Chapter 346 Fly like a Bird, Sting like a Mosquito
"Ehem. Why don"t we just proceed with the fusion now?" Alex said as he avoided Alina"s stare. "After all, we have arrived at our location already."
"We have arrived already? What do you mean by tha-oh." Alina"s reply was cut off, as she and Alex found themselves facing what looked like to be a stone altar front of them.
This stone altar seemed to be made up of precious materials, as each one of its parts were letting out bright, colorful glow that only rare materials can do.
Not only that, but this altar was also abnormally ma.s.sive, as its size was comparable to that of a large building.
As its bright and huge body loomed over the two, both Alex and Alina took deep breaths as they appraised the altar silently.
"Woooh, this altar really is something else." This was all that Alex could say as he stared at the glowing shrine in front of him. "With this size and materials, this altar looks as if it was intended for something important. But what is it for?"
This question of Alex was immediately answered as he and Alina noticed an object floating just above the altar.
"This…"
Alex found himself trailing for words, as he felt captivated by what he saw.
A blue orb, which was the size of a watermelon, was floating right above the altar, with is body barely moving from its position.
This...o...b..seemed to be transparent just like Alex"s and Alina"s body, although this...o...b..seemed to be much more solid compared to Alex and Alina.
Every now and often, this...o...b..will bob up and down slightly, creating a surreal but also entrancing sight.
If these were the only characteristics of this...o...b.. then Alex might be not fully interested on it. However, there is still something else about this...o...b..that had Alex and Alina wary of it.
Right now, this blue orb was emanating an unseen pressure, which was forcing both Alex and Alina to move away from the orb itself.
Alex"s soul, which had been tempered many times before, and had been strengthened by a portion of Emperor Litch"s soul, was actually being forced by the orb to move away from it!
This is something that certainly had Alex worried.
Alina, whose soul was slightly weaker than Alex, looked to be more affected by the orb"s pressure.
Her face was ragged with discomfort as her foot was slowly sliding backwards.
"…."
After he saw what was happening to his partner, Alex did not waste any time as he grabbed Alina"s hand.
At the moment that he did this, the unseen pressure that was boring on them started to weaken, as if their act of holding hands has weakened the pressure.
However, this weakened pressured was still strong enough to prevent Alex and Alina from moving easily.
Upon seeing this, Alex tightened his hold on Alina"s hand as he inwardly decided to not let go of her hand, no matter what happenss.
"Alina, there is no doubt about it. That blue orb right there is the soul of the Esper World." Alex said as he watched Alina"s complexion.
Alina"s face was slightly pale due to the pressure of the orb, although it was starting to recover its color now.
As her face started to regain a rosy color, Alina looked back at Alex with schadenfreude as she replied,
"Alex, that orb right there is releasing a pressure that was powerful enough to make us like this. Of course that is the soul of the Esper World! After all, only something like the soul of the Esper World can release that kind of pressure!"
"Yeah, I"m already Captain Obvious. There"s no need to rub it in." Alex replied sullenly as he shook his head. "Hey, instead of teasing me, why don"t you just thank me? If it were not for me, you could have been overwhelmed by the pressure already."
"Well, thank you then. Thank you for your help."
"…Okay, I accept your thanks." Seeing that Alina seemed to lose interest on talking to him, Alex let out a sigh as he refocused his attention on the blue orb.
His eyes then narrowed as he observed the "soul" of the Esper World warily.
"From what Blue Alex has said, the consciousness of the Esper World will be at its weakest at this moment. It will also be the only moment that I can succeed on the consciousness fusion." Alex thought to himself wryly as he let out another sigh. "If the pressure being let out by the soul of the Esper World was already like this, then how strong will it be once it actually wakes up?"
As he reached this line of thought, Alex inwardly shuddered, as he realized that no matter what happens, the Esper World must not wake up at all.
After all, just the "sleeping" Esper World was already giving out this kind of pressure to Alex and Alina. If the Esper World awakens any moment from now, then Alex will be definitely screwed!
"Alina, now that we are here, we can already proceed to the next step." Alex said as he stared at the blue orb intently. "Since that blue orb is the soul of the Esper World, the next thing that we need to do is to approach it."
"You mean walk towards the blue orb until we can touch it."
"Yes. We will have to walk against this pressure until we reach the blue orb." Alex replied as he nodded his head. "It will be only that that point that we can start the consciousness fusion. That is why, you should never let go of my hand."
"I understand Alex" Alina replied quietly as Alex felt her hand squeezing his. "After all, us holding hands allows us to mutually strengthen our souls against this pressure. If we approach the blue orb separately, I do not know if we can even move forward by a meter."
"…Well then, let us do this!" After he saw Alina"s readiness for their next move, Alex decided to let it loose right now
He and Alina moved forwards, as they planted their right feet in front of them firmly.
