I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 235: Miscalculated
"Art, that green mist needs to go! Otherwise, our attacks mean shit!" Julian yells as he narrowly avoids several green mist arrows slicing through the air toward him.
"I know that! And I agree, but how?" Arthur shouts back, leaping sideways just in time to avoid another barrage.
They have been forced into constant acrobatic maneuvers for a while now. Rolling. Jumping. Twisting midair. Barely landing before they are forced to move again.
The King does not give them even a heartbeat to counterattack.
It has pushed them entirely onto the defensive.
And it does not sit well with Arthur.
At all.
That is not the only problem.
The green mist is thickening around them at an alarming rate. It coils and shifts, swallowing visibility, distorting distance. Their sightlines are compromised. Depth becomes unreliable. Shadows move where nothing should be moving.
It is getting more and more difficult for Arthur and Julian to avoid the arrows cleanly.
"This is ridiculous!" Julian shouts, ducking under another strike. One of the green arrows grazes his left leg, slicing through fabric and skin.
He grunts. Blood seeps down his calf.
"We need to equip ourselves with Aegis!" Arthur shouts as he activates his.
A translucent barrier flickers into existence around him.
Julian curses under his breath and activates his own.
"It can only take a few hits. I can’t believe how strong the arrows are," Julian says, eyes locked forward, rifle steady despite the tremor in his breath.
Both of them shift into an offensive stance.
Ready to strike.
But they both know.
It is useless.
The green mist will heal the King again.
It has been doing the same thing for a while now.
And the green mist feels endless.
------------------------------
Alex is screaming at the top of his lungs.
"DODGE!"
"Oh my God, that was close!"
"Julian, move it!"
"Arthur, don’t just stand there, move!"
"The King is getting faster! You guys need to move faster than him!"
He is running back and forth across the battlefield like a frustrated coach watching his team fumble a championship game.
He ducks when they duck.
He flinches when they nearly get hit.
He pumps his fist when an attack connects.
Every now and then he glances toward Alicia, checking if her chest is still rising and falling. Making sure the green mist is not creeping into her mind.
But most of his focus is on Arthur and Julian.
He drags his fingers through his hair.
He throws both hands into the air in frustration when Arthur misses an opening by a split second.
"Come on! That was your chance!"
But deep down, he knows they are right.
The green mist needs to go.
As long as it remains, the King will always regenerate.
As long as it remains, the King has the upper hand.
His expression shifts.
He turns toward the earth dome.
Without another word, he walks inside to check on Theo.
------------------------------
Theo can hear Arthur’s and Julian’s struggles even from inside the dome.
The sounds of impact. The screeches. The curses.
Maeve and Liam can hear it too.
But they cannot do anything about it.
Healing magic demands focus. Precision. Mana.
They cannot divide their attention without risking failure.
Even though Theo has begun channeling his own mana to accelerate the process, it is not making it significantly faster.
He underestimated how badly injured he was.
The damage is extensive. Torn muscle. Shattered ribs. Deep punctures. Blood loss.
And Maeve and Liam are not trained healers.
This is their first time.
There are bound to be mistakes.
Their biggest mistake is inefficiency.
They are pouring mana in uneven waves, not optimizing the flow to produce maximum healing output. They are relying on instinct instead of structure.
Healing is not just magic.
It requires basic medical understanding.
An awareness of anatomy. Of circulation. Of what must be sealed first and what can wait.
They do not have that knowledge.
What they have is intent.
And instinct.
And desperation.
Their self-taught method wastes a large portion of their mana.
Theo knows he cannot blame them.
They are doing their best.
But his frustration grows anyway.
He cannot move.
He lies there, useless, while Arthur and Julian fight for their lives outside.
And it will not be long before one of them gets badly hurt.
The dome flickers faintly as a brighter light enters.
Theo knows immediately.
Alex.
He closes his eyes and reaches outward, searching for Alex’s consciousness with his own.
He pushes past the pain.
Past the weakness.
He reaches.
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"Alex, how are they doing?"
"Theo, how much more time do you need?"
They speak at the exact same moment.
Both freeze.
"They’re not doing okay."
"It’s taking too long."
Again, they answer at the same time.
Silence follows.
They stare at each other, wearing identical expressions of concern.
Alex exhales sharply. "What’s the problem with the healing? Not enough mana?"
Theo nods once. "That. And this is the first time those two have ever tried to heal anyone. And they are starting with catastrophic trauma."
He swallows.
"This crash course is too much. I miscalculated that." His voice lowers. "I underestimated the severity of my injuries. And I overestimated how quickly instinct would compensate for lack of training."
Regret flickers across his face.
Alex steps closer. "Hey. Not now. This is not the time to dissect your mistakes. Do you have a solution?"
Theo forces himself to focus.
He looks at Alex, grim.
"I need to heal. I need to purify the green mist. And I need to kill the King."
He pauses.
"With the mana I currently have, I can only prioritize one."
He meets Alex’s eyes.
"And each option comes with consequences."
His jaw tightens.
"If I heal fully, I won’t have enough mana left to purify the mist or kill the King."
"If I purify the mist, the King loses its advantage, but I remain half-broken."
"If I focus on killing the King directly..." He trails off.
He does not need to finish.
"Whatever I choose, it won’t solve everything. And Arthur and Julian will still fall."
Theo falls silent. He frowns so tightly his brows nearly touch.
His gaze drops.
"My plan isn’t working the way I intended."
The admission tastes bitter.
He had calculated.
Prepared.
Locked the gate.
Controlled the battlefield.
And now everything is slipping.
