I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 232: Reopening the Gate

"Hello?" Alex calls Theo, while waving his hand in front of him.

Theo snaps awake, and lets go of Alex’s hand which apparently he’s still holding.

"Sorry," Theo says.

"Why did you need my hand?"

"To check if you have resonance to Light magic." Theo answers simply.

"Huh?" Alex looks confused.

Then his smiles blooms. "I do, don’t I?"

"Not only you have resonance, it’s extraordinarily high. It explains everything that’s been happening to you. But this is just my theory. I can’t tell if it’s right. I think it is."

Alex waves his hand, "Pfft, it doesn’t matter. What matters is, I can help you safe Ali."

Theo nods, "Don’t forget my physical body is still in a very bad condition. The moment I wake up, I’ll have less than ten... fifteen minutes tops before I die for real."

Alex frowns, "You’re right."

He looks at Theo, "Can’t you heal yourself with your magic?"

Theo sighs, "I actually can, but my current mana..." when he sees Alex doesn’t understand, he quickly changes it to, "magic energy is not enough to do it. I need more."

"Damn it! I didn’t think about this." Alex curses himself. His brilliant plan to save his sister is now no longer feasible.

Silence falls.

Both of them are thinking, trying to find the solution.

After a while, Alex takes a deep breath to relieve his frustration.

"It’s a good thing that time doesn’t matter here. Otherwise, you’d be dead already."

He walks away, both his hands on his head.

"Argh, this is frustrating!"

He looks sideways.

Suddenly he smiles, "You have a really good team. You team mates are very loyal to you. They’ve been touching the stone gate ever since it vibrated. They’re half willing the gate to open again."

He turns to Theo again, "You locked them out. That’s not very nice. But I understand why. I’d do the same thing too."

Theo looks at him and blinks.

"You can feel them?"

"Yeah." He points at a direction in the void.

"They’re right there, touching the gate, willing it opens again."

Theo looks toward where Alex is pointing.

And he sees exactly what Alex is describing: a stone arch. There are four people huddling in one side, each of them has one hand touches the arch. They all closed their eyes, with worried expressions on their faces.

An idea sparks in Theo’s mind.

"Can you get a message out to them?"

Alex looks at Theo, "I can certainly try. But the message can’t be long. Why?"

Theo grins widely, "Not a problem. I have an idea. Tell them this."

------------------------------

Four people stand tightly together on one side of the stone gate.

In the dark.

They can hear the waves rolling toward the shore, then retreating back into the sea. The steady rhythm feels distant, almost unreal compared to the storm inside their chests.

None of them thinks this is stupid.

None of them thinks this is ridiculous.

They are touching the gate as if it is their lifeline.

They focus on the vibration.

Is it stronger?

Is it weaker?

Is it the same?

Those questions circle through every mind.

Suddenly, all four of them gasp and jerk their hands away as if the stone has burned them.

They stare at one another.

"What was that?"

"Did you hear something?"

"What did you hear?"

"Whose voice was that?"

"That was a male voice, right?"

"So... not Thea?"

Maeve’s mind races. It could be Theo’s voice. But I don’t think so.

She looks at the three men.

"Alright. Stop," she says quickly. "We need to be clear about what we actually heard. Don’t jump to conclusions. Don’t worry about whether it was Thea or not."

Arthur frowns, concentrating. "I heard... push."

Liam nods slowly. "I heard gate."

Julian adds, "Me, open."

The men turn to Maeve.

"That’s all you heard?" Maeve asks carefully.

The men glance at each other and nod.

Then they look at her again in unison.

"What did you hear?" they ask at the same time.

Maeve hesitates.

"I heard... ’Push the gate open. Quickly. Find Thea. Hurry.’"

She looks at them strangely.

The men look at her the same way.

The moment stretches for two seconds too long.

Maeve exhales sharply and waves her hands. "Okay. Enough. Stop overthinking. I believe it’s Thea, or someone inside who’s found a way to reach us. Either way, it’s a call for help. So we help."

There is such conviction in her voice that the other three do not argue.

They nod.

All four reposition themselves, standing firmer this time, pressing their palms against the cold stone once more.

"How are we doing this?" Liam asks. "Just pour our mana into it?"

"It didn’t work before. Why would it work now?" he adds, even as his right arm is already braced against the gate.

"I don’t know," Maeve replies honestly. "But we’re going to try."

The four of them exchange one last look.

Then they channel their mana.

And pour it into the gate.

------------------------------

Alex is slightly panting, even though it looks fake.

He wipes the non-existent sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and lets out an exaggerated breath.

"I can’t believe she heard the whole thing. Is she Light too?"

Theo nods proudly. "Yeah, she is."

There’s a faint warmth in his tone when he says it.

He turns to Alex, more serious now. "Now it’s your turn again. Alex, you sure you can do this? It requires a lot of magic energy from you."

Alex waves his hand dismissively. "Pfft. What am I going to do with it? I’m already dead." He grins, but there’s no bitterness in it. "Come on. We can’t be late. Let’s do our part."

Theo nods.

"Just do it like I’ve told you. Slowly. Focus."

Alex nods and shifts his focus toward the vision of Rhaenas channeling their mana into the gate. He straightens unconsciously, as if bracing against a strong wind, and begins concentrating on doing the same.

It works.

The gate starts pulsing.

Slowly.

The stone arch in the distance begins to glow faintly.

"Good, Alex. It’s responding," Theo murmurs.

The pulsing grows steadier. The gate trembles and begins opening, inch by inch.

"Alright," Theo says quickly, urgency creeping into his voice. "You need to maintain it open until all four of them enter, then you can let it go."

Alex only nods. He’s too focused to waste breath.

His shoulders tense. His jaw tightens.

"Why did you block the gate permanently?" he asks, voice strained, as if speaking costs him.

Theo smiles sheepishly. "Just in case I died here. I was making sure they couldn’t re-enter the dungeon."

Alex huffs faintly. "Of course you did."

"Stop talking," he adds through clenched teeth. "It’s opening slightly. Now you get ready."

The strain is beginning to show. His face flushes red with pressure. The space around him flickers faintly, as if the very air cannot quite hold his shape steady.

Theo takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

"Do it slowly, Alex. Focus."

"Shut up!"

Theo takes another deep breath.

"I’m ready."

Alex raises his free hand.

With difficulties, he severs the green mist’s hold on Theo. He channels everything he has into sending Theo back into Thea’s broken body, wrapping his consciousness in a shield.

He shields Theo’s mind.

Then he stretches further.

He shields the rest of Rhaenas.

It is a heavy task.

It demands a lot of concentration.

It demands will.

And it demands a tremendous amount of mana.