2.30 Fountain of Immortality - Part 1

"Yeah, they look like her alright. But keep the surprises for later. I don't think she is here just to give us her blessings," Arica said while still keeping her sight focused on the statues in front of us.

As we were looking, the eight statues at the back slowly moved forward and started circling us. By the looks of it, they were probably making a formation to attack.

After a while, the eight of them stopped in a circular position, surrounding us from every side. After they stopped, the other eight statues moved forward and stood in the gap between every two statues that were surrounding us.

Now, there was no way to escape. Between every gap they had in the first circle, there was a statue in the second one.

We all took a position in which we could cover each other's backs. Arica was right behind me while Princess Anna was on my right and Princess Eliane was on my left. The enemies had no weapon but they themselves looked like some kind of magical artifact.

"Guys, don't let your guard down. First, we need to see what they are capable of. If they are strong, I will just absorb the surrounding mana and make them weaker."

Even though absorbing the surrounding mana would be an easy way of defeating them, I wanted to save it as the last resort. This was because the mana concentration of the upper region was significantly high, so manipulating that would take a heavy toll on my body.

"FOR YOUR SIN OF STEPPING IN THIS HOLY PLACE,"

"FOR YOUR SIN OF DEFYING GODS AUTHORITY,"

"WE JUDGE YOU,"

"GUILTY."

"NOW, FACE OUR JUDGEMENT."

All the statues joined their hands and with that a dome-shaped forcefield appeared around us. It was almost transparent blue in color and was barely big enough for the four of us to even move properly. And something about it was telling me that trying to touch it to see how it feels won't turn out well.

I was trying to avoid manipulating the surrounding mana, but things weren't looking well from the start. We were surrounded, our movement was restricted, and we had no idea how to deal with the forcefield around us.

On top of that, there was a chance that even our long-ranged attack would be reflected back by the forcefield. That was why I hadn't tried attacking them with any magical attacks yet.

"So, now they can attack us however they like, and we won't even be able to reach them," Princess Eliane said after observing the forcefield.

"Damn!"

'Guess this calls for the last resort.'

I closed my eyes and tried feeling the surrounding mana. The statues weren't attacking us which gave me the feeling that they are preparing a one-hit-kill attack.

I put my sword back on its sheath and opened my arms. Even though most of my concentration was focused on the surrounding mana, I could hear Arica saying, "Oh boy, there he goes again."

I could feel the concentrated mana of the forcefield around us, the mana inside those weird statues, and even the mana in the lightstones crystals that were making the ceiling look like the night sky. It was too much detail for a normal brain to handle, but I had a choice. Like how people could subconsciously choose what they want to notice among the things in front of their eyes.

Without wasting time, I started concentrating the surrounding mana into a sphere. The mana concentration was high, and we were in a tight spot, so I couldn't afford to make a mistake here.

Thoughts started coming into mind about how this world was unbalanced. The day was just because of the sun, the space was always dark. What if that darkness was always alive, what if that darkness had a soul? What if the light itself was the creation of this darkness?

'No, what am I thinking? This isn't the time to think all that.'

I opened my eyes and looked around me. The forcefield had disappeared and the statues were on the ground. I looked behind me, and there, the girls were on the floor.

"No! Did I do all this?"

I looked above me and there was a sphere of concentrated mana floating in the air. Normally a sphere made up of pure mana is colorless, but surprisingly it was dark in color. It was only then that I noticed a sharp ache in my head, and before I knew it, my eyesight became fuzzy.

My consciousness started fading, but something felt soothing despite all the mess that I was in. And right before my consciousness completely disappeared, I heard a voice.

"At long last, I am finally here with you."

----

'Now, where will I wake up this time.'

"Oh!"

I opened my eyes to find another pair of wide-opened eyes right in front of me. Those brown eyes with long eyelashes startled me, but I wasn't the only one startled. She moved backward when she noticed me trying to raise myself up.

"Who are you?" I asked after I raised myself up.

I was in the same place where my consciousness faded. Everything around me was the same, except there was a kid with long black hair next to me.

"Yoru."

'Wow, her voice is so smooth,' I thought despite the fact that this wasn't the answer I was hoping for.

I reached to Princess Anna and checked her condition. Fortunately, she was still breathing. I then checked others and their condition was similar to that of Princess Anna. They had probably fainted because of mana deficiency.

"Phew!" I breathed a sigh of relief. I then looked back towards the girl who was observing me curiously.

I remembered what happened when we tried questioning Emma in the forest of endless trees, so I decided to take it slow.

"Yoru, was it? I am Nara. Do you know how you got here?"

"Of course. You are the one who summoned me silly."

"Summoned you?" I asked in confusion.

"Yeah silly. You see, I am a spirit," she said with a wide smile on her face.

"But you look human?... Also, you have a name."

"You see, my form, my origin, or my name doesn't matter. Because I have made my choice to be with you as your spirit. Will you accept me?"