Reincarnated as the Weakest Shadow Queen in the Academy

Chapter 53: Narrow gaps, Narrow Escape

The eye narrowed into a glare.

In just a millisecond, Ciel briefly sensed it. Mana fluttered where the eye’s iris was, the bottomless abyss charging up for a deadly spell.

Shire called first. "Dodge."

Her whisper rang hushed. As the broom dashed straight without fear, the trio leapt away and-

Zoom! A light ray pierced through the darkness from the eye’s centre. It was grazed by the broom that dodged, crashed into the trio, and sliced upward till it reached the far end of the room.

The space itself vibrated as the dark fog revealed a small gap, following the blazing trace where the eye just lasered upon.

It was a narrow, rocky wound in the earth, its surface hard and calloused, as if not cared for by its owner for a long time.

She could afford a brief time till it closed. Darkness crept in and covered the exposed ground again, a window of opportunity missed just as quickly as it came.

Ciel frowned. Don’t worry. There would be another time.

The broom, undeterred in its course, finally closed in on the giant, floating eyeball.

The eyeball lashed out as more lasers came, a vengeful retaliation. The broom flanked and twirled around it, shrinking and magnifying its size at times, each dodge laced with an easy precision.

’I got my value’s worth.’

Her broom served as a great distraction, as the monster focused all the aggression on the ziggy artefact.

Ciel smiled to herself. Then, at another callout by Shire, she quickly leapt away as a laser flung by.

It seemed, however, that a crossfire was inevitable. First time was a ’Greenlight, Redlight’ game. This time, a dodgeball that kept you guessing.

The lasers opened up more narrow gaps in the darkness, as Ciel began to piece together the room in her head.

It was a large, oversized prison room with a one-way exit. Chains occasionally fluttered at the laser’s force, before disintegrating under its heat.

The real issue? The exit was way too far away, spanning almost a few miles to the side of the room.

And the trio was located on the other side.

"Quia!"

The elf grunted as her arm jumped, the laser sliding by her side. "One block! Stella could do one block!"

They didn’t hesitate further. One block was more than enough.

As the broom’s erratic movement occupied the eyeball’s attention, the trio sprinted forward to the door they had fixed their memory at the other side.

Quia pulled Ciel ahead, their hands grasped together, the only tether connecting them in this danger.

The red-light lantern dangled by their side, a haven as Shire caught up right behind them.

More lasers flickered by, and Ciel counted their movements.

A lift by the leg, a bend by the waist, a leap forward by the legs. Close call came as the narrow gaps opened beneath them like gaping holes, its marks a scorching reminder that they were one misstep away from death.

And it didn’t wait, and just came, as Ciel heard the first time Shire’s voice broke into a silent callout.

"Elf."

A flutter of the wind grazed Ciel’s cheek, indicating Quia had summoned Stella’s wing as a shield.

The laser, passing across the space, pressed against the feathery shield hidden by the dark. It slipped away with an impact, unveiling a small opening of naked flesh without feathers.

Ciel watched as the wing twitched, spasming as it struggled to regain strength, before disappearing mid-air, presumably dismissed by Quia.

They didn’t hesitate to get back on the momentum.

The pounding heartbeats refused to keep up with their pace. Ciel, with her breath gasping, started to wonder if the exit was getting further away the more they ran.

The darkness was a soothing despair that beckoned expectations. The more she ran, the more she anticipated the exit was right before them, only to be disappointed.

She didn’t like it. This was not the Black Sea, and Ciel grew fond of her old home.

Only Quia’s grip on her was comforting, almost all-encompassing enough to silence her worry.

Eventually, a light yelp echoed in the room, halting their steps entirely.

Ciel stretched the other hand and pushed, her palm meeting a wood-like sensation. Bumps sometimes cut across her fingers, the signs of a door painted with magic sigils.

They made it! But her eyes blinked as her side became heated.

Not of excitement, but of-

The former shadebeast didn’t finish her thought. She just acted.

She let go of Quia’s grasp, then summoned a dome of lunar shield, then another, and then another.

