She would be right in the center. Dangerous but necessary. Not only could she not move because of the primary ritual, but she was needed to keep her blood aloft. Were she to move outside of it, she doubted that her range would allow her to manipulate the far end of the circle she was constructing.
Eva plunged a tendril of blood into the mass of flesh. A second tendril dove into the smoke of Void’s avatar, but without a proper body, Eva was left supporting the tendril entirely through magic. Gritting her teeth, she inserted the opposite ends of each tendril into her wrists.
This ritual—This treatment, for as long as Eva had known about it, it had required the passing of blood. With the Avatar of Void not having blood, she might have to act as a stand-in. Just in case that was entirely unnecessary, Eva did connect the two hollow tubes outside of her body as well, allowing for a bypass.
Everything ready, Eva shot a glance towards Catherine. Who, by her wide eyes, had obviously recognized what Eva was about to attempt. She shouted something, but Eva couldn’t hear. The distance and ambient noise drowned her out.
She was probably saying something like, “Good thinking Eva, this will work. I’m absolutely confident about it. Also you haven’t made a single mistake in the small modifications you made to your treatment circle. Everything is perfect!”
With that hopeful message in mind, Eva poured her magic into the treatment circle overhead and got it underway.
Immediately, Eva felt a drain on her body. Not just blood, which certainly was moving through the tube, but a physical drain that had her slumping forwards. Both tubes were filled with essence. The smoke was draining from the avatar. She couldn’t see it with her sense of blood, but she could feel it pass through her and mix with her blood before moving out the other side.
Her wings of blood darted forwards to catch her before she completely hit the ground, leaving her propped up but hanging slightly. A good thing her wings were working. She couldn’t even flex her fingers.
She could stare at nothing but the ground, though her sense of blood still worked.
Like the Avatar of Void, Life’s avatar ceased moving the moment the ritual started. Something Eva had been hoping for. During her treatment, she and Arachne had always fallen asleep. Powers were obviously beings quite a bit different from humans and demons, but it was nice to see that it had worked.
Eva let out a sigh filled with relief. Maybe this wouldn’t work out in the end. Maybe this wouldn’t corrupt it enough. But it was her best plan.
All she could think of at the moment. It would
Huh
Eva’s eyes snapped open to find the stone surface of the ritual circle, still glowing in a vibrant violet light. She wasn’t sure when she had closed her eyes. A deep rumbling in the ground beneath her feet had pulled her out of her torpor.
Seeing the ritual circle sent a jolt through Eva’s body. She couldn’t believe that she had fallen asleep.
Straining the muscles in her neck, she barely managed to look straight forwards. And her head ached every moment of the way. She only just got to see Catherine, Lucy, and Shelby standing on their spots before she couldn’t take it any more and let her head hang back down against her chest.
Not too much time could have passed. All three were standing. Mostly. Lucy’s lower half wasn’t a cohesive set of legs at the moment. More of a mountain made from tentacles that her upper body had perched upon. Catherine might not be the best metric for time passing either, being a demon. Eva wasn’t entirely sure about the stamina of a succubus. Maybe she would have collapsed from exhaustion eventually. However, Eva fully believed that Catherine had the stamina to remain standing for days.
Shelby was the real metric. She was a human. Not even an athletic one at that. Standing in one place for hours on end was absolute hell on the feet. Possible, easily, but Eva imagined that she would be shifting her weight side to side every few seconds.
Though it was somewhat odd that she was standing. Most everyone had chosen to kneel before they had started up the ritual. Save for Genoa and Catherine.
Perhaps some time had passed.
The sky would be a much better metric, but it had been a struggle just to tilt her head back enough to see Shelby’s waist. She couldn’t tell from the lighting thanks to the light of the ritual circle. The violet drowned out all the surrounding light.
It took a moment for Eva to realize her stupidity.
Blood coated every inch of her body. Blood that she controlled. A simple thought had her head wrenching back to allow her a sight-line of the sky.
Had the muscles in her jaw not been slack already, she would have started gaping.
Obviously she wouldn’t be able to stare at the sky. The portals were still overhead, blocking her view with the giant eyeball of Life.
