32. A blue ball of light

Soon enough, a ship carrying a group of pirates docked just a short distance away, and a swarm of pirates descended from it, with their captain at the forefront.

Ten pirates trailed behind him, but what caught Orion off guard was the sight of six kids following closely behind. Among them, he recognized four faces from the boat he had seen when he first arrived in this new world.

'Their luck is so poor. After getting freed from the pirates, they again got themselves captured.'

As Orion glanced at the other two individuals, it appeared that he didn't recognize them.

Yet he couldn't help but notice the intense focus in Jarth and Liira's eyes directed towards the pair. This led him to deduce that they must belong to their team.

The duo seemed to consist of a woman and a man who appeared to be around the same age as them. The woman bore a striking resemblance to Liira, while the man resembled another teammate whom Orion didn't know.

Upon seeing everything unfold, Runo's expression shifted to a more solemn one as he confronted the captain of the pirates.

"Are you going to let them go or not?"

The captain's face twisted into a sneer as he heard him, his focus shifting towards Orion and the remaining four transmigrators.

"You seem to have not done your job well. There should be more of them other than these five, but I guess this is sufficient to start the plan."

Runo scowled at his words, yet he remained persistent about what he wanted.

"First return those two, and then we'll proceed with the plan."

The captain laughed wildly at his words.

"You think you have any say here? If not because I needed all of you alive, I would have killed you kids myself."

After uttering those words, he proceeded to pull out a yellowed map and forcefully slammed it onto the ground, then plunged a menacing dark dagger into the top of the paper.

"What did you do?"

Runo impatiently asked.

The captain smirked at him.

"You will know soon."

The moment his words left his lips, a crimson beam of light descended from the sky, surrounding all those present before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Nothing happened?"

One of the pirates looked around and saw that nothing seemed to have changed.

"No, look at the ground around us."

Orion exclaimed in astonishment as his gaze fell upon the earth beneath them. To his amazement, they found themselves standing within the confines of a colossal crimson circle etched into the ground. Even the temple like structure got swept into it.

Orion's shout caught everyone's attention, causing them to look around and be met with surprise on their faces.

All the people present, whether they were pirates or part of Runo's team, found themselves enclosed within the massive red circle.

"What did you do?"

Runo approached the pirate captain with a serious expression on his face, his tone reflecting the gravity of the situation.

Just as the captain was about to respond, a sudden transformation occurred. The red circle etched on the ground began to emit a brilliant red light, expanding into a cylindrical shape that enveloped them within its confines.

"Are we trapped?"

Orion grumbled under his breath, his eyes scanning the surroundings, only to be met with the sight of a partially translucent crimson barrier stretching in every direction.

"W-we are indeed trapped here."

Jarth's complexion turned ashen as he instinctively gravitated towards Runo, seeking a sense of security in case of any unforeseen events.

Runo frowned, looking around.

'It seems he has already started his plans.'

While he was aware of their plan, he had no idea it would turn out to be like this. More importantly, he wanted to have the two of his team members back before they executed their plan, but it seemed he was too naive to believe in a bunch of pirates.

At that moment, the sky shifted in color as a blue ball of light, the size of a person's head, descended towards them.

Before anyone could react, the ball of light flashed in a blur and materialized in front of one of the pirates. In an instant, it passed right through his body, causing his eyes to roll up and turn completely white as his body collapsed to the ground.

Witnessing such a bizarre situation, panic swept over everyone, both the pirates and Runo's team members alike.

However, their panic seemed futile as the blue ball of light once again flashed and blurred before materializing in front of one of Runo's team members. He was unable to react as the ball of light passed through his body, causing him to collapse to the ground.

Orion was shocked and terrified to witness this sudden turn of events.

'What is this ball of light? Is it killing them?'

He felt utterly helpless in the face of such phenomena, which he couldn't even touch or react to properly.

But as his eyes scanned the captain of the pirates and Runo, they seemed surprisingly calm compared to everyone else.

'Do they know anything about it?'

Finding a glimmer of hope within himself, Orion observed their composed demeanor and speculated that perhaps they weren't facing imminent danger. He considered the possibility that all of this chaos might be part of their own plan to achieve their goals.

Amidst his contemplation, Orion observed the blue light flashing intermittently, appearing before various pirates or members of Runo's team, causing their bodies to collapse to the ground.

At this juncture, Orion realized that only Runo, Liira, Rina, the big guy, Jarth, another unfamiliar individual, and himself remained within Runo's team.

However, that was soon going to change as the blue ball of light floated before them and unexpectedly materialized in front of Orion. It moved so swiftly, too fast for him to react; he barely blinked before it appeared just an inch away from his stomach.

As if acting on instinct, he attempted to use repel on his body, but to his dismay, he realized that he couldn't control any part of his body whatsoever. It was as if some kind of lock had been placed on his body, rendering him completely immobilized, with no control over any movement, internal or external.

At that moment, the ball of blue light passed right through him. In an instant, his body crumpled to the ground, while an ethereal and translucent version of himself emerged from his body.

For a brief moment, Orion felt as if nothing had happened, but then he noticed his teammates from Runo's group gazing below him.

Feeling puzzled, he followed their gaze and, to his horror, saw an oddly familiar body lying on the ground.