However, the matter of the Toe Ring could wait. It was far more crucial to test Tribios' abilities immediately.
Recalling her experience with Tribbie in the Honkai: Star Rail game, Tribios realized the character hadn't displayed many powers beyond the Century Gate. This was essentially an enhanced version of the Anywhere Door, capable of opening portals to any location.
Aside from that, Tribbie had also used Oronyx's divine miracles, but these were learned sacrificial abilities, not the inherent Authority of the Demigod of Passage. Tribios, lacking any of her original self's memories, wouldn't possess such learned skills.
In the game, Tribbie's signature line was, "Who should I ask for help this time?" This very line suggested that among the twelve Demigods, her combat prowess was likely the weakest.
Yet Tribios considered that even with only the Century Gate's teleportation ability, she wasn't entirely defenseless. This teleportation ignored distance and could even "pull people in."
She could easily conjure a Century Gate beside her enemies, suck them in, and teleport them to the Nine Hells—or even beyond this world.
Hadn't Feidric mentioned that if one flew straight up, they'd hit an 'air wall' at around 9,000 meters? What would happen if she tossed enemies beyond that barrier? Would they be trapped outside, unable to return?
With sufficient distance, this Skill would be no different from an instant kill. After all, if they'd never see each other again in their lifetime, might as well consider the enemy dead.
And this was just a spur-of-the-moment idea. Tribios felt this teleportation ability must have even more applications.
While pondering this, Tribios began her first experiment. But opening a Century Gate required a destination. Where should she choose?
The underground Ice Cave where Castorice and the White Dragon had clashed immediately came to mind. Looking back, she realized that while she'd found plenty of good loot from the corpses of the Summoner Wizard, Ranger, and Sorcerer she'd encountered earlier, this time there was nothing—except for the strange Ice Egg Aria had picked up.
Since five of the Seven Heroes had died, leaving only two survivors—the Forging Priest and the Druid—it was clear these were the other two casualties beyond the three Heroes already mentioned. Although Eve hadn't strictly died, her 300 years of clinging to a half-life made her functionally dead.
In short, this underground Ice Cave was likely the site of the final battle between the Demon Lord and the Heroes. It seemed impossible that such a climactic battle would yield only a single piece of equipment. Could there be other treasures hidden that they had simply overlooked?
For instance, Eve hadn't dropped any equipment at all—unless you counted her dropping herself?
What about the Forging Priest? Well, he seemed to have dropped everything everywhere. After all, Cipher and the others had followed the scattered armor fragments deep into the Ice Cave. But the problem was, those armor fragments were completely useless—just pure trash.
And the Demon Lord? Okay, it seemed he had actually dropped something—that Ice Egg?
Still, even if just to test her abilities, Tribios decided to investigate the Ice Cave.
She took a deep breath, visualized the destination in her mind, and whispered, "Century Gate, open."
It felt like sneaking under the covers late at night to secretly play on her phone, deliberately keeping the volume very, very low to avoid being caught by her parents.
If others were to discover Castorice whispering intimately with another beautiful woman who had materialized out of thin air in the washroom, the consequences probably... wouldn't be too severe, right? At worst, Aisha would explode.
In any case, after Tribios activated her ability, a golden, four-pointed star-shaped 'portal' slowly materialized, gradually expanding in size. Visually, it resembled a star gradually growing larger.
Once the portal was large enough for Tribios to pass through, she ceased channeling her ability and stepped inside. The entire teleportation process was remarkably smooth, without the slightest jolt. From Tribios's perspective, she simply walked into a golden light.
When she blinked and looked ahead again, she found herself in the Ice Cave, standing on a white, icy surface. Just a step behind her, the Century Gate slowly shrank until it vanished completely.
Physically, apart from the slightly brighter light, it truly felt like walking through a door. And then, there was the sensation of her toes feeling a bit cold.
Tribios's toes curled slightly. Unlike wearing a ring on a finger, where the wide gaps between digits ensure only the ringed finger feels any sensation, the toes are tightly packed together. With a toe ring on her second toe, her first and third toes distinctly felt the foreign object—a cold, metallic band forcing them apart.
Yet, to be honest, it wasn't particularly uncomfortable, just a little unfamiliar.
Tap-tap~
The crisp, clear sound of her high heels clicking on the ice echoed sharply through the cavern. Tribios blinked her sapphire-like eyes and began scanning her surroundings for any 'stragglers' that might have slipped through.
As far as she could see, everything was ice, just like the Forging Priest fragments Cipher had encountered earlier. If anything else were here, it should be easy to spot.
But considering Aria had found an Ice Egg, she couldn't rule out the possibility of other inconspicuous objects hidden within the cave.
Tribios circled the Ice Cave several times. When she finally reached the spot where Aria had found the Ice Egg, a sudden blue light erupted beneath her feet.
An incredibly intricate Magic Circle rapidly materialized beneath her. First, a circle approximately two meters in diameter formed, encircling Tribios. As the circle completed, its cardinal directions extended outward, forming a larger circle.
This pattern repeated itself, circle after circle, until the entire Magic Circle nearly encompassed the central area of the Ice Cave—the very Boss battleground where Castorice and the White Dragon had clashed, now completely contained within the magical array.
