Round Seventeen: The Three Travelers Who Arrived in the Outer Realm for the First Time

“God of Magic, I thought I had seen enough already.” Jacob floated in the starlight that resembled a thin web, marveling at the entire scene of the dark, turbulent battlefield ahead.
Like a ferocious giant snake devouring its prey, the semi-liquid island of divine corpses was gradually pulling the Githian interstellar fortress into the storm it had created. The fortress fought back stubbornly, its towers and walls appearing and disappearing as it tossed about, like ingredients swirling in a large pot of boiling porridge.
From time to time, dazzling flashes erupted between the castle and the dark clouds surrounding it. The merchant guessed they were the result of the Githians’ psychic defense systems colliding with the energy released by the divine corpses. From this distance, no sounds could be heard, nor any figures seen; one could only speculate about what was happening, relieved to be far enough away to remain safe.
“Miss Mage, if you have any way to contact your steel warriors, I suggest you have them join us as soon as possible.” Jacob crossed his arms, his fingers habitually weaving intricate patterns, while straining to see better with his long, narrow eyes. “The interstellar vortex has been thrown into chaos by this storm… But just as waves rising from the River of Darkness can reveal the rocks beneath, it also points us to the location of the nearest interstellar portal. It’s amazing—the Path of Order emerges amidst chaos… What a wonderful multiverse.”
Morrill and Kayro stood side by side, surrounded by endless void above and below. The residual fluctuations from the teleportation magic still surrounded them, creating an illusion of slight spatial distortion. The female mage listened to the chant-like tone in the realm merchant’s voice. If it weren’t for the expensive yet ridiculous conch hat on his head, she might have mistaken him for a learned scholar well-versed in books. In a way, a true realm merchant indeed knew no less than the bearded elders in the towers of the great libraries in the Main Material World—after all, isn’t it said that the multiverse itself is a vast book?
“Wait a bit longer,” Morrill said, her tone calmer than she felt. “I’ve heard that realm merchants possess a peculiar talent for traveling between realms. You can always find nearby interstellar portals, determine where they lead, and even carry a portable one with you… And the most amazing part is that you don’t need a ‘key’ to open them.”
“You know that’s impossible, Miss Mage,” Jacob smiled. “There are no doors that don’t require a key, in any world. For the countless portals scattered across the multiverse, each one has a corresponding ‘key.’ As for those of us who are a bit better at this, we’re simply more familiar with these trivial tasks of finding keys to open doors.”
He tilted his head upward again, lost in thought for a moment, his rings flashing rhythmically. Then he said to Morrill, “I’m afraid we need to hurry. I sense that the portal will change soon. If we miss this chance, we’ll have to delay again and take many extra detours…”

Forty-Seven suddenly appeared in the mist ahead of the three of them. The range of vision in this star realm was only as far as he could flap his wings a few times—before long, the dazzlingly bright flying dragon was already very close, its elegant and slender massive body emitting such power that the surrounding colors began to change; the silver sky faded, and everything was covered in a flame-like, bright and intense light.
“A Star Realm Dragon?!” Jacob exclaimed in shock. It was the first time the merchant had seen Forty-Seven in this form, but he quickly recognized his eyes—still a deep red, though altered in size.
Forty-Seven seemed slightly brighter than moments before—whether due to the baptism of the Divine Power Storm or some other reason was unclear.
“It seems I’m still on time after all,” he said, glancing at the plane merchant.
“We just stopped to determine our direction,” Moriel replied in a more calm tone.
“Please follow me,” Jacob said, turning to lead the way. While shocked by Forty-Seven’s terrifying power, he decided to reevaluate the master-slave relationship among the three of them.
The portal wasn’t far away. When they arrived there and looked back, they could still see a hint of gray in the distance. This star realm portal resembled a vibrant, colorful disc, seemingly without any thickness. Yet from different angles, each person saw only the shiny front side of the disc. A star realm vascular structure twisted and coiled around it, extending in a huge spiral from behind—one end blocked by the disc, the other reaching into the endless void, trembling and shaking as if in the wind.
“Are we going to emerge through here?” Forty-Seven circled the colored disc several times but found he couldn’t see its back no matter how hard he tried, making him feel like a foolish dog chasing its own tail. “The same old trick—damned space folding technology!”
Jacob glanced at Forty-Seven in surprise, noticing his indifferent attitude toward interdimensional travel.
But the merchant quickly focused his attention back on the portal. When a customer isn’t interested in a product, you need to close the deal quickly, giving them as little time to think as possible.
Under Jacob’s steady gaze, the portal began to change. At first, the various colored patches of different sizes on the disc gradually darkened and intensified. As the boundaries between them blurred, the disc started spinning, and all the colors mixed together to form a gray vortex—along with the star realm vascular structure behind it, which also began to resonate, transmitting waves endlessly in cycles.
“Now is the time! Concentrate! Our thoughts will take us to where we want to go!” the plane merchant shouted.
It took a little time for Forty-Seven to return to his normal size, and his movements became somewhat clumsy, so he was the last to enter the portal.
A sense of distortion capable of tearing apart anything seized him; his arms, legs, and every metal part creaked under the intense spinning pressure. Though he knew it was just an illusion, it still felt uncomfortable—worse than being hit by a proton torpedo.

