Volume 2 Chapter 47: Watching The Past

[Author's Note: For bonus chapters, the goal every week is:

- 25 Power Stones

- 50 Power Stones]

Volume 2 Chapter 47: Watching The Past

The black and white magic circle in front of Tria began spinning counterclockwise.

It began to gain speed the longer it spun, eventually becoming just a blur to Eve and Pepper's eyes.

After a few seconds of spinning, it slowed down and stopped before suddenly glowing very bright, illuminating the entire cave.

As the light show subsided, they all began to see several projections of themselves, reversing what they had just done. Even the rogue blood slashes that had already dissipated due to lack of mana emerged from the cuts they had made.

Carmilla, if she were seeing this right now, would probably liken it to watching a video in reverse. Unfortunately, she remained paralyzed, still lying on her side and facing the wall of the cave.

The phenomenon only stopped when all of their projections were in the positions before Carmilla fired the failed blood slash spell. Then, the projection proceeded to recreate what happened a few minutes ago, but this time everyone, except for Carmilla who was still facing the other way, was focused on the blood slash Carmilla casted.

The blood slash flew towards the target, but Tria slowed down its speed so that they could observe it.

That's when they noticed the blood slash spell's shape distort slightly due to its instability. If they hadn't been paying close attention, they might not have noticed. Of course, the slowed-down projection was mainly for Eve and Pepper. Tria and Vespera already knew from the start that Carmilla's spell was unstable.

Focusing intently, they tracked the path of the first rogue blood slash, determined to see where it had landed. Their attention was fixed on this detail, as they hadn't paid much attention to it before.

They hadn't been bored enough to focus their attention on it previously, and given their current conditions, they were unable to do so now.

Unlike when they're at their peak, where they can multitask effortlessly and focus on different things as easily as breathing.

Tria, being only an incarnation, is severely weakened due to the passing of time. While Vespera was only been revived temporarily and has more of her current strength sealed by the trial's rules.

All five of them witnessed parts of the blood slash spell dissipate in mid-air, while the remaining fragments flew in various random directions without following any flight pattern at all.

The first rogue blood slash initially landed outside the target area, but Tria and Vespera showed leniency toward the trio for the time being. Adhering strictly to the rule would mean considering the first attack as the decisive one. However, given how Carmilla was already suffering from a backlash, sticking to the rule would only put more salt to a injury.

They waited patiently for a rogue blood slash to land on any part of the target, but despite the unstable blood slash coming close, the rogue blood slash continued to fly randomly without any discernible direction. Unluckily, each time a rogue blood slash seemed to be heading toward the target, it would ultimately miss and land outside the designated area.

Despite the initial challenges, eventually, a rogue blood slash flew toward the target and landed within it. However, it only hit the middle ring, which was worth 50 points by default. With a 4x multiplier, this added up to 200 points, bringing their total score to 500 points. Unfortunately, they fell short of 200 points from Vespera's 700 points, meaning they had lost the opportunity to compete further in this round for the arena's layout.

"There you have it."

After Tria said that, she canceled the projection of the past. Even though it is the most cost-effective spell in the time magic category, given its simplicity, the longer she relies on it, the more her time in existence dwindles. The only thing sustaining her existence is the power source of the whole dungeon, but relying on it too much causes her current body and the whole dungeon to deteriorate, as it is unable to generate its own mana.

"Looks like I've won this round," Vespera said with a smirk directed at the trio.

Carmilla, no longer needing to wait for her debuff to wear off, to ask Pepper and Eve who did win and how they'd win or lose.

"So Vespera, what kind of layout do you want to use for your battle with the trio?"

Tria asked Vespera about the layout she wanted to use for her battle with the trio, considering Vespera had won their little game to decide the arena.

Vespera contemplated for a moment before responding, "A simple arena where we can have a duel," replied Vespera.

Tria then snapped her fingers as a gesture, before saying, "Easy." After she said that, the cave started to transform, similar to how the first round turned into a forest.

"I guess you four can't have a battle with Carmilla's current condition," Tria remarked.

Tria said this while looking towards Carmilla. Then, she pointed her index and middle fingers towards Eve and Pepper.

"But you two can fight with Vespera without Carmilla. If you wish to fight, I suggest you place Carmilla on a wall where she can see the whole battlefield."

"Why would Master Carmilla need to be positioned in that kind of place?" Pepper asked this without and malicious intent or thought, and was just genuinely curious.

"So that she could watch your battle with Vespera. With this, she can get a primary idea of how Vespera fights, and since Vespera picked an open area as the layout for your battlefield, there will be nothing to block her vision unless someone casts a wide-range spell."

After hearing all of this, Eve and Pepper thought that there was no harm in following Tria's advice. Since Carmilla couldn't move or talk, having her watch the entire fight would be more beneficial to them.

The two of them went towards the furthest side of the cave, now transformed into an arena, so that Carmilla could have a view of almost the entire arena. Placing Carmilla in the furthest corner of the arena ensured her safety, away from any spells they might use during the battle especially now that she can't even try to dodge or set up a powerful barrier.

Eve considered using a blood dome for extra protection for Carmilla. However, she realized that the blood dome they could cast at the moment would only provide temporary protection. If any spell were to hit the blood dome, they wouldn't be able to repair it from afar. Direct contact with the blood dome would be necessary to send mana for repairs.

Eve contemplated all of this but realized that getting distracted in the middle of a fight could be dangerous. No matter how fast she could regenerate her mana, using it for anything other than the fight where every single bit of time and resource was crucial could be risky. However, she understood that they would eventually learn this in the future.