Trapping Space

If one were to ask people what's up there beyond the heavens, you'll be assured that almost all of them would respond along the lines of 'the highest of the gods live there; there's nothing else above that'. In a world teeming of 'gods' of various personalities and roles, the concept of a realm of gods situated above the world of mortals—an entire civilization and ecosystem sitting on top of the clouds—has been deeply ingrained into the minds of everyone for thousands of years, regardless whether one is a believer or not. It has become a 'fact' over time, despite no one proving its existence until now.

Why did I point that out? Well, because many people believed that the tower could be a way for mortals to reach that realm. Being the highest structure to ever 'exist' in this world, anyone who manages to find and reach the top of this tower will be revered as a god, no doubt.

However, instead of the realm of gods or something, what I saw beyond the door after Lerish opened it was...

"N-No way...o...o-outer space?!"

Yes, that's right. A vast expanse of darkness, the void right in front of me is littered with millions and millions of specks of light which were the stars and other celestial objects from very far away, just like how it is back in my world.

I can't believe it. Did the winds...manage to bring us up here? Was the Arcana I used really that powerful?!

"Still, this outer space looks too good to be true," I muttered to myself. "Not only did we not experience any powerful gravitational pull exerted on us the instant we opened the door, but there's also no rapid drop in temperature and oxygen level as well..."

I'm not sure of it yet, but there's a possibility that this space might be an optical illusion expertly placed to fool us into wandering inside. I've seen quite a few good illusions ever since we started traveling, and I could almost tell if the scenery is a work of trickery or not.

Well, there's only one way to find out.

Slowly, I extended my arm forward, reaching into this dark space in front of me. Deep inside I am freaking out while I'm doing this, but I can't show it to Lerish, who's standing behind me and holding her breath in worry.

"A-Are you sensing anything peculiar, Ren?"

"None yet," I replied.

Still feeling nervous, she forced out a smile as she said, "Please, please be careful."

Because nothing's strange happening yet, I decided to reach out even further into the space, up to a few inches before my shoulder. Extremely worried, Lerish tried to pull me back, but at the same time—

"...There you are, both of you! How dare you to leave me behind, huh?!"

"Kyaa?! M-Miss Aoi?!"

"H-Hey, waaaaiiiitttt—"

All of a sudden, a little girl appeared out of nowhere and startled Lerish. In her panic, she accidentally bumped her body onto my back with a *munyu*, causing me to lose my balance, and tumble forward into deep space.

"I-I-I...I am sorry!!! Are you alright, Ren?!!"

"Ugh...I'm fine, but more importantly..."

Just as when I thought I'd be drifting away into the vast nothingness, I noticed that my whole body's been floating in the same spot in this outer space. No—it's more like I'm currently lying facedown on an invisible floor or something. I hurriedly got up, and yelled—

"You idiotic brat! Is that your way of paying back after you got swept away by those winds? Don't you realize what will happen if I started floating away, huh?!"

"...Oh, how I wish that you drift away from my sight for real! It's your fault that my hair's all disheveled now!" the little girl yapped back.

"Miss Aoi, Ren, stop it!" Lerish spoke in a commanding tone. "Have I not warned you already not to quarrel with each other? How many times do I have to remind you of that?!"

Having this sense of fear growing on our backs, the little girl and I quickly behaved ourselves as we replied,

""Y-Yes, ma'am.""

Letting out a deep sigh, Lerish continued to speak, "Leaving those matters aside—what do you think of that place, Ren? Is it an illusion or not?"

"I...am not sure," I shrugged my shoulders. "To me, it feels like I'm inside a transparent glass box. I can't tell if everything here is real unless I break this box, which I don't wanna risk doing."

"Indeed, it might be the best for us to not break anything in this place."

I convinced Lerish to come here once I confirmed that this place is safe for now. The little girl came following not long after, even though I didn't ask her to come.

"...Hey...what's that huge blue ball down there?"

"If what's outside this place is real, then that's the world we live in. You can see it from the way this tower juts out from that ball," I answered nonchalantly.

"...Eh?! But that's impossible! There are no clouds here, so this isn't the God Realm! That place is supposed to be the highest place anyone could enter!"

"Well, now you know that outer space exists," I said, trying to tick her off. "Just because you're a goddess it doesn't mean that your horizons will be only limited to the worlds of mortals and gods. This world is nothing compared to the entire universe. The universe is so large, that there could be a completely different world out there that we can't see because it's too far away from us—though it's also not impossible for someone from that place to be nearby..."