But after the spatial vortex threw the travelers out of the air, he was the only one who landed on the ground and managed to stay upright. Steel overrides will; circuits dictate emotions—such are the advantages of robots. Kairo fumbled his way up, standing unsteadily before bending over immediately to retch. Morriel was slightly better off; she endured the turmoil in her stomach and observed her surroundings, trying to focus the overlapping images into one coherent view—this was the worst spatial transit experience she had ever had!

They now found themselves among ruined ruins. Massive stone statues, weathered and mottled, were half-buried in sand, surrounded by scattered debris. Faint murals and carvings on the walls hinted at the glory and grandeur of this place in the past. Once she recovered, Morriel felt a strange sensation… not the intense hunger from an empty stomach, but rather the realization of being in the midst of the entire multiverse, overwhelmed by the countless streams of time and space passing by, making her feel incredibly small and filled with awe, as if under some magical effect.

Yet the female mage understood this was not magic. She took a few steps forward; the uneven ground seemed to keep spinning, and the partially damaged but still intact stone arches nearby also swayed slightly. Overcoming all discomfort, she turned back to look, and what she saw sealed her judgment as “undeniable.”

Looking through the empty arch, aside from piles of collapsed stones and architectural debris, there was mostly sand and low, gentle hills. Dark brown weeds grew sporadically in the gaps between the ruins and rocks, deeply rooted in the sand, absorbing every drop of moisture and swaying in the wind. While these might make a decent landscape for a bard to compose a poem about “all palaces reduced to dust,” what truly struck the viewers and made them realize this was no longer their “homeland”—the small world where they were born, grew up, and lived—was that distant, sparse, and strange mountain. It was hard to describe what it looked like; the word “distant” might not even be accurate. At first glance, it stood at the end of the horizon, but upon closer inspection, it seemed very close—so close that it seemed reachable just by passing through the stone arch. The only thing certain about this mountain was: it was very tall, extremely tall.

This was the “Realm of Harmonized Oppositions”… no, not the term from the Main Material Plane Library. The commonly accepted name, one that wouldn’t invite ridicule, was “The Outer Realm”—the infinite world connecting all outer planes, the core transit point of the multiverse.

“It’s like the pillars on Sareem,” commented Forty-Seven.

“That’s our next destination, esteemed Steel Warrior,” said Jacob, brushing dust off his robe and adjusting his hat, his expression calm and composed, like a host introducing the furnishings of his home to guests: “To put it clearly… we’re heading to Seal City.”

