Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

Unlike the great forests in the west, the mountains here have great differences in height. If there were some clouds and mist among the forests, it would be quite eerie.

Elsa did see the canyon, it was very far away, and Elsa did not see any movement at all. The forest seemed to be dead, which gave people a rather strange feeling.

Elsa could feel this sense of incongruity, but she didn't know where it came from.

"Fortunately, we've determined His Highness's approximate location based on what the soldiers of the First Battalion have said," Count Abru said, pointing in a direction. "His Highness is probably trapped somewhere between the river valley and the canyon in the east. The terrain there is relatively steep and dangerous, and there are many ferocious and demonic creatures active. I suspect His Highness is using this to deal with those men in white."

If they started searching aimlessly from the outskirts of the forest, even Elsa would need some time, but now that they had a specific location, the rest of the work would be much easier.

Elsa nodded.

"Do you have a map of this place?"

"Of course!" Count Abru hurriedly took out a scroll from his space ring. It was a very finely drawn and detailed military map, which clearly marked the vast territory from the southern border of the empire to several small member countries of the Southwestern Federation.

This includes the adjacent Earldom of Abru and part of the border of the Kingdom of Levis, one of the largest member states of the Federation. Each area is appropriately marked.

This was obviously something carefully prepared by Count Abruzzo.

However, not all places on this map are very clear. For example, the large forest only has some relatively obvious signs roughly drawn, such as peaks, large forests, river valleys, canyons and the like. After all, there was no radar or satellite in this era, and if you wanted to draw a map, you had to rely on people to accumulate and depict it bit by bit. For a dangerous place like a forest, the difficulty of such work would be greatly increased. In addition, this place itself is a sensitive area between the Empire and the Kingdom of Levis. The vigilance of the Kingdom of Levis naturally increased the difficulty of investigation and map drawing.

But even so, a general direction information can provide a lot of help - the location of the hero mentioned by Count Abru became clear at a glance on the map. Aisha asked the Count some more questions and then used charcoal to mark a rough range on the scroll.

Aisha felt that she had gained something.

Count Abru hesitated for a moment, then added, "But... Her Excellency the Saint, it's strange that the soldiers of the First Battalion have insisted that they spent a full day in the forest, when in reality, only one night had passed since they lost contact... There's a huge discrepancy between our experience and their judgment of time, yet each of their statements is consistent. I believe they're not lying..."

This is also the reason why their support troops arrived late. Otherwise, the brave man would never have fallen into danger.

"So I speculate that there must be a very large illusion in the forest..."

"Illusion?"

"Yes, I don't know the specific cause, but this is the only way to explain it."

Although he said this, Count Abru didn't seem to have much confidence.

Elsa couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is that forest? Is there anyone among you who knows more about it?"

"Of course, I went into that forest when I was young, but in my impression, apart from being large, there's nothing special about it. I also sought out hunters from the fortress who often hunt in the shallow forest and adventurers who have been there before. I also asked merchants and mercenaries who have had experience there, but they all said there was nothing strange about the forest. Some said there was often thick fog there, but nothing unusual, only the monsters were dangerous..."

Count Abru said.

"What's a little concerning is that several hunters haven't returned since heading into the forest, around the evening of two days ago... I asked the soldiers of the First Battalion, and they also received intelligence about two days ago, saying there were clues about the sacred artifact in the forest..."

"Holy Relic..."

Elsa was suspicious.

Speaking of which, the Duke himself did not specifically mention why the brave Madeleine appeared here. So, does that mean the brave actually came here to find the holy relic?

"Then we were ambushed by the men in white."

Count Abru recounted in great detail what had happened, based on what he had learned and compiled from the mouths of so many soldiers of the First Battalion.

"The situation is extremely dangerous right now. There are still many men in white chasing after His Highness the Brave One. According to the soldiers of the First Battalion, those in white are the true elite. Their methods are very sophisticated and they are much more dangerous than those outside. They only escaped under the protection of the Brave One."

"It seems we have to move faster."

Elsa thought about it.

