Chapter 365: Heading to the Lands of Ignis

Hearing the name of the hidden place, Ryan took a couple of steps forward to examine the rifts more closely. The glow from the various openings illuminated the gray rock walls with constant flashes that floated in silence.

He calmly reached out his right arm and pressed his palm against the edge of one of the nearby portals, feeling a faint vibration in the air at his touch.

"Where do these portals lead?" Ryan asked, turning his head slightly toward his subordinate without taking his hand off the rift.

"Young master, with the exception of the demon king nations of Ophelia, Juba, and Nova, there are entrances to all the other nations," Lise replied clearly, gesturing broadly at the fissures scattered across the underground hall.

Chloe, who was watching the colorful flashes intently from a few steps back, widened her eyes as she processed the sheer scale of that transportation network.

"Even the human nations?" Chloe asked in surprise, thinking about the danger of having direct access to the continent’s kingdoms.

Lise nodded without losing her calm smile, confirming that human territories weren’t free from those connections either.

Irina frowned upon hearing that statement, immediately remembering the constant invasions her people had suffered long ago in their old home.

"And the elves? I mean, there is a portal connecting to the ancient forest of the exiled elves," Irina continued, taking a step forward and locking her eyes on the dragoness.

Lise looked at the elf princess without any apparent guilt over the attacks Kowarre’s former army had carried out in that area.

"Believe it or not, that connection was just a coincidence," Lise replied, shrugging slightly.

Irina’s long ears twitched in disbelief at such a simple answer. She found it very hard to accept that so many clashes had been the product of chance.

"A coincidence? With all the trouble they gave us?" Irina questioned, raising her voice a bit and waving her hands in front of her chest.

"As I said, it was just a coincidence. Portals are difficult to create, and the demon in charge of that experimented for a long time. There are other portals scattered around Kowarre that lead to different places, but these in the crystal room are directed exactly where we wanted them one hundred percent of the time," Lise explained calmly to clear up the group’s doubts.

Irina stared at Lise in silence for a few more seconds, evaluating her body language. Despite the explanation about the old experiments, she still wasn’t entirely convinced by her words, though she chose not to keep arguing about it.

Meanwhile, Karol had been closely observing the energy fluctuations emanating from each of the openings in the center of the room.

"And how is it possible that the demons didn’t notice these portals?" Karol asked with a hint of uncertainty in her voice, turning toward the dragoness.

"In fact, they did notice them. Although that was just a trap," Lise continued, showing a hint of pride as she remembered their old tricks.

"A trap?" Ryan repeated with interest, pulling his hand away from the portal he was touching to pay attention to his subordinate’s story.

Lise nodded, looking pleased. As she began detailing the infiltration strategy they used to employ, she glanced at Karol and Beatrice out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes, dear master. We created a portal to enter the territory of other kingdoms. Once inside a nation, we made sure to place portals deep underground. They made the earth dragon work very hard for that, although they killed him. But those locations should still be intact," Lise explained, looking back at her leader.

At the mention of the earth dragon, Beatrice remained completely composed, showing no remorse for killing the beast during the last war.

Beside her, Karol raised a hand and adjusted her oversized mage hat, analyzing the logic behind those underground hideouts. For someone with her magical sensitivity, hiding a structure like that didn’t seem so simple.

"Even so, those portals emit a significant amount of magical power. No matter how deep underground they are, someone should pick up on something strange," Karol said, pointing at the intense glow of the floating rifts.

"Normally you’d be right, but those portals were placed beneath the mana trees. So, even if power was emitted in that area, they would go unnoticed," Lise replied simply.

Hearing how they used the natural resources of each territory to mask the portals’ energy, the doubts among the women present dissipated.

"I understand now," Beatrice chimed in, nodding slightly as she recognized the effectiveness of that concealment method.

Ryan remained silent for a moment, sweeping his gaze across the room and evaluating the massive advantage he had just inherited within his new territory.

’One portal to distract the demons, and another portal underground... that’s very clever. And now they’re at my disposal. If they get discovered, I’ll just say I had no idea they existed,’ Ryan thought to himself, finding it very convenient to be able to blame the deceased Rigal for any future complaints.