The little girl didn't respond as she only kept looking down at the 'world' as seen from inside the box. If what this man said was true, she muttered, then her presence as a goddess is insignificant to the greater scheme of things. Such a train of thought should be greatly offensive to her overly inflated ego, but...

"...I am nothing, huh..."

"Hm?"

"...N-Never mind," she shook her head. "I...I want to get out of here."

The little girl then went back to the entrance of this spacious room. However, just as when she's about to leave, the doorknob suddenly turned and sets itself to 'lock', and the entire door vanished as if being swallowed by the dark space.

"...Ehh?! W-Why—"

Shocked by the turn of events, the little girl desperately tried knocking on the place where the door was placed until now, but it appears that she's just punching the air as all traces of an entrance leading to this place were gone.

"...Let me out! Let me out! LET ME OUUUUUUTTTTTT!!!!!"

"Ren, what should we do?! How do we get out of here?!" Lerish looked at me in great worry.

"As I thought, this place is a headache for all of us..."

When I entered this deep space, I was thinking about what surprises lie in wait for us, and when will they come. Well, the mysterious vanishing door answered both of those questions. It doesn't seem that it's completely gone, though, so we have to find a way to make it reappear.

"The next thing to know is if this is the last surprise this place has in store for us..."

When I said that, Lerish—

"U-Um, Ren..."

"Yes?"

"I-I think...we have an answer for that as well..."

"I-Igh?!"

I looked in the direction Lerish is pointing at and immediately, I saw with my two eyes how the space in that area start to warp and form lumps. Those lumps of space then warped themselves again until their form slowly changed into that of a humanoid, with long arms and feet, a narrow body at twice as long as a real human and is dotted by numerous tiny stars while the largest ones becoming their 'eyes', and a large rounded head.

Staring at all of these 'space humanoids'—all 16 of them—I couldn't help but feel wary of their presence.

"To think that this place made these weird creatures so that we won't get bored while being trapped in here...I never knew that the creator of this place is this considerate."

"Ren?! Now is not the time for you to make jokes," Lerish scolded me.

"Yeah, I know," I replied with a slight chuckle. "Though, I'm not joking when I say that I could feel their killing intent leaking from their bodies."

"Eh—"

BLAAAAGGSSSHHHHHH!!!!!

Almost instantly, one of the space humanoids' arms changed into a shape of a blade and tried to cut Lerish in half, but I, fortunately, was able to push her out of the way. The humanoid's sudden attack instead left a huge crevasse on the place where Lerish stood—proof that these guys' strength isn't something to laugh at, and that this place is more durable than I thought.

"Lerish, provide cover for me from a distance. I will be the one facing them directly."

"U-Understood," she replied while taking the bow that's hanging from her back.

The two of us, versus these 16 space humanoids. While at first glance it looks like we're at a clear disadvantage, we have yet to fully see the extent of their battle capabilities.

"Let's go!"

At my signal, we immediately began with our counterattack. The plan is simple: Lerish will aim for those trying to attack me other than the one I'm facing, while at the same time I will make sure no one slips past my guard and reach her. We have to work together, or else we'll die here in this space that's full of unknowns and uncertainties.

"Hrgh! Take this!"

After dodging one of the humanoids' arms that turned into a hammer, I tried using the [Magician] to create a wave of fire from my palm, but for some reason, no magic circle came out.

"W-Wait, what...?!"

I tried using the Arcana once more, this time to create a fireball, yet no flicker of fire appeared whatsoever. I then tried using a different element and creating fierce winds but again, no sign of the Arcana activating.

"W-What's wrong with this Arcana—UGUUUUUUUUHHH!!!"

"REEENNNNNNN!!!!!"

The humanoid with the hammer hands, smart enough not to do nothing and wait for my Arcana to activate, deviously swung his hammer at the distracted me, causing me to fly several meters away. Another humanoid with arms full of spikes then came and also hit me with a downward swing, creating a huge crater on the 'ground' with me in the center. The two of them, along with some of their companions, repeatedly crushed and sliced me with their attacks, their bloodlust permeating in the air.

"No way!!! Ren—huh?!!"

Lerish, who's already struggling to keep her distance from the enemies, fell into despair as she saw almost the entire group of humanoids viciously pummeling me. While she's about to fire another arrow, a humanoid appeared from behind her position, and as it raised its scythe arms to land a fatal blow on her, I—

"You bastards! Don't you dare lay a hand on her!!!!!"

BAAAAAAAAANNNNNGGGGGGG!!!!!