"I'll leave these people in your care. The Sage and I will enter the forest and search for the hero at the place you mentioned. Please report what happened here to the Queen as soon as possible. In addition, I hope you can immediately organize personnel to assist in the search for the hero's whereabouts. If you find anything, please inform the Sage and me immediately."

"Of course, I'll arrange it right away!"

After saying that, Elsa jumped away. How the Empire and the Kingdom of Levis would negotiate in the future had nothing to do with Elsa. She only needed to find the hero as soon as possible.

Count Abru couldn't help but sigh in his heart as he watched Elsa jump away.

At this moment, a cavalryman came running over in a hurry. He looked very anxious, but his expression was quite strange. When he came here, he looked at the direction where Elsa left with a strange look.

The cavalryman hesitated for a moment and said, "My Lord Earl... the camp has received urgent news from the Duke of Ryanford..."

"Ok?"

Count Abreu frowned. Another urgent message? What was it this time?

"what happened?"

"This... the Duke sent a message saying that we should send people to greet the 'coming' Head Saint Sister and the Master Mystic Sage... and assist them in rescuing His Highness the Hero..."

Count Abru's eyes twitched suddenly, and he looked silently at the vague figure in the sky.

Is this news coming a little too late?

……

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Elsa did not stay long and quickly returned to Tricia's side. At this time, Tricia was using hypnosis magic to interrogate the people in white. Seeing Elsa coming, Tricia also came forward to greet her.

"Is there any result?"

Tricia asked.

Elsa relayed the information provided by Count Abru and took out the detailed map she got from Count Abru.

The inference about the hero's location is very valuable. After all, this mountain area is very vast and there is no end in sight. It would be very troublesome to just look for it blindly, but it would be much simpler if we could confirm an approximate location.

"The location where the hero disappeared seems to be very close to the Kingdom of Levis. I'm afraid this attack is indeed not a coincidence."

"Are those people in white also from the Kingdom of Levis?"

"Well, I asked, and they all confessed."

Tricia took a careful look at the map, her eyes falling on the territory of the Kingdom of Levis. The Kingdom of Levis had been active during this incident, and it was hard not to notice.

"However, Aisha," Tricia put away the scroll and raised her eyes, "the information I received from these soldiers is somewhat unusual. None of them know anything about this operation. Only a few of them have a general idea of ​​what they are doing. However, they are also completely unaware of the full scope of the operation. Or rather, they haven't received the next instructions yet."

"The planning strategy is not well coordinated?"

"No, I just thought of a possibility..." Tricia seemed to be considering something, then continued, "Elsa, I questioned the soldiers of the First Battalion in detail, and they all have one thing in common: they believe they spent a day and a night in the forest, but from our perspective, only one night passed. Count Abru explained this as an 'illusion,' but I'm afraid that's not the case. I mean, if the soldiers of the First Battalion have no problem with their perception of time, and they haven't been under any illusions during this time, then the 'time' they report might point to a different answer. Elsa, look here."

Tricia pointed her finger on the map, at a location south of the canyon and river valley.

"If Earl Abru is correct, then this should be where the brave men were attacked, and the warriors broke through here."

As she spoke, Tricia's finger slowly moved, pointing between the canyon and the river valley, and then drew a straight blue line pointing to the border of the empire.

"If we start from there, how long would it take an elite soldier on foot to get out of the forest and back here, and then contact the Second and Sixth Battalions? - Based on my experience, if we move in a straight line without any other interference, then even if we move at top speed non-stop on the rugged mountain road, it should take four to six hours to cover such a long distance."

As she spoke, Tricia's fingers drew a winding path along the valley and through the woods.

"If they have to evade monsters, cross mountains and valleys, and over cliffs, and even fight the besieging men in white, then the time will be greatly extended. So, a day and a night is more reasonable. Furthermore, I just asked some of the soldiers in the First Battalion, and they are clearly conscious and have clear memories. They don't seem to have stepped into an illusion."

