Listening to myself. Yes, it's much easier to do that "here", because there's nothing in this black void that can disturb my concentration, disturb my mood just by the fact of my presence. But I'm already very tired, and I can feel my magic reserves dwindling fast.
The distant voice, as if from another life, was barely audible to me, but it was enough to find the point of distortion and send the rosary in its direction — fortunately, they can extend considerably. It was a shame, but I couldn't think of any other way to get out of here without damaging the relic, so when I returned to my reality, the whip would be irreversibly damaged.
The Rosary literally crashed into material space and immediately "burrowed" into the spiritual plane — its uppermost layer — it is precisely because of its ability to interact with the spiritual layer that the Rosary is so effective against otherworldly entities. As soon as the "whip" took hold of reality, I immediately felt a surge of confidence in the positive outcome of this adventure and began to carefully but methodically collect the rosary as I approached the rift.
There was some resistance, and my cocoon shield felt a strange "pressure" that dramatically increased my magic consumption. My palms immediately began to sweat, my whole body began to shake like a fever, my muscles felt tired, and even the first signs of pain appeared in my eyes, and my working trance broke down, making me feel even worse.
But bone by bone, breath by breath, I literally overcame: each new bead tried to break out of my slippery, trembling hands, and I had to not only "bite" the air, but also use a lot of effort to make it fall in. I could see almost nothing, the magic was almost over, and then a ridiculously obvious idea popped into my head — "light the dead battery"!
Afraid of spoiling my luck, I touched the "braid" with my mind blurred from fatigue and overexertion. The rosary in this stretch of infinity, actually in two conditionally ordered planes of reality, saturated with free magic, so why not use it through the artifact? Why not take magic from outside when your own is running low? The first drops of much-needed energy brought indescribable joy, almost bliss!
My vision immediately began to clear, the pain in my muscles became bearable, and the protective cocoon stopped rippling dangerously, warning of its imminent disappearance. With each "sip" I was filled with strength and freshness, as if I had breathed fresh air for the first time, filled with moist forest aromas, there was a familiar lightness, with a strange bitter taste of wormwood and thyme, and also a well known aroma of pine needles covered with morning dew.
I felt the breath of life, heard the sounds of the awakening forest, the songs of the birds, the rustling of the trees, the babbling of the streams. What kind of hallucination? I also heard a girl's voice, very soft and kind, I immediately got the impression that the girl was a little naive, but not stupid, just not yet learned to trust people, and my heart had not had time to cover with a crust of ashes.
At that moment I realized that I couldn't move from that place — it was as if something was holding me in one place, and I couldn't even stop myself for a while to continue my way through the void. My body felt numb, and my mind continued to be carried away by the enchanting song of the innocent maiden.
There were practically no thoughts left, only the desire to continue listening to the song, beautiful in its simplicity, for all the eternity that was allotted to me. I held on to the rosary with one hand — I had just let go of the other to grab it, but I froze, and now my hand trembled and my fingers began to weaken sharply — they were about to unclench. I was about to let go of the rosary, to let the song carry me away, when a burning wave of flame went through my body — just as it had at Tenno Hinako-no-miko's, when Lisa had managed to enchant me with her divine magic.
The numbness was gone, and my fingers gripped the red beads tightly, and without wasting time thinking or searching for reasons, I continued my work, ruthlessly increasing the flow of magic through the rosary, strengthening my defenses, building them up. I was literally gritting my teeth, not thinking of the consequences, not thinking of anything at all, just wanting to protect myself and get home.
My luck seemed to have run out for the day — the rosary flashed brightly and exploded. I automatically closed my eyes and turned my face away, but I felt several points of pain in my body, I realized that my entire left arm was literally numb with solid pain. With the last of my strength, I gathered the remaining magic and concentrated it under my feet, then I pushed myself with all my physical strength in the direction of the rupture, hoping with all my heart for the best.
The shield sphere, which had at one point turned from blue to pure pearlescent, burst, giving me a rush like popping the cork on a bottle of soda. My eyes darkened dramatically, pain flooded my consciousness, and it was almost impossible to breathe. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stay awake — just for a moment, the darkness swallowed me up....