"Ugh…" Both of them let out a groan, as they felt the pressure continuing on pus.h.i.+ng them backwards.
"Heh, this is nothing!" Alex shouted out as he and Alina then moved their left feet forward. "We have faced worse things than this!"
Alex immediately regretted saying these words, as after he put his left food down, the pressure boring down on them suddenly increased in power!
"What?" Alex could barely keep his body still as his left foot started to tremble under the strengthened pressure.
As for Alina, her body was trembling too, with her left foot shaking almost to the point of instability.
"Argh, I see, I see. SOothis little f**ker right here is not an easy picking." Alex said as he let out an angry snarl. "Cla.s.sy, real cla.s.sy.."
"Alex, why did the pressure suddenly get stronger?" Alina, who was looking extremely uncomfortable with her situation, mewled out as she tightened her hold on Alex"s hand. "Is the "soul" of the Esper World awake already?"
"No, its still asleep."
"Then why did the pressure suddenly increase?"
"Alina, its simple. Everytime we take a step forward, we are bound to experience a greater pressure." Alex replied as he gritted his teeth. "Or in simpler terms, the nearer that we get to the soul of the Esper World, the stronger pressure we will surely receive."
"!!!"
"See that blue orb? There is a high chance that that blue orb is the source of the pressure pressing down on us right now." Alex said as he tried his best to stabilize his body. "Since that orb is the source, then it is highly likely that the pressure at that point is also the strongest. Meanwhile, the place that we are in right now has weaker pressure, since we are far from the blue orb. Put those two facts together, and you already see the situation that we are right in."
"So this is just like a black hole, but instead of pulling us in, it is pus.h.i.+ng us out." Alina said as she perfectly summarized Alex"s words. ""Everytime we have to move forward, we will be forced to exert more effort, as the pressure gets stronger and stronger as we get nearer to the blue orb."
"Yes, that"s our problem." Alex replied as he let out his third sigh. "And right now, we are doing our best to approach our target, although this pressure is making its extremely difficult for us to do so."
Both Alex and Alina slumped their shoulders together, as they realized the predicament that they are in.
If they want to succeed with the consciousness fusion, then they must first approach and touch the soul of the Esper World.
But in order for them to do that, they must get through the powerful pressure repelling them! If they will not succeed on this step, then none of their subsequent plans can even be realized!
"Sigh, I have been tricked again, and its Blue Alex who did it. Sigh, that little f**ker!" Alex muttered angrily as he managed to keep his body still right now. "At first I thought that this consciousness fusion will be easy, since the Esper World is still asleep. But as it turns out, we are greatly mistaken…. F**k this!"
"So what should we do now Alex? Should we push against this pressure, or should we just give up?" Alina asked Alex as she looked at him seriously. "Alex, what do you think will be the best for us?"
"Are you still asking that? Of course we will push against this pressure!" Alex shouted out as he straightened his body.
He ignored the sounds of creaking bones on his joints as he adopted a chivalrous appearance.
"Alina, since this pressure was already this bad, then it just means that our reward for getting through it will be much, much sweeter than what we could have imagined!" Alex said as he took a deep breath. "Alina, a wise man once said: No Pain, No Gain! This situation that we are in right now is just like that!"
"So you want us to go through the Pain, until we get the Gain. That"s a nice concept, but can we do all this in just 7 days?" Alina replied as she gave Alex a cold look.
"???"
"Alex, I know that with our abilities, we can surely get through this powerful pressure and reach the blue orb." Alina said as she bit her lips. "But it will take us some time to do this!"
"…Oh." At this point, Alex realized what Alina was talking about.
She was talking about the time limit.
Sure, given enough time, Alex and Alina can eventually reach the blue orb and succeed in the consciousness fusion.
The problem for these two however is that they only have 7 days left until the fight between the rebels and the TimeMasters will commence.
This means that they have to reach the orb and succeed in consciousness fusion in just 7 days!
Can they even do this?
"What Alex? Are you sure that we can finish this before the fight happens?" Alina pressed on as she glared at Alex. "If not, then we are just wasting our time here."
"Alina, do not worry. Our current situation might look difficult, but I a.s.sure you. We can do this under 7 days." Alex replied confidently as he stared back at Alina.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, just follow me, and everything will fall into place."
"…"
After Alex said these words, he then looked back at the direction of the blue orb as his lips curled up into a smile.
"Alina, what we will do next will hurt a lot, but I promise you that this will be all worth it in the end." Alex muttered as he bent his knees down.
He then gathered his power on his legs as his whole body started to tremble again.
Alina, who saw what Alex was doing, blanched as she realized what he was about do next.
"Alex, what the-"
"Hahaha! Fly like a bird, sting like a mosquito!" Alex roared out as he jumped forwards, using all of his gathered strength to push him forward.
"Alex!!!!" Alina could only shout these words miserably as she was dragged along by Alex.