The laser, this time, stared dead on as it struck against the shield. Its path didn’t waver; it pierced straight through, as one after another of Ciel’s shields shattered into pieces.

Ciel’s head ran as the laser went for her last one.

Her mana, by instinct, channelled all that was left into the staff, then into the shield as its shape thickened and intercepted the screaming ray.

She grasped her chest, clenching her teeth. Her lungs burned so much she could suffocate, and her legs were like wet noodles that threatened to collapse.

The former shadebeast clung to her last bit of sanity. Then, her staff dropped to the lower half of her Lunar shield, giving it a command.

The undercurve protruded outward as its dome body straightened into a slant. With its volacity, the laser screeched upward with its momentum, almost deflected in its course.

But halfway through, a gasp tore away from Ciel as a loud crack echoed.

And the eye, ignoring the broom, twitched sideways as the laser followed its course, slicing back the shield’s lower half.

Realisation exploded inside her head. The eye was targeting her the whole time.

She glanced. The lantern. And probably Quia was right behind her.

So Ciel leapt diagonally. As the dome was about to break, it changed shape at the last second and redirected to the wall.

Shields shattered, and the laser crashed into the wall before chasing after Ciel’s frame.

"Grr-"

A heat burrowed into Ciel’s skin, and pain rushed into Ciel’s head. The laser hit its mark, melting Ciel’s right half from her shoulder, down to her very leg.

Her vision hazed, then Ciel dropped helplessly to the floor, staring tiredly at the eye across the room.

The gaps in the darkness briefly revealed her blood before closing in yet again.

Mana fluttered, and the eye prepared to fire again, before a bulging wood stabbed at its iris.

A screech, pained and unbearably inhumane, bounced inside the space. At the same time, a lantern descended where Ciel was, illuminating her bloodied lips and flushed cheeks.

Then a grip yanked her by the shoulder. The broom rushed away from it, to the door the trio was at.

Unlike the trio, it possessed immense speed. It watched as the door creaked open, light flooding the room, revealing an elf with a panicky look.

"Hurry the fuck up!"

As Quia shouted, Shire dragged and threw Ciel into the exit, before dashing out with Quia in tow.

The broom quickly followed out. The eye-monster shot a laser, then-

Bang! Quia shut the door as its wood creaked and quivered, just in time to block the shot.

The elf’s shoulders heaved, but she could not afford even a sigh of relief.

Her knees fell and smashed against the stone floor, as she observed Ciel’s condition with a look that threatened to cry.

It was the worst she had seen her shortie.

Her right half was a bloody, red stump. Blood cotinusoulsy poured outwards, streaming to form a pool that reached the elf’s knees.

Quia summoned her paw. It reached her, and her trembling hand scooped up the vial of red potion.

Her fumbling hand struggled to pry open the lid, as Ciel’s hollow breath touched her ears, mixing in with a few desperate whimper.

Or so the elf was mistaken, but Shire, still standing and looking overhead, was not.

The red-haired noble wore a casual expression as she stared. Ciel, with her remaining hand stretching forward, asked for Quia’s hand in a choked, muffled voice that was gurgling with blood.

Shire sighed. Leaning in, she tapped the elf’s arm.

Quia’s shoulders sprang and almost slapped her away. Then she paused, finally noticing Ciel’s outstretched hand.

The elf clasped it with both hands. Shire glanced at the red potion, handed to her by the elf, urgently, then at the dying Ciel.

Well, dying would be a miswording. Even if the laser blew away Ciel’s hand with the spellbind, the emergency spell was linked with her soul, guaranteeing her safety.

Despite that, Shire asked. "Want to live?"

Ciel nodded her head, in which Shire’s lips warped into a crazed grin.

"It may hurt," was all Shire stated as she tossed away the red potion, before kneeling as well.

Just as Quia gave her a warning glare, Shire lent out a palm forth, each finger coated with a blazing flame.

Strangely, they all bore not a tinge of heat; the air was strangely cool even in the flames’ presence.

"Elf."

That was all Shire stated.

"Cover Ciel’s mouth."

A warning after, and the flames burst forth and enveloped Ciel’s missing half.