"Five minutes? Understood! Alice, I need you to take over the magic circle's mana consumption now!"
"All mages, focus entirely on recovering your mana right now!"
Hearing Alice's words, Finn's brow furrowed.
"Everyone! Draw the magic swords we prepared! Begin a full assault on the Black Dragon's wings now! We must destroy both of its wings!"
"Mage units, you're our main damage dealers later. I don't care how you push yourselves, recover your mana quickly right now! You have two minutes!"
"Riveria, Lefiya, and the healing squad! All of you follow Alice's commands. You must maintain the magic circle's duration for three minutes."
"Alice, can you handle this?"
Finn issued commands in rapid succession, finally directing a question toward Alice.
Upon hearing this, Alice took a deep breath.
"I understand. I'll do my best."
Truth be told, the adventurers' current situation was quite precarious.
Long-range arrows couldn't penetrate the Black Dragon's scales, and while close-quarters combat could shatter them, the gravity magic circle prevented anyone from getting near the creature.
Stepping into the gravity magic circle would subject them to its effects as well.
Moreover, there was one crucial point Finn had anticipated but hadn't expected to face the worst-case scenario—the magic circle's absurd mana consumption.
The mages maintaining the perimeter had been completely drained of mana in an instant. This level of expenditure was downright ridiculous.
Fortunately, Finn had considered this possibility and formulated a counter-strategy immediately.
Alice wasn't meant to be the primary attacker; even if the magic circle could only hold for two minutes, it would be manageable.
The Black Dragon was an enormous target, making it easy for the mages' spells to connect.
But gaining an extra minute would allow every mage to chant their most powerful spells with perfect concentration, completely undisturbed.
A spell's potency was directly tied to the caster's focus and mana investment.
Though Finn wasn't an expert, he'd learned enough from Riveria to devise tactics for various scenarios.
Every mage present was different from Alice.
As mentioned before, Alice's mana was cultivated—drawn from her soul and spirit through training.
In Orario, however, a mage's mana was tied directly to their mental energy. Depleting their mana meant exhausting their spirit.
Recovery required resting and recuperating their mental state.
Alice, on the other hand, could recover after just a short break.
Mages in Orario utilized mana in a crude, brute-force manner.
Yet this approach wasn't entirely disadvantageous. Such reckless expenditure, followed by recovery, provided tremendous training for their spiritual power.
In critical moments, it also allowed them to push their limits and tap into deeper reserves of mana.
Most importantly, combined with the Falna, this self-draining method became an excellent form of training.
Finn instructed Alice to hold for three minutes.
He allocated two of those minutes to the mage units precisely because that time would allow them to push their spirits and mana to the limit.
They might be utterly exhausted afterward, but during the battle, they'd not only regain their combat effectiveness—they'd surpass it.
--+--
The gravity magic circle consumed mana in several key phases.
First, activating the circle required a significant initial expenditure.
Once the circle was successfully drawn and all procedures perfectly initiated, it continuously drained mana to sustain itself.
Second, the moment the circle took effect—when prey entered its area—the enchantment activated, imposing its full force upon the target. The mana cost here multiplied compared to the first phase.
Third, after the effect was active, substantial mana was needed to maintain it.
Now that the Black Dragon had entered the circle and been captured, the greatest mana drain had already occurred.
All that remained was the cost of sustaining the effect.
With Alice's mana recovery rate and the effects of Photosynthesis, she could maintain the circle's binding effect on the Black Dragon for two minutes.
That was already her absolute best effort, but from Finn's tone, it clearly wasn't enough.
So, another method was necessary.
"Riveria, take over for me for a few seconds. I need to activate the preparations I made earlier," Alice calmly said to the elf beside her.
Riveria had been standing near Lefiya this whole time.
She hadn't intervened in either maintaining the magic circle or attacking the Black Dragon.
In Finn's plan, Riveria wasn't part of the main assault. Her role was to protect the rear mage units with her spells.
The mages were the core of this operation.
Thus, Riveria, still in peak condition, was fully capable of taking over for Alice and sustaining the binding magic.
Hearing Alice's request, Riveria stepped forward without hesitation and assumed control.
Lefiya was the one who had drawn the magic circle; she was also its control center.
The simplest and fastest way to maintain the circle was to channel all mana directly into Lefiya.
So, Riveria grasped Lefiya's hand, pouring vast amounts of mana into her.
Within Lefiya's body, besides her own mana, two torrents—from Alice and Riveria—coursed through her, flooding into the magic circle.
This sensation of being a floodgate, of channeling such raw power, was deeply uncomfortable, stirring feelings she'd rather not dwell on. But with the situation so dire, she had to endure it.
As for Alice—
She slipped through a gap in space and emerged hundreds of meters away in a grassy field. Taking a deep breath, she unleashed her mana in an instant.
"The moon has its clouds, the flower has its wind."
"Now bloom! Flowers of the Sun!"
"Flower Sign: Blossoms of Fantasia!"
With Alice's declaration, the grassy hillside outside Orario was instantly carpeted with sunflowers.
--+--
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