Water Mage in the Flame Realm-Chapter 340 - 328: One-Way Gate

"Previously, I was also rather skeptical about the existence of this Outer Battlefield."

Catherine paused after speaking.

The two Strange Fires and the power of the Ice Pattern within her were still in conflict, nearing the brink of loss of control, but her ability to adjust was truly incredible. In such a short time, she seems to have re-stabilized the situation within her body and is finding a new balance!

Her gaze flickered as she pondered how to further persuade Andrew to achieve the goal of buying time. After all, as she herself said, she couldn’t be completely sure that the other side of the Teleportation Gate was indeed the so-called Outer Battlefield.

What Catherine didn’t know was that Andrew had actually already believed her.

Of course, it wasn’t because he was easily swayed by Catherine’s words.

It was because, at the moment the Teleportation Gate took shape, Andrew indeed clearly sensed a "kindred" aura from within.

More importantly, when Andrew heard Catherine say, "The Water Mages who were once hunted down escaped to the Outer Domain through this portal," he almost instantly thought of the woman in the ice coffin deep beneath the snowy mountain.

Previously, deep in Andrew’s heart, there was always a question: "Why here? That woman in the ice coffin is most likely the daughter of the entity that left me the ’Water God Mark,’ such an important figure, why would she be buried deep under this Northern Country instead of elsewhere?"

In Andrew’s view, whether it was the Wildfire Territory, where the Lake of the Ocean was hidden underground and served as his home base, or Warm Fire City, formed with the Deep Blue Magic Tower as the center covering this vast water area and the entire Water Element area—indeed, the water region of Warm Fire City actually had the Magic Tower, presided over by Lady Yi Lian, at its center, and the tower was essentially a Divine Artifact of the Water Element—in any case, whether the Wildfire Territory or Warm Fire City, both were more suitable for the woman in the ice coffin to slumber than the underground of this Northern Country.

If so, why here specifically? Why?

Previously, Andrew could only convince himself that this was a coincidence, with no deeper reasons behind it.

Now, Andrew felt there was an explanation or at least a reasonable possibility.

"The woman in the ice coffin should have been left here during the collective retreat of the Water Mages!"

Andrew thought.

In his mind, a scene had already formed—

In ancient times, the Magic Guild, for some reason, perhaps under the Dragon Race’s directive, embarked on a massacre of Water Mages.

The Water Mages were overwhelmed, and as they fought and retreated, they collectively withdrew here, planning to use the Teleportation Gate to seek refuge in the so-called Outer Domain—this also explained why the Teleportation Gate had to be so large, because it wasn’t built for just one or two individuals but an entire group!

However, the enemies pursued them, including Flame Warriors, Earth Fire Mages, and... a Dragon.

After a great battle, the woman in the ice coffin was severely wounded by a Dragon Race—perhaps the very dragon behind the Magic Guild—leaving a terrifying Dragon Claw Mark on her chest.

The injuries were so severe that she couldn’t pass through the Teleportation Gate, knowing that using a portal required a certain state. It’s like in my previous world, severely ill people couldn’t fly elsewhere for treatment.

The other Water Mages had no choice but to hide her here.

The Water Mages who set out never returned, and all these years, they have been continuously hunted on the Outer Battlefield.

Meanwhile, the woman in the ice coffin has been slumbering underground, turning the Northern Country into this icy and snowy landscape.

—Of course, this might not be entirely accurate, but Andrew believed his guess should be mostly correct. At the very least, it explains why the woman in the ice coffin would slumber in this remote Northern Country, far from Warm Fire City and the Lake of the Ocean under the Wildfire Territory.

"So, after capturing me, you brought me here, not because you were fleeing blindly."

Andrew looked at Catherine, "You intended from the beginning to use this Teleportation Gate to reach the Outer Battlefield and meet up with the forces of the Magic Guild stationed there?"

Previously, Catherine managed to escape from President Beiru’s carefully laid traps by sacrificing an arm but sustained severe injuries. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

From her perspective, she needed to quickly reunite with Gus and the other three Earth Fire Scholars for protection.

However, taking the normal route west to the Magic Guild would make it too easy for her to be caught due to her condition.

Instead, if she chose to "take a detour" through the Outer Battlefield, things would be much more manageable.

According to Catherine, the Outer Domain not only had Water Mages who fled there but also the Magic Guild’s army that had been continuously hunting them down over the years.

Because of the battling parties, it could be called a "battlefield."

The fact that the Magic Guild could continuously send troops to the Outer Battlefield indicated that there had to be a stable Teleportation Gate to that battlefield within the Guild.

Perhaps it was within the Scholar’s Fortress.

Catherine taking a detour through the Outer Battlefield might actually get her to the Scholar’s Fortress faster, and once there, President Beiru wouldn’t be able to do anything to her.

"Yes, I indeed never planned to take the normal route from the start but intended to use the Outer Battlefield to meet up with Gus and the others."

Only to hear Catherine say, "My father has discovered many of my secrets, but he could never guess that I accidentally found a teleportation circle here in the north of the Royal Court!"

Andrew remained silent, thinking to himself that despite all her years of maneuvering in the Royal Court, she was unaware of the woman’s existence in the ice coffin underground. Of course, he couldn’t say this out loud.

"My original plan was to kill you first, absorb your power, then activate this Teleportation Gate for transport."

Catherine paused, shook her head, then said, "I could only do this because this portal is ’one-way.’"

"One-way?" Andrew was startled, then quickly understood.

Previously, during a series of business collaborations with Warm Fire Commerce Association in Warm Fire City, Andrew took some time to audit a few courses of interest at Warm Fire Academy to further gather information about this Flame Realm and stockpile necessary knowledge.

If he remembered correctly, in this Flame Realm, if a Teleportation Gate could only perform "one-way transmission," that is transporting from one end but not returning, then the gate likely had the characteristic of "random teleportation."

This meant the arrival spot was entirely random.

Essentially, it implied that a one-way Teleportation Gate was an "incomplete portal."

For instance, despite its massive size, the current Teleportation Gate couldn’t ensure precise landing spots due to its hastily arranged nature back then.

"I see."

Andrew quickly realized and smirked, "In other words, if you sent me through the portal, due to this ’random landing,’ we would likely get separated. Thus, you would lose control over me and wouldn’t be able to seize my power, so you were planning to eliminate me before the portal activated!"

"Yes, if possible, I’d rather kill you later. I’m interested in your identity as the Water God’s descendant. It’s not just about your power. But the choices were limited."

Catherine sighed, "What I didn’t expect was initially, due to ’one-way random teleportation,’ I had to kill you in advance. Now, I have to use this mechanism to save my life, to... break free from you."