After thinking it over, Ryan turned his gaze back to Lise to confirm one more detail about the exceptions she had mentioned earlier.

"And the reason there are no permanent portals in the territory of Ophelia and the other two demon kings is because they don’t grow mana trees there?" Ryan asked, seeking to confirm his deduction.

"Yes, young master, it’s exactly as you say. Naturally, we did create portals, but they sealed them," Lise confirmed, bowing her head slightly and making it clear that without the trees, it was impossible to hide the rifts from such powerful rulers.

Following that conversation, Ryan decided not to waste any more time on explanations. They still had a lot of work to do to gather the materials they needed at the castle, so Lise walked to the back of the room and showed him which portal led to the Ignis nation.

The group approached the designated rift, but before taking another step, the dragoness suddenly stopped with an apologetic expression on her face.

"But there is a problem, young master," Lise warned in a lower tone, turning to face her leader.

"What problem?" Ryan asked, keeping his calm in the face of the unexpected setback.

"These portals need to be activated by someone who controls this type of spatial magic. And... I regret to inform you that I cannot use it. The demon in charge of this may have died or escaped when you took over this nation, young master," Lise explained, lowering her gaze slightly in discomfort at not being able to resolve the issue herself.

The revelation left the room in silence for a couple of seconds. It was rather annoying to have come all the way down to this secret chamber only to find their path blocked.

"Then why did you bring us down here?" Beatrice asked sharply, looking at the dragoness with obvious annoyance for wasting their time.

Lise pressed her lips together and didn’t reply immediately to her companion’s direct complaint, looking away without a valid excuse to give.

"We can still search the other towns for demons who can activate it," Chloe suggested, trying to calm the atmosphere and offer a practical solution for her king.

Ryan sighed heavily and shook his head, knowing that searching for a specialist among thousands of inhabitants would delay their plans far too much.

"That would be a hassle. We don’t have that much time," Ryan replied, immediately dismissing the option.

At that moment, Irina carefully observed the energy flow surrounding the inactive rift in front of them and decided to take the initiative.

"In that case, let me try to activate it," Irina said, taking a step forward under the incredulous gazes of the others.

Hearing the elf princess’s intentions, Lise reacted instantly and stepped in her path to prevent her from touching the fissure carelessly.

"Hey, you have to be very precise to do that, otherwise they won’t work or they’ll break. The mechanism is very different from standard portals that are always open," Lise warned seriously, fearing a mistake might destroy their only connection to the lands of fire—or worse, the rest of the portals.

"Yes, I got it. That’s why I’m saying you should let me do it," Irina replied in a firm voice, without backing down a single step against the dragoness.

"Are you sure, Irina?" Karol asked, looking at her with some concern from the side, knowing how delicate it was to manipulate unfamiliar magic.

She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath, leaving behind any doubts and regaining all her self-confidence before turning to Ryan with a calm smile.

"Of course. Let me do it," Irina requested, waiting for her leader’s authorization.

Ryan saw the determination in his companion’s eyes and nodded without hesitation.

"Alright," Ryan replied, giving her his vote of confidence.

With the portal expected to be ready soon, Ryan left the underground chamber and returned to the surface, heading to the clearing where Alicia was organizing the workers he would take to Rohan’s territory.

When he arrived at the location, Alicia already had everything completely ready, and the sixty elves and beastmen had entered the spatial dimension in an orderly fashion. Seeing the job done, Ryan simply sealed the entrance to the village by cutting off his mana flow. It turned back into its usual relic form, and he carefully tucked it away in his pocket.

Once he finished securing his people, Ryan walked back, descended the stone stairs, and re-entered the crystal room where his companions were waiting.

Irina stood right in front of the portal Lise had pointed out. She focused her energy precisely on the fissure and activated it, fully opening the gateway with a steady glow.

Then, seeing the path clear and without wasting another second, Chloe, Karol, Beatrice, Irina, and Ryan advanced in single file and entered the portal together.