Volume 10: Elven Sanctuary

Chapter 138: The Other Side of the Swamp

The insertion of the crystal pillar activated the arcane matrix. In an instant, a three-dimensional array of light and shadow covering the entire platform emerged, enveloping Donald and the others. Kelsas, desperate to protect them, and Ferdinand, worried about his friend, rushed onto the platform. As soon as they stepped in, the teleportation array took effect, and everyone on the platform vanished in an instant.

“Ferdinand!”

Edwina cried out, but she could not stop the teleportation array from activating.

“What have you done?”

Hearing Donald’s warning, seeing what was happening, and witnessing Donald and the others disappear, along with the accusations from the Ansel family, Emily realized she had caused trouble. Frightened, she quickly pulled out the crystal pillar.

Yet Donald and the two others still did not return.

“I—I didn’t mean to!” Seeing this, the young girl was on the verge of crying.

“The teleportation array has already activated. It’s useless for you to blame Emily, Madam. Besides, your son stepped onto the platform on his own.”

Silver Mage Hordon stepped in front of Edwina, fearing she might do something to harm his granddaughter. Then he turned to scold Emily harshly. Her reckless nature had already caused many problems for herself and her family. Now, four people were missing—no one knew where they had been sent. As for the new baron and his teacher, they had no backing. If the heir to the Ansel Marquis disappeared as well, the Thorne family would have to prepare for retaliation from a powerful enemy.

Initially panicked out of concern, Edwina calmed down. Until she was sure her son was safe, she would not start a war with the Thorne family.

“The other end of the teleportation array set up by the archmage shouldn’t be dangerous. The real concern is that after thousands of years, the matrix might malfunction. Worse still, this teleportation technique has been lost for a long time. Our family’s records don’t contain any detailed information. And the two mages most likely to understand how the array works have also been teleported away—no one knows where they’ve gone!”

She glared at Emily, the culprit, causing the young girl to hide quickly behind her grandfather.

Listening to Edwina’s analysis, Hordon, who only had a superficial understanding of alchemy, was at a loss. He asked, “So what should we do now?”

“Of course we need to find a way to search for them. But after thousands of years, it’s uncertain whether this teleportation array can still be used properly. Moreover, we don’t know the destination, so even if we teleport again, it’s unclear if we’ll end up at the same place as them. So for now, the first thing to do is wait—maybe there’s another teleportation array there that can bring them back. If they haven’t returned after half a day, we’ll activate the array again to search for them!”
Hearing Edwina’s firm tone, Horton was reluctant but still chose to stay in the temple where the teleportation array was located with the Ansel family and others.
However, after waiting for an hour, Horton became impatient. Instead of wasting time doing nothing here, it would be better to assign two people to guard while the rest continued searching other buildings in the ruins.
After discussing it with Edwina, the two families each sent a Silver Swordman to guard the teleportation array, while the rest headed in different directions to explore the ruins.
What they didn’t know was that the mist surrounding the ruins had begun to dissipate instantly after Donald took out the altar from the temple’s underground chamber.
As the mist cleared, the dangerous swamp monsters that usually avoided this area due to their fear of it started approaching the ruins.
In addition, two groups entered the perilous Twin-Legged Dragon Swamp, moving toward the ruins.
As for Donald and the others, after experiencing dizziness, they regained their senses and found themselves on a vast plateau, with an open plain ahead and endless swamps behind.
“Were we teleported?”
Messel, now awake, wasn’t panicked but rather excited.
Ferdinand looked gloomy and said, “Where is this? Donald, you’ve doomed me this time! If we’re teleported to some remote corner isolated from the continent, or even to another world, it’ll be very difficult for us to get back!”
Donald said jokingly, “Don’t worry! Judging from the energy reaction just now, we weren’t teleported very far. After all, the energy in those crystals has diminished over thousands of years, leaving not much left. As for a dimensional teleportation array, only Sky City can provide enough energy to break through spatial barriers. So unless we encounter a spatial storm, it’s impossible for us to teleport to another world!”
With that, Donald turned around to look.