Because illusions themselves are like dreams, once you wake up, as time goes by, your memory of the illusion will inevitably be missing some details - people with strong mental strength may be able to force themselves to remember those memories, but no one can strictly require all the soldiers of the First Battalion to record all the illusions without any error.

Furthermore, human memory is subjective, especially the memory ripples of illusions and dreams, which are absolutely subjective. Even if a group of people fall into an illusion, it is absolutely impossible to make so many people experience exactly the same memory in the environment - no one can connect so many people to the same illusion, because everyone's subjective judgment will cause the illusion to change. So how can the minds of so many people be synchronized to operate in a coordinated and stable manner?

If anyone could do this, Tricia wouldn't be unaware of it, and obviously, no such person existed.

Seeing this, Aisha also started to think.

"So, they really spent a whole day and night in the forest?"

Tricia didn't respond immediately. Instead, she said, "There's a type of relic from the Age of Gods, a very rare type. As far as I know, it can peel off space, just like this..."

A small black sphere appeared in Tricia's hand. Although it was called a sphere, Elsa could see that the light around the sphere was distorted, even mirror-distorted.

"Unlike our space, if there's no force pulling it back, the stripped-off space will drift further and further away from ours, moving in another direction. The direction I'm talking about isn't the 'position' we know, but 'time.' In the explanation of esoteric magic, the time we experience is merely the trajectory of the 'movement' of our world, like a fork in the road. To reach the same destination, some roads are straighter and shorter, taking less time, but some roads will take longer and longer, until a very long time later... I'm sorry, my explanation isn't rigorous enough, because even the founder of this theory couldn't quite describe such a scene. I wonder if you, Elsa, can understand..."

"I think I can understand..."

Elsa thought about it and felt that this statement was somewhat similar to the explanation of time in some novels or film and television dramas in her previous life, but not quite the same. Elsa vaguely understood it, but she was not sure if this was what Tricia meant - perhaps, humans' imagination of the concept of "time" is always similar over a certain period of time, which made Elsa connect the two.

Of course, this is not the point.

The key point is that——

"In other words, this might be a relic?"

Come to think of it, didn't Madeleine come here just to find the holy relic? - Maybe she was in the right place after all.

"Well, that's why I hope you can wait here for a while, Aisha. You're too special. If my guess is correct, I'm not sure if the ruins' spatial anchor point will be broken by your entry. If that happens, the space there might never be returned."

……

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414. Hourglass

"The last of time magic disappeared in the distant Age of Gods. Or rather, it never appeared. The so-called time magic of the Age of Gods is essentially more like a sophisticated space magic. I mean, it creates time using space."

Tricia said.

"If the intelligence we've obtained contains no omissions, then this place is very likely a relic from the Age of Gods that has remained hidden until now."

No one knows why the Age of Gods ended. People cannot get enough clues from the remaining relics of the Age of Gods. They only know that the civilization of the Age of Gods was very glorious, and their footprints were all over the continents, the sky, and the oceans. Therefore, it is not surprising to find a relic anywhere. Or rather, what is surprising should be the relic itself.

"If this is truly a ruin, then both the Empire and the Southwestern Federation have control over it. Aisha, I think things might get complicated. Before that, we should get the hero out as soon as possible. I hope she's not in any danger in there."

Tricia glanced at the Levis Kingdom cavalry.

After all, this is the border between the Empire and the Federation. The border is very wide and unowned. This practice, which seems incredible and wasteful of land to Elsa, is not uncommon in this world.

According to the conventions of the continental countries, anything discovered here, as long as there is no clear demarcation of ownership, will be subject to jurisdiction by both the Empire and the Kingdom of Levis - if it is a relic, it will be jointly developed and managed by the Empire and the Federation, and the proceeds will be distributed after consultation between the two countries. If a danger is caused, the two countries should also deal with it. Of course, the Holy See or other countries can also be invited to assist, but few people would do such a thing because it means dividing the jurisdiction of the relic.

