There was a Magic Circle on the floor, enormous and extraordinarily complex in structure.
At first glance, it looked like an ancient stone slab engraved with countless mysterious patterns, giving off a deep luster.
But a closer look revealed that it was actually assembled from over a hundred sheets of specially made A4 paper, pieced together in layers.
Looking more closely still, there was another sheet beneath each one.
It was an enormous double-layered Magic Circle.
Both sides of every sheet were covered in dizzyingly intricate designs drawn with ink infused with magic power.
Nanahoshi Shizuka, who had led its construction, had poured an unimaginable amount of time and effort into it.
Although Sylphy, Roxy, Cui Ciyou, and even Julie had helped with the initial preparations, material processing, and checks of the magic power pathways, Nanahoshi had handled almost all the core structural design, circle drawing, and overall integration herself.
During that time, she had practically lived in the laboratory. The dark circles beneath her eyes were proof.
It made people worry that she might drop dead from exhaustion.
Alice had originally wanted to come along, but Cui Ciyou had gently talked her out of it.
Privately, he was worried about Nanahoshi's state of mind. She had invested so much hope in this experiment that, if it failed, her tendency to sink into self-doubt and depression would likely leave her devastated.
If Alice were there and saw her looking "half-dead" again, the red-haired Mad Dog's temper might lead her to throw a punch, making things even worse.
But everyone had moments of disappointment. Even after being disappointed, though, they still had to pull themselves together.
Humans were social creatures. Often, they might hate being surrounded by too many people, but receiving someone else's affirmation was still something that could make