Chapter 335: Magic Teleportation (1)

After Andrew agreed to the church’s conditions, Wayne’s attitude became extremely friendly, as if he were already one of their own.
Andrew praised him, though somewhat reluctantly:
“Please convey to the Archbishop and the Presiding Judge my deepest gratitude for the great favor shown by the Lord of Dawn!”
“Of course. Now let’s discuss the specific actions! Prince Andrew, please also explain in detail the situation of our opponents, so as to avoid any gaps in our intelligence!”
As for the path of becoming a spirit after death and achieving immortality, it wasn’t actually what Andrew, who hailed from Celt, desired the most.
This form of immortality relied on the existence of a true god, and once one became a spirit of such a god, even against their will, they would become its most devout follower, gradually losing their true nature. Aside from those who wholeheartedly devoted themselves to that god with fanatical faith or those descended from gods with similar divine bloodlines, most people did not wish to lose themselves.
If given the status of an elect, he would surely accept it gladly! That would be a living saint, comparable to a demi-god, rather than a spirit after death!
Such secrets about the gods were impossible for ordinary people to know, but Andrew had gained some relatively in-depth understanding within the royal family.
After all, the ancient magi, including Banai’s mages, had gathered information about the gods even as they were feared by the true gods. Although not among Banai’s core mage lords, Celt, as one of Banai’s legitimate branches, had also inherited some knowledge.
In Andrew’s selfish mindset, such immortality was not even worth having!
If he could master the royal secrets of Celt to the highest level and become king, he could achieve a similar form of immortality through the admiration of his subjects. Though difficult, there were successful examples, and the outcome would be better than becoming a spirit under a true god!
However, he wouldn’t reveal this to Wayne. The Church of the Three Glorious Gods was using him, and he, in turn, was using them. But in this game, he was merely a pawn in a weaker position, while the Church of the Three Glorious Gods was the player controlling the game!
Thus, with circumstances beyond his control, Andrew could only pretend compliance for now, keeping his true thoughts hidden deep in his heart.

Meanwhile, in Siren where the demonic calamity had just ended, Donald and his companions had stayed at Dragontooth Fortress for over ten days. With the support of Celt’s reinforcements and the local Siren defenders, along with the aid of many powerful warriors, they had essentially cleared all the demons near the fortress. As for the remaining demons, their number was estimated to be no more than a few thousand, most of them being low-level demons. They were far too weak to attack Dragontooth Fortress—a magnificent achievement of human wisdom that had stood unshaken in the northwest of the continent for thousands of years. The western part of Dragontooth Fortress was a barren mountainous area protected by the fortress’s sturdy walls, so Siren no longer needed to worry about the threat of demons.

Subsequently, Donald left behind the warriors of the Dark Knights Order and the Holy Shield Infantry Regiment to return to the capital with the Siren Knights, celebrating their victory. Together with the Grand Duke of Siren and others, they headed to the Swordhorn Bay Peninsula to finalize the territory assigned to Donald. Out of respect for Donald, this powerful mage lord, and the mage tower he was about to build, the Grand Duke of Siren did not return to the capital to preside over the celebration. Instead, he personally led relevant officials to handle the matter of dividing the territory for Donald.

On the magic ship, guarded by ten griffins and surrounded by the presence of many powerful beings above the level of gold, the group flew smoothly over the peaks of Dragontooth Mountain, unharmed by any flying magical beasts. They soon reached the westernmost part of the Dragonback Mountain Range. After all, low-level magical beasts were no match for the fierce griffins, while higher-level magical beasts possessed considerable intelligence. Sensing the presence of so many powerful beings, they would not only avoid them but also never dare to approach on their own.

In the world of magical beasts, each other was seen as a source of nourishment that could enhance their strength. Consuming the flesh and magic core of a peer-level magical beast could at least elevate another beast by one level. To human powerhouses, these higher-level magical beasts were even more valuable as precious materials. The lessons of blood and fire had taught them that human powerhouses would never stop hunting them if they had absolute confidence in doing so!

When the magic ship crossed the last mountain mist, hundreds of feet high, the scene before them came into clear view.

“That’s the place you chose—Swordhorn Bay Archipelago!”

The Grand Duke of Siren stepped onto the deck and said to Donald, who was gazing into the distance.

Looking at the black cliffs that stretched along the coastline like high dams beneath the blue sky and sea, Donald exclaimed, “From afar, it really does resemble the horns on a giant dragon’s head!”