Obviously, given the relationship between the Empire and the Federation, or the Empire and the Kingdom of Levis, it can be foreseen that the Empire and the Kingdom of Levis will definitely compete for the first development rights, and Tricia will not be able to interfere. At this time, many things can be manipulated behind the scenes, which means that this matter will definitely not be resolved easily.

Elsa thought about it and felt that this kind of thing seemed familiar. If it was not handled properly, struggle would be inevitable.

However, her position is that of the Holy See. At least now she is acting as the head of the Holy See, so it is not easy for her to get involved. There are many things that cannot be sorted out in a short time, and countries have corresponding ways of dealing with them. As long as it does not affect innocent people, Elsa does not intend to intervene.

She asked Tricia, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Of course, I need your strength, Aisha, but I have to go in and see the situation before making a decision."

Tricia looked towards the forest in front of her.

"If it's just a slight time error, I think I should be able to find a way to reverse it. Although I don't have the power of time magic, I can try to reverse the formation circuit."

"Will it be dangerous?"

Even though Elsa was only a half-baked magician - at least in theory, she knew how risky it was to reverse the formation circuit.

Just like blood flows in blood vessels, what would happen if the blood flowed backwards?

Likewise, magic power would flow backwards within the magic circle, and if one wasn't careful, it would backfire on the caster.

"Don't worry. According to Count Abruzzo's intelligence, the anomaly here should have only appeared recently, right? There were no reports of suspicious disappearances of hunters or adventurers before, so this ruin must have only just 'awakened'—its spatial tearing power isn't enough for me to handle. By the way, Elsa, could you hold this for me?"

Tricia took out an hourglass, turned it upside down and handed it to Elsa - she herself held an identical one in her hand. As Tricia's magic faded, the fine sand in the hourglass began to flow slowly.

"You have to be more careful."

Aisha took the hourglass and said.

Tricia smiled slightly, then turned and walked into the forest alone.

Aisha was waiting outside, ready to pick her up at any time.

The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 9th Infantry Division, under the command of Count Abru, quickly cleaned up the battlefield, captured prisoners, and quickly reported what happened here to the Queen and Duke Ryanfort.

Time passes slowly.

Elsa sometimes looked at the hourglass in her hand, and sometimes stared at the forest in front of her.

This scene vaguely reminded Elsa of things from her past life. She suddenly wondered if there was any connection between so-called space and time and the reason for her appearance in this world. What if there was a magic circle large enough to rip apart the entire continent? No, should we say, this entire world?

In this case, can this continent also be considered a relic of the Age of Gods?

Just as her mind was drifting, Elsa suddenly realized that there was something strange about the forest in front of her - she didn't know when it started, but the scenery of the forest became blurry.

It wasn't because Elsa's vision was deviated, but because Elsa saw a series of unclear shadows. She squinted her eyes slightly, distinguished carefully, and seemed to feel something. The scene in front of her eyes overlapped, like layers of transparent plastic paper with patterns printed on it stacked up one after another.

Faintly, Elsa seemed to see the slowly flowing white mist. The surrounding scenery seemed distorted, but normal.

This feeling was so strange that it was hard to describe. It was as if all the scenes that she usually saw in her daily life were given new and unspeakable meanings at this moment. Elsa had never experienced this feeling before. She was not sure whether what she saw was the "divided" space.

Elsa hesitated for a moment, suppressed her curiosity, and did not reach out to touch it - this kind of thing still needs to be asked Tricia and confirmed.

At this time, Elsa saw Tricia's figure flash through the forest. Just as she was trying to distinguish it carefully, the sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer. It was Count Abru riding a horse.

"Mrs. Saint Sister!" Count Abru dismounted and stood in front of Elsa. "The Kingdom of Levis has sent an envoy, asking us to hand over their people. Their army seems to be ready to go. What should we do?"

Count Abru looked eager to fight, and he didn't want to let anyone go. The imperial army had already completed its preparations at the border and was ready to go into battle at any time. He naturally wouldn't be afraid of the army of the Kingdom of Levis, but with Elsa and Tricia here, he had to ask Elsa and Tricia for instructions and wait for their decision.