"Ah, this..." Tribios murmured, momentarily stunned by the sight. "So there really is something here after all?!"
Despite the unfolding spectacle, she felt no panic, only curiosity. After all, even if something unexpected occurred, she could leave at any moment.
The very next moment, a dizzying sensation overwhelmed Tribios, as if she had been tossed into a violently spinning washing machine. Or, she inexplicably recalled the Portkey from Harry Potter, a magical item that could teleport people from one place to another.
But the teleportation process was excruciating, as if someone had hooked her navel and was forcefully dragging her forward. Tribios experienced a similar sensation, only far more intense—it wasn't just her navel; her entire body felt agonizingly stretched and distorted.
Worse still, she had recently used the Century Gate for teleportation, the comfort of which was as incomparable to this ordeal as heaven is to hell.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the torturous "teleportation" ceased. Tribios collapsed onto the ground, dazed and disoriented. After a moment to recover, she rubbed her temples, pinched the bridge of her nose, and looked up at her surroundings.
She was no longer in the ice cave filled with ice blocks, but had emerged into a lush forest. Towering green trees stretched as far as the eye could see, and the incessant chirping of insects echoed in her ears.
Where the hell did this teleport me to? Is this still Chaos City?
As she mentally grumbled, Tribios brushed the dust off her skirt and slowly stood up. It was then she suddenly realized something was terribly wrong.
The sensation of her multiple bodies being connected had vanished! More precisely, she could no longer sense what was happening with Cipher and Castorice.
"Huh?"
Tribios was completely stunned. How could this be possible?! How could I lose contact with Cipher and Castorice?
After a brief moment of bewilderment, she immediately called out softly in her mind, System?
Normally, this would instantly summon the System's semi-transparent interface before her. But this time, only three flashing dots appeared—the familiar loading screen.
Tribios waited patiently for ten minutes, but the three flashing dots remained unchanged. Her patience finally snapped. Mentally visualizing the location of the washroom within the Death Priest Headquarters, she extended her right hand and declared, "Century Gate!"
A golden, four-pointed star portal materialized instantly. Without hesitation, Tribios dashed through it, only to find herself not in a washroom at all, but still in the dense forest, surrounded by towering, lush trees.
"Wait, don't panic. Stay calm," Tribios muttered, taking a deep breath. She began to think logically. The problem undoubtedly stemmed from the massive magic circle in the Ice Cave, but she flatly refused to believe any magical effect could block the System and sever her connection to her other bodies.
The magic's most likely effect was teleportation. Therefore, the issue must lie either in the teleportation process itself or the destination. But what kind of teleportation and what kind of destination could cause her to lose contact with her other two bodies?
It wasn't difficult to deduce. After a brief moment of reflection, Tribios realized she was likely no longer in her original timeline.
Therefore, the magic's "teleportation" was actually "time travel," and the destination was almost certainly the past. If she had been sent to the future, she would have been able to sense Cipher and Castorice.
Only by returning to the past, where Cipher and Castorice hadn't yet been born, could she fail to sense their presence. But why did Tribios's Century Gate still lead to a forest? Because this place was actually Chaos City, but in this era, Chaos City hadn't been founded yet, and the area was still a vast forest!
In other words, the time jump spanned at least three centuries. The Demon King's City hadn't been built yet, which meant the Demon Lord hadn't been defeated either!
"Can I use the Century Gate to return to Chaos City three hundred years in the future?" Tribios muttered to herself, then focused her mind and attempted to open another Century Gate. She succeeded, but after stepping through, she found herself merely treading in place.
Her Century Gate only granted spatial authority, lacking any temporal capabilities. It allowed instantaneous travel across vast distances but couldn't transcend time.
Otherwise, in the original story, "Tribbie" could have roamed freely across the timeline, visiting Cerydra and Hysilens in the past whenever she pleased, then casually checking the future to see if the world had been destroyed. Returning to the "present," she could then refine the Flame-Chasing Plan based on the future's outcomes.
That wouldn't be a Century Gate—it would be a time machine!
As for why Tribbie could open a Century Gate to the "past" created by Oronyx's miracle in the original story, it's because Oronyx's miracle didn't actually traverse time. Instead, it used memories to recreate past scenes, and the recreated location remained within the "present" timeline.
After much deliberation, Tribios's gaze finally settled on the System Page. She wasn't entirely sure why the System had frozen, but the most likely explanation was that the Magic Circle in the Ice Cave had sent her back in time.
"I'm doomed! What am I supposed to do now?!" Tribios crouched down, clutching her head in her hands. It was clear that the teleportation Magic Circle was likely a one-way trip, given the barren surroundings where she had landed.
Moreover, she knew absolutely nothing about magic. Even if an identical Magic Circle were right under her feet, activating it and teleporting back would be no easy task.
In other words, using magic to return to the future was an almost impossible feat. So what was she supposed to do? Survive at least three hundred years in this timeline, just to live long enough to reach the future?
The main problem was, this was three centuries ago! She was a complete stranger in this era. What was she supposed to do? Join the Hero Party and help them defeat the Demon Lord?
Hmm... that actually doesn't sound too bad?