“City of Marks?” Forty-Seven glanced again toward the mountain peak, this time from a different direction, where it was faintly visible among the oddly shaped stone mounds: “On the mountain?”
“On the summit,” Jacob smiled proudly, a hint of the usual superiority felt by beings from other planes when facing travelers from the primary material world finally showing on his face. “I’m sure you’ve already noticed the Peak of Infinity—oh, that tall mountain we see now. As long as the weather is good, you can see it from anywhere in the Outer Realms. There’s something on top.”
“It looks a bit like clouds, but it’s not at all,” the merchant continued. “That’s the City of Marks, the City of Ten Thousand Gates, the center of the Outer Realms and the entire multiverse. It’s located atop the Peak of Infinity and has portals leading to all planes and worlds, as long as you know how to use them properly. No matter where you and your friends want to go, what you want to do, or what you’re looking for—whether it’s public or private matters—you should start by going to the City of Marks. It’s definitely the best starting point.”
“The distance doesn’t seem too far. But I don’t have the production serial number of a transport ship on me. You must have your own means of getting there, right?” Forty-Seven’s words made Jacob’s smile widen even more. Just as beings from other planes often mocked those from the primary material world, it seemed: If you stay silent, I only suspect you’re an idiot, but once you speak, I’m immediately sure of it!
“We can’t fly up there,” Morriel quickly interjected. She wasn’t as carefree as Forty-Seven. “There’s no way to directly reach the City of Marks atop the Peak of Infinity. Its height is infinite; you’ll never be able to get there.”
She then turned to the merchant from another plane. “You’re right. The City of Marks is indeed a good starting point. I’ve learned a bit about it from previous records and texts. I suppose, as our guide, you must already have an idea of how to get there?”
Jacob suppressed his smile. Even though these people were country bumpkins—well-armed, no less—he better be careful. “Of course, Miss Mage. I happen to know a few ‘friends’ in the nearest Gate City—”
He raised his hand and pointed in a direction away from the Peak of Infinity. “They should be willing to ‘lend’ us their portals, for a proper reward… I’ll take care of it. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“A thing of infinite height still has a summit… and there’s even a city on that summit.” Forty-Seven continued to stare at the Peak of Infinity, muttering to himself. He found this way of thinking utterly foolish, and Jacob and Morriel’s acceptance of it was downright “ignorant”—but he had no intention of delving deeper. After all, he wasn’t some round scientific research ship.
The group hadn’t gone far when Jacob, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped again.
“I almost forgot. There’s one more thing I need to remind you about.” He turned to Morriel. “Miss Mage, would you like to know which layer of the Outer Realms we’re in?”
“Which layer?” Morriel was also confused.

“Oh, I suppose you may not yet be very familiar with the magical characteristics of the Outer Lands.” Seeing Moriel’s puzzled expression, Jacob explained, “Here, the strength of spells depends on how far you are from the Apex of Nothingness. At the peak, no spells or spell-like effects can function at all— to use more magic, one must be further away from the Apex. So, based on whether spells of different levels can work in a certain area, the Outer Lands is divided into concentric circles centered around the Apex, resembling targets. We realm travelers call them ‘layers,’ while the inhabitants of Seal City call them ‘rings.’ But it doesn’t matter; it’s just a difference in terminology and calculation method. The key is that, I guess, a mage like you should understand this… so that what you’re good at can serve you better, right?”
“Thank you for telling me this,” Moriel said sincerely. “So, Mr. Jacob, do you have any suggestions?”
“Hmm… please wait a moment.” The merchant reached into the sleeve of his robe and fumbled around before lowering his gaze to the ground in front of him. Without warning, a rectangular bronze box about four feet tall appeared there— seemingly in the blink of an eye.
The box was adorned with exquisite carvings, and its corners, edges, and locks were made of pure silver, shining brightly under the gloomy skies of the Outer Lands, clearly of great value. Jacob carefully opened the box. The others’ views were blocked by the lid, so they couldn’t see what was inside, but the merchant’s eyes and the reflection in his pupils revealed a lot.
No wonder he went to such lengths to find reliable bodyguards. Such a valuable secret box—anyone would want it. Bringing it back from the Spirit Realm right in front of them showed great trust in his group… Moriel thought.
“This,” Jacob said as he took out an object the size of a fist from the box.
“Wow,” Kaylo exclaimed when he saw what it was.
It was a scaled-down, silver-glowing skull, perfectly crafted. Jacob stretched out his arm and held it in front of Moriel, then gently released it. The small skull swayed slightly, breaking free from the merchant’s thick fingers and floating steadily in the air.
“This is Mihmel,” the merchant said, pronouncing the name like an old ibex calling. “Commonly known as the ‘Chatty Skull,’ and more extravagantly, the ‘Source of Knowledge.’ It was created to answer various questions from realm travelers, with answers pre-stored within it. Its most common use is to provide guidance through the Outer Lands, Gate City, and Seal City. One of its important functions is that it can tell us which layer of the Outer Lands we’re currently in. Touch it and ask your question.”
Forty-seven reached out before Moriel could. Upon his touch, the silver skull emitted a unique iridescent glow, and the intricate patterns on its surface seemed to come alive.
“How many ways are there to write the character ‘hui’?”

This question caused the skull to emit a slight but prolonged “clicking” sound; it seemed the database lacked answers to such absurd questions.
“Oops, you broke it!” Kayro exclaimed.
“Nonsense,” Yonemitsu said as he picked up the skull and fiddled with it, causing it to halt mid-sentence again. Its two empty eye sockets stared blankly at Yonemitsu’s stern face.
“The talking skull can only function properly when it’s freely floating…” Jacob tried to reason, but his words were clearly ignored.
“A talking skull? What a ridiculous name. From now on, it’s called Bii-Bii-kun,” Yonemitsu said.