the Portal Land. The last time she exited the illusion realm, it was through the Portal Land and back to the real world from this Southern Domain Peak.

The spatial technology created by Tiyelu from the mythic era, while not matching some abilities from the game, was still considered quite safe, so there was not too much to worry about.

Leading the way, she stepped through the doorway shimmering with distorted light, and soon, the surroundings became clear and bright again with a familiar floating sensation.

Vilyric looked around.

The land and rocks, once scorched during the battle, had basically regained their original colors. The aftermath when Little Dragon Daughter struck the God of Blazing Flame Frim with “Nine Prisons” had caused the entire Portal Land of over a thousand square kilometers to sink hundreds of meters at the impact point, yet now it was inexplicably filled in again. One couldn’t help but say that Min Chen had some skill in remodeling.

However, according to Xiao Guang, although they managed to defeat the God of Blazing Flame Frim who wanted to break out of the illusion realm, the latter did not truly perish. That massive physique larger than a mountain was merely his shell; the true essence of the divine escaped through some method she hadn’t quite seen before.

While this act would certainly lead to Frim suffering tremendous losses and not being able to recover his original power for a long time, it was also true that he had taken the opportunity of the illusion realm’s difficulties to flee from the prison where he had been held for thousands of years.

The exact whereabouts were unknown, but Little Dragon Daughter indicated that his lingering scent suddenly disappeared at a certain location, perhaps having slipped into another space or even another world.

Given this, the Priestess likely wouldn’t be able to expend effort looking for him again in the short term.

A god-level potential enemy was indeed a significant threat, but true beings above the divine couldn’t easily traverse world passages. Although Frim managed to escape while forsaking most of his power, even if he recovers that power on the other side, it would be hard for him to return to this world to take revenge on Xiao Guang, who had beaten him up.

Thus, one could only go with the flow and respond as needed.

“Swish swish swish swish.”

Several lights flashed by, followed closely by Little Dragon Daughter and Leila, Renée, Tilysha, and others arriving safely at the other side of the Priestess.

Except for Xiao Guang, it was all their first time here, and naturally, they were filled with curiosity, eyes blinking as they looked around, especially Tilysha, who was still young and naturally lively.

“Miss Vilyric! Is this really the legendary Portal Land?! But I don’t see anything at a glance! Doesn’t the Gatekeeper live here every day? Isn’t he bored?”

Casting a glance at the expressionless Little Dragon Daughter, who seemed unconcerned, Vilyric felt her mouth twitch slightly and awkwardly forced a smile.

“Well… there should have been something. But not long ago, some bad guys tried to escape from here, and a fierce battle erupted in the Portal Land. I assume many things were destroyed. But it’s fine; we came here to revitalize this place, right?”

“Yes, yes! That God of Blazing Flame is just awful! Clearly having such power, yet insists on doing bad things! Why can’t he learn from Lady Xi Fu Lin and be a gentle and kind god?”

“There are factions and personality differences among gods; sheer power doesn’t prove anything… Leila, come here.”

Hearing the Priestess’s call, the winged girl holding a white wolf cub stepped forward quickly. Without needing the previous speaker to continue, Leila understood her intent and gently handed Noviya over.

“Lady Vilyric, are we starting now?”

Taking the gem-like, clear-eyed cub that seemed eager to curl up in the Priestess’s arms, Vilyric pressed down on Noviya’s restless head with one hand, signaling her to behave, while readjusting to a more comfortable hold and shook her head.

“There’s no need to rush; let’s find the master here first.”

“Yes.”

Without needing to expand SP, Vilyric could easily find Min Chen’s location because the Portal Land was almost a semi-abandoned wilderness now, and the somewhat isolated and simple little hut nestled within could be spotted from quite a distance.

Clearly, this was a temporary residence that some Gatekeeper had recently built.

The girls walked on, and from afar, they could already see several figures in the open space in front of the wooden house.

   

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