On the inner side of the cliff lay the Swordhorn Bay Peninsula, protected by a natural barrier that kept storms outside the bay at bay.
Duri said indifferently, “It is indeed a good natural harbor.”
However, aside from this advantage, the environment of this sizable peninsula was really not great. Most of the peninsula was covered with rocky forests, along with large areas of hills behind the cliffs, accounting for nearly 50% of its total area.
Only in the center of the island was there a few miles square of barren flat land that, with some minor improvement, could serve as a small knightly domain with a few villages.
With such complex terrain, no wonder no one had shown interest in this place for so many years.
“Donald, are you really sure? It doesn’t seem suitable for developing a domain to me. Why not think it over again?”
Despite Duri’s kindness, Donald shook his head.
Donald didn’t care much about the terrain. With his great power, he could transform any landscape. Besides, he wasn’t planning to develop a large urban domain here; instead, he intended to build a mage tower as a stronghold on the continent, so he could receive news immediately. Otherwise, it would take at least half a month for news to reach Celt.
Partnering with the Grand Duke of Siren was a win-win situation. He didn’t have much energy to manage this domain and needed the support of the Cadocchi family, the most powerful local force. Clearly, the Cadocchi family also wanted to leverage the magical power of his domain. So, with mutual benefit, their cooperation could last long—why not do it?
Having one more ally was better than having one more enemy, especially since he had connections to Catherine and the queen through his relationship with the Sirens.
“I’m not planning to build a second Dalaran. What’s the use of such a great place? A small plain is enough. To be honest, I only plan to use this as a transit point. In the future, I intend to build a magic teleportation array, perhaps to recreate the glory of the Arcane Empire and the Banai era. Then, people from the north won’t have to go through such trouble to travel to the central and southern parts of the continent!”
“Really?”
“Well…”
Prince Duri and the Grand Duke of Siren’s eyes lit up at once, and they eagerly pressed for more details.
“It’s just a plan for now. I still need to discuss it with my teachers. Don’t get too excited just yet!”

However, his words clearly had little effect. The idea of being able to travel freely between the northern and southern continents immediately filled Prince Dury’s mind. As a prince of the kingdom, he understood well just how important such a way of traveling without distance constraints was—it was far more convenient than carriages or ship transport. Even powerful mobile war fortresses like Donald’s magic ship paled in comparison to the strategic significance of teleportation arrays.

Duke Siren, on the other hand, was more reserved. Though he longed for it deeply, this was the second biggest surprise this mage lord had given him after the mage tower! If this plan succeeded, it would bring transformative development to Siren!

But their relationship wasn’t as close as Dury’s, so they could only watch patiently from the side. Since it was all in mage terminology, they weren’t worried about others overhearing.

At Dury’s urging, Donald immediately began discussing plans to build teleportation structures with his teachers and other mages on the deck. He also explained his previous ideas.

“The principle of a portal is to create a spatial fold within the same plane that connects two locations, forming a stable passage. It remains mostly closed most of the time, and only a small amount of energy is needed each time to open it for people to pass through.”

“As for the complete teleportation array we obtained from the Arcane Scholar’s ruins, its principle is quite different. It uses spatial power generated by the array itself to allow entities within its range to break through space and reach another spatial node, which is where other teleportation arrays are located. This is basically the same principle as the small communication arrays still in use today that haven’t been lost, except that those simple small spatial teleportation arrays can only transmit small items like notes or paper balls, so they can only be used for communication!”

The old mage nodded and said, “Well said. We’ve also studied that teleportation array for quite some time. Although we can replicate it completely, we’ve yet to solve the problem of its high energy consumption. Compared to the magical teleportation methods you proposed, both have their advantages and disadvantages. The drawback of teleportation arrays is their high energy use, but their advantage is that if a large enough array is set up, a large number of people can be transported at once—this is extremely important in urgent situations like war.”

Donald took over and said:

“As for the advantages of teleportation gates, they consume very little energy, accounting for barely one-tenth of the cost of using a teleportation array over the same distance. Their only drawback is that magic teleportation gates can only accommodate a small number of creatures at a time. According to Donald’s analysis using the Book of Truth, the limit per use is no more than ten entities, meaning no more than ten soul-bearing creatures, including those alchemical puppet creatures with basic intelligence, can be teleported at once. In other words, even for small animals like rats and rabbits, only ten can be teleported at a time?”