I created a huge explosion around me using the [Death] Arcana, blowing away all the enemies that are attacking me. Then, exerting a huge amount of force on my legs, I leaped forward—covering an entire hundred meters or so—and used the black flames covering my hand to slice the scythe humanoid's head off. The humanoid's headless body fell on the ground without a sound and quickly disappeared back into the void.

"Hah...hah...Lerish, are you okay?"

"N-Nn. I am not hurt. How about you?"

"Ah. Thanks to the [Death], I was able to repair the damage those bastards have done onto me."

"That's great," she breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, had I not gotten myself frustrated at that time..."

While I'm being ganged up by the enemies, I started to think of a reason why the [Magician] failed to activate, and I sort of found out why.

The Arcana, at the very least, lets me manipulate the four basic elements of magic. Though for unknown reasons we are still able to do things like normal, this place is devoid of air, water vapor, and real earth for me to use those elements.

It only came to me that we're not just inside a transparent box with a view of this world's outer space, but the very space itself.

"Thankfully, I have the [Death] Arcana to defend ourselves. If we can keep this—guh!"

"Ren!!!" Lerish shrieked. "Blood—you are spitting up blood!"

"I'm...alright," I assured her. "It's probably because of those guys beating the hell out of me..."

"Muuuu..."

Out of desperation, she looked over her shoulder to find a solution and immediately, remembered something very important.

-----

While Ren and Lerish are desperately fighting for their lives, Aoi remained far away from the battle, looking for the way out. She didn't join the fight because her divine power is still low and because she doesn't want to involve herself anymore with those two.

"...Hrgh, what's wrong with this room? I've been walking around for a few minutes now, and I still can't feel any walls here. Just how big is this place?!"

Tired, thirsty, and hungry. Those three sensations fueled her anger even further. 'If I can't get out of this place anytime soon,' she said, 'I don't know what madness will I make...'

"...Hm?" she felt something hit her fingertips after walking a little more distance. She can't see it, but she could definitely though it with her hands: a smooth, flat surface, like a wall.

"...Aha! At last, I found it!"

She let her hand wander around, and touched something round. Twisting it, she heard a click, and then...

"...Good grief, just as when I thought I won't be able to get out of...WHAA—"

As soon as she was about to open the door, she got startled when someone suddenly picked her up and carried her on his shoulder.

"...What in the world are you doing?!!" she screamed at her assailant.

"That's what we want to ask you as well! Why are you wandering around like there's no danger here?!" one of her assailants, Ren, retorted.

"I beg of you, Miss Aoi, lend us your power!" Lerish pleaded.

"...Huh?! Why would I do that?!"

"Because...—"

Before Ren could finish his sentence, Aoi noticed that she was already flying in midair, like a ragdoll is thrown several meters away. She fell to the ground without a thud, yet the damage on her body keeps on piling up.

"...Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch...what just happened...huh?"

She looked around, and her eyes bulged at the scene in front of her. Earlier, she could feel something like 15 presences chasing after them but in just a blink of an eye, their numbers grew into 225 or 15^2. She saw Ren and Lerish keeping the enemies from swarming over them with their Arcanas and arrows. Just like her, they are at their limit, but they kept on fighting the humanoids.

"Damn it! Why can't they all die?!"

"I-I have run out of arrows!"

Looking at their faces full of anguish, Aoi finally realized there was something wrong with the way the fight is happening.

"...Why...are those guys not targeting me? Surely this can't be right...right?"

Despite her appearance, she's more dangerous compared to the two. However, the humanoids completely ignored her, as if her evaluation of herself is but an over-exaggeration.

In theory, it should be a great thing for her, since she's not in a good condition to help them, but the fact that others are instead being aggro'd by the entire wave of enemies bothers her a lot.

"Gyaaaaahhhhh?!!!!"

"LERISH!!!!!"

Though the damage output of an individual enemy decreases the more they are, their overall output remains the same, that's why Ren's face showed extreme despair when she saw Lerish's body covered in tiny cuts and her clothes almost in tatters. He tried to blow the enemies away with his [Death] Arcana, but its random nature severely lowered the effectiveness of his power.

"No, Lerish! Lerish! Hey, stay with me!!!"

As Lerish collapsed on his arms due to blood loss, something flipped inside Ren's mind. Suddenly, the starry space around them started to disappear, as the entire space became covered with dark miasma.

GGGHHHRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In a blink of an eye, a huge dark blue magic circle appeared above their heads, covering the entire space. It's the largest magic circle Aoi has ever seen in a long time, and the greatest panic her senses has ever felt.

"...This is bad! No, don't do it!!!"

Before she knew it, she found herself running towards him. She has already decided not to be a part of his life anymore, and he accepted her decision. That is already absolute, and yet—

"...Why, why I can't stop myself from running?!!"

As soon as the magic circle began activating, the humanoids that are swarming over them began to loosen their hold of them, their bodies turning strange.

"ALL OF YOU—DIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Instantly, all the humanoids exploded violently into dark goo before being sucked by the magic circle above. The space around them also began forming huge cracks, and pieces of dark matter were also swallowed by the magic circle.

Aoi felt the entire space shake as it was being destroyed by Ren's power, causing her to stumble. Unlike the previous earthquakes, the loud, rumbling noise it makes sounded like a sorrowful dirge in her ears.

Such a sound reminded her of her past: the time when Aoi's wrath knows no bounds, the time when the whole world became her enemy, the time she's spent almost her entire life alone.

"...No—I won't let you go down the same path as me!" she bit her lip in frustration.

Notwithstanding the floating pieces of space matter and the immense amount of dark aura emanating from Ren that's pushing against her, Aoi took one deep breath and made one last spurt to finally close her distance between them.

"...S-Stop...it! What you're doing is not only dangerous for everyone...it's also dangerous for yourself!"

Wrapping her arms around his back, Aoi tried to pacify Ren's rage. She even told him that there's nothing to worry about as Lerish's still alive, despite knowing that such words won't ever reach the ears of a man whose mind is all set on ending everything.

"...You understand it, right?! If you destroy everything here, there's nothing left for you to come back! You'll end up being trapped in the void you have made, empty and incomplete! I know it since I also once tried to end this world before! Please—listen to my voice!!!"

With the pulling power of the magic circle increasing every second, more and more space material was being destroyed, leaving behind a very dark void. It also becomes harder and harder for Aoi to keep holding on to Ren. As her entire lower body's already off the ground, she's only seconds away from being sucked into the 'blue hole' that Ren made.

That's why with all that's left in her, she screamed—

"...Please get a grip of yourself, BIG BROOOOOOOOOTTTHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"—?!?!"

All of a sudden, the magic circle above them exploded, covering the surroundings with a bright flash of white. Having regained control of himself, Ren looked at Lerish with an addled expression, and to his surprise saw that her body's glowing a pale blue, like the magic circle that replaced the dark blue from earlier.

"This circle...isn't that—"

He then looked at the back of his left hand, and indeed the asterisk mark on his hand also has that same pale blue glow.

The [Fool].

Unlike the [Death] which inflicts pain onto others, the [Fool] can do the opposite, going as far as absorbing other people's suffering. For Ren, whose body serves as the Arcana's vessel, the most important thing for him isn't to destroy his enemies, but to protect his loved ones.

And that's what the Arcana is doing right now.

After all of Lerish's injuries were lifted by the Arcana, the huge magic circle above them faded away along with the bright light surrounding them. At the same time—

"Ren..."

"Lerish! I'm glad you're awake now!"

After what happened to her a while ago, Ren didn't hold back and embraced Lerish, which greatly surprised her.

"U-Um...I just recovered my strength, so, please...if you want to hold me that much, do it gently."

"Ah?! I-I'm sorry!"

"Fufu," she chuckled. "Please do not mind it. Rather, you should focus your attention more on the person behind you."

"Eh?"

Ren looked over his shoulder and was shocked to see Aoi still clinging onto his back, mumbling words as tears flowed from her eyes.

"...Please...come back...big brother..."

"Big...brother?"

"Nn. Even when I was down I could still hear her voice, as she tried to stop you from losing control of your powers," Lerish said softly. "Miss Aoi has said many times that she despised you, and yet she could not bear to leave you as you fall into a downward spiral. If not for her efforts, we would not still be here now."

"I...I see," he only replied.

For him to cause that much trouble to her, even though they are both in strife with each other, he felt extremely guilty.

"Ren, pardon me if I am intruding on your personal decisions, but perhaps this is the right moment for you to make amends with each other?"

"Make...amends..."

He glanced at the girl on his back, and suddenly felt his heart hurt. He hated her bad behavior, he do, but he too cannot push her away. They have already reached past the point where both of them are dependent on each other to stay sane.

"If you are determined to pay back what she has done for you, becoming her brother again is the best thing you could give to her," Lerish said as she gently squeezed his hand.