Volume 2 Chapter 25: The Plan Part 2

[Author's Note: For bonus chapters, the goal every week is:

- 25 Power Stones

- 50 Power Stones]

Volume 2 Chapter 25: The Plan Part 2

Carmilla: "Because if he suspects something unusual, he might alter his plans. Be prepared when you're about to reach the midpoint between the blood dome and the forest; that's the ideal distance for Daniel to ambush you."

Pepper: "Master, what do you think Daniel will do when he ambushes me?"

Carmilla: "Of course, he'll shoot you with a bow and arrow, duh."

Pepper: "What should I do then?"

Carmilla: "You should act extremely surprised by his sudden appearance and refrain from attacking him even after he does."

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Pepper: "Then, Master, how should I defend myself?"

Carmilla: "I was getting to that part when you decided to interrupt me."

Pepper: "Sorry."

Carmilla: "It's fine. As I was saying, don't do anything initially. Act surprised and frightened by his sudden attack. Wait until his attack or attacks get near the bloodstream that you are controlling. Then, use it to intercept his attacks by turning the bloodstream into liquid blood."

Pepper: "But is that even possible, Master?"

Carmilla: "I don't know, maybe, but it should work theoretically since Daniel's fire arrow managed to turn your arrows to steam, so turning it back should work as well. After you turn the blood steam into liquid blood again, make whatever construct you like to block his attacks. But make sure to have three different ways to defend against his attacks."

Pepper: "Why three ways, Master?"

Carmilla: "Because I can think of three ways Daniel might attack you: first, he can fire a single amplified arrow at you; second, he might do the opposite of the first one and attack you with multiple normal attacks; lastly, third, a mixture of the first and second methods—he will send multiple normal attacks to distract you from the killer blow. Basically, the first method is about quality, the second method is about quantity, and the third method combines both the advantages of the first and second methods."

Pepper: "Master, it seems you have forgotten about the fire arrows he has used."

Carmilla: "No, I did not forget it. The reason I did not include that is because I'm sure that he would not use fire arrows to attack you."

Pepper: "Why?"

Carmilla: "Because casting a fire arrow will create a huge commotion due to its magic circle that will surely glow brightly while casting. In these kinds of situations, it will expose himself very early in the process, unlike when using blood magic. However, I don't know if he has other kinds of attribute spells. That's why I said to prepare at least three ways to defend yourself against him."

Pepper: "Okay, Master. What is next?"

Carmilla: "That is where your part of the plan ends. So, prepare yourself while Eve and I discuss what will happen next. Of course, you can listen in as well."

Though she typically engages in mischievous behavior, winning against Daniel is far more important than listening to their conversation, which she would usually do, even though it's essentially useless in every kind of scenario.

While Pepper began imagining and rehearsing her part of the plan. At the meantime, Carmilla and Eve were engaged in a discussion on what they could possibly do to damage Daniel enough to lower his HP to a critical level.

Carmilla: "Let's be honest with ourselves first. Our only ranged attacks are the blood arrow or throwable weapons like a spear, javelin, and a trident, which are very impractical. So, our only choice is to use blood arrows in this situation."

Eve: "Master is right."

Carmilla: "But we can't simply cast a bunch of blood arrows, as it will be very noticeable to Daniel. If he's observing us, he would instantly see that we are making a lot of blood arrows and he would know that we are planning something, and he will be very vigilant, which will ruin our plan."

Eve: "Master, how about using some parts of the blood dome instead of creating new ones? We can simply utilize the blood dome. It will not only address the issue of Daniel noticing us and realizing our plans, but it will also resolve the problem of dealing damage to lower his health to a critical level. The arrows we can create from the parts of the blood dome will already be amplified, unlike the arrows we would make, which would only deal small amounts of damage. We'd still need to amplify those, and that would take a lot of time, Master."

Eve's tendency to use few words in every conversation was resolved by their connection, as everything Eve planned to say in her mind was already transmitted to Carmilla due to their connection.

The amusing aspect is that Pepper is still unaware that every time Eve talks a lot to her, such as when Pepper randomly pulls down a lever, Eve starts scolding her using their connection.

So Pepper still held the impression that whenever Eve was angry, she would talk a lot.

Carmilla: "But if we follow your suggestion, the advantage of the blood dome will be compromised. It wouldn't remain a dome if it's missing a large chunk of it. Additionally, using a part of the blood dome to make a bunch of arrows would create a significant opening in the dome that Daniel could exploit to attack us."

Eve: "What Master mentions is indeed a concern, but Master, think about it this way: Daniel would be very busy dodging our attacks, which would make it hard for him to pay attention to us. If Master is still worried, there will still be some part of the blood dome left, so we can use this to block any attack that Daniel might send our way. And if his attack comes from a tricky angle where there's nothing to block his attacks, we can simply reposition the shield."

Carmilla: "Since you've already revealed this much about your plan, let's proceed with it. It seems to be the only viable plan where we can create enough arrows to attack Daniel, potent enough to lower his health to critical levels, all while not alerting Daniel to our intention to lure him into our trap that could lead to his defeat. As you're the one who proposed this plan, tell me, what is the next step of the plan?"

Eve: "Apologies, Master, but I haven't yet thought of the next step of the plan."