“The swamp is not far away. The only swamp of this scale on the continent is the Two-Legged Dragon Swamp, which proves that we’re most likely transported to the other side of the swamp, on the side in the middle of the continent. If we fly back at full speed on the airship, we can meet Lady Edwina and the others in just half a day!”
Hearing Donald say this, Ferdinand’s mood immediately improved.
“That’s great! Let’s hurry back and reunite with our mother!”
“Why rush?”
Donald summoned four owls and sent them out to scout the area.
“It’s better to be cautious in an unfamiliar environment!”
The territory of the Six Southern Towns was originally adjacent to the continent, only a month’s journey away. The land between them was as large as a small kingdom.
Unfortunately, the half by the sea became a dangerous place like the Two-Legged Dragon Swamp due to the great war among humans, gods, and demons that led to the downfall of the ancient Arcane Emperor Empire. The other half, in the Northwest Wasteland, became the Elemental Valley—a forbidden zone for life—because it was the site where the orcish god died thousands of years ago. The power of the gods turned that place into a region where all living beings, including alchemical puppets, lost their vital forces and vitality.
If it weren’t for these two dangerous areas blocking the routes between the north and south of the continent, Port Leyton wouldn’t have become the most prosperous commercial city in Celt.
Based on the geography, Donald guessed that this place must have been a transit point between the Northlands and the continent, a commonly used short-distance space teleportation coordinate. Perhaps the teleportation array was still set to its last usage setting, and it was accidentally activated by Miss Thorne, which is why they were transported here.
Thousands of years had passed, and the space coordinates set by the archmages still existed, but the once-mighty Arcane Emperor Empire had long been buried in the annals of history.
Soon, Donald had surveyed the surrounding area and was about to send the airship away when he sensed movement from the owl flying south.
“There’s something interesting happening over there. We might need to wait a while before leaving!”
With that, Donald summoned another gargoyle temporarily, wrote a letter, and stuffed it into the gargoyle’s mouth.
“Go! Deliver this letter to the person in the ruins!”
Imagining Edwina’s appearance in his mind, Donald immediately ordered the gargoyle to fly across the swamp.

Golems are originally alchemical beings; when in danger, they can transform into statues to hide themselves, becoming completely lifeless, so there’s no need to worry that sending them to deliver messages will make them targets of attacks from creatures in the swamp. Then, continuing to observe the situation from the owl’s perspective, he saw a group of about forty to fifty mysterious people, wrapped in thick cloaks, leading their families toward the swamp. The owl flying high above could see that about a dozen miles behind them, a group of people on mounts were chasing after them. Since the distance was still quite far, he couldn’t clearly see the true appearance of those people, but from their demeanor, it was obvious they weren’t ordinary humans. The mysterious people ahead were walking on foot, naturally slower than the pursuers with their mounts. It was likely they would be caught by the pursuers before reaching them. However, Donald didn’t know much about either side, so he decided not to act rashly for now. He shared his findings with the teacher and Ferdinand, who both agreed strongly. “These people’s origins are unknown. This swamp area is near the orc territory, where many powerful orc elites are said to gather. If we cause too much noise and attract an orc army, it could be troublesome!” After hearing Ferdinand’s concerns, Donald gave him a puzzled look and said, “I suspect you, Ferdinand, are favored by misfortune—why do you always predict bad things? We’re already in trouble; those chasing us are the most ferocious orc wolf riders!” The pursuers were moving fast, having closed the gap by two or three miles in just a short while. Donald could now make out their appearance and origins. “What? It’s actually wolf riders? I’m curious now—who are these people that would send in such elite orc forces to chase after them? Given their brutality, it’s likely these people won’t even survive!” Donald, however, said calmly, “Look, although those people are hiding their identities, it’s impossible to conceal the fact that there are many children in their group. I plan to save these people and let those wolf riders devour them. What do you think?” “Not a good idea!”

Ferdinand said it with a displeased expression. He had fought against the Wolf Riders before—back when he had just been promoted to Bronze rank and become a commander in the Holy Sword Legion. Facing a group of just over a dozen Wolf Riders, his team of thirty Bronze Swordsmen still had a numerical advantage yet was at a disadvantage. If it were human cavalry of the same number, they would likely be no match for the orc Wolf Riders at all.
“The Wolf Riders and their wolves are both at Bronze strength. If there are more than twenty of them, even Silver Swordsmen could be worn down to death by them. You see, their number is at least fifty. If we stand still and let Master Messel take action, it might still be possible to eliminate these guys. But what the Wolf Riders are most proud of is their speed, like the wind—even powerful human mages would find it hard to take them all out at once!”
Hearing Ferdinand’s analysis, Donald remained full of confidence.
“Don’t worry! Since I’ve said it, I’m over 80% sure I can eliminate these brutal orcs! Although relying on external aids might affect a mage’s cultivation to some extent, who knows what other troubles might arise after dealing with the Wolf Riders? So it’s better to save some strength!”
With that, he took out three badges and hung them on his belt.
Ferdinand naturally recognized these as Donald’s family badges—he had even helped him order them! But he wasn’t quite sure about Donald’s intention in bringing out these badges.
On the other hand, when the old mage Messel saw the three badges, his eyes suddenly lit up.