Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Natalika swam this way and that, trying to muster enough mana to supplement her swimming through the vast waters that impeded her proper mobile capacity.

She couldn’t afford to put more of her energy into mobility when she had a vicious carp with a mysterious purple eye that was chasing after her.

‘Should I use my Full Body Aura?’ Natalika thought as she gripped her sword while swinging her feet to move in the dark waters. ‘Now that I think about it, this set up must have been created in order to bait invaders into use techniques like Full Body Aura so that they exhaust their powers before facing the real threat.’

Her analysis was based on the heavy currents that demanded especially powerful applications of mana to break through if one sought to even get a chance at beating their opponents.

However, she wouldn’t fall for it.

Using her Demented Blindsword technique in the water wouldn’t be ideal unless she used her Full Body Aura as from her view, her strikes wouldn’t be quick enough with the fish in their element.

‘Tsk. I can’t call myself a perfect swordswoman when I’m still not flexible enough to handle spontaneous situations like this,’ she thought begrudging, evaluating herself as inflexible.

She was glad that she didn’t sense anyone using any high level techniques, save for maybe Skullius who caused the huge explosion earlier as she didn’t know how strong the technique actually was.

Fortunately for them, this is was the perfect time for Tulnas to intervene, one of the many ideal situations that he mainly shone in._.

Luckily for her, her Guild leader decided to make a move right then.

She felt his energy thrum through the waters and prepared, for Tulnas was eerily good at turning the situation to their favour, a great team player.

In the next moment, a water bubbled floated over to her as she vigilantly faced her foe.

Natalika recognised Tulnas’ mana signature on it and allowed it to reach her and when it did, it popped when it arrived near her ear and…

“When the giant bubble appears, attack. And don’t be too surprised by what you see when you look up,” a voice leaked from the bubble and entered squirmed into her auditory canal.

Natalika smiled with an eager craze.

It was just as she had thought, though the second sentence brought her to briefly question what Tulnas meant.

The same message was transmitted to the others, excluding Skullius who only noticed Tulnas’ energy spike.

The Guild leader who faced the shorter carp gathered his mana around his body which made the carp he faced draw back with caution.

It instantly decided to act, churning all its mana as the eye on its forehead glowed so bright that it tinged the waters purple!

‘I see now. I’ve fought some of the Evenfall members in the past but I didn’t think that they could actually cause assimilation of Primus into lesser beings. Perhaps they can even use it outside of blessings. Ha! All that is irrelevant for now, though…’ Tulnas said as he finally completed his assessment, voicing out his next words through the water. “Unfortunately, in terms of elements, I have confirmed that I’m truly a bad match-up for you…”

The carp felt the immense amount of threat in Tulnas’ words and acted fast, the surrounding waters roiling as they pressed against Tulnas’ lone figure.

Litres upon litres rushed towards him and formed a spinning cyclonic pressure pool of water that sought to crush him under the liquid’s collective weight!

DUUUM!

A shudder of the waters was heard as they all drew towards Tulnas, visibly thinning out everywhere else!

Skullius who was in the distance was shocked by the scale of the attack as the immovable lights he had conjured made it clear what was happening beyond his position.

If he was to face this same attack…

Gulp.

He could only swallow this thought.

The waters continued to press against the figure of Tulnas which became indistinguishable from the dark waters with time and even then, the carp that facilitated the attack didn’t stop.

That was until, it saw a large creature suddenly bloom from where it had been pounding its target with vast pools of water!

A trumpet was heard clearly from within the middle of the gushing waters that continued to assault Tulnas as the large creature seemed to continuously increase in size until it became twice as large as the carp that it faced with menacing eyes!

A massive illusory elephant appeared!

It had light blue lustre with a starry design within the thick of its bison-like shape!

A freakishly long and thick trunk hung from its face with rings of text around it in archaic rings of light gold hue, upturned tusks visible from the sides as they glowed with a white light that seemed to be as bright as a full moon!

Its gaze was sharp, its two stern eyes holding the same bright sheen of the tusks as they locked onto the carp that immediately seized its attack and drew further back, seeing as the giant before it was not affected in the least by its assault!

“Glub gah gluuuuub (WHAT THE HECK)?!” Skullius tried to voice in shock as he saw the massive creature.

What the heck was that?!

Right before the large elephant, the figure of Tulnas became clear as his languid expression made the carp even more panicked.

The Guild leader raised his hand and swiped in a normal gesture.

On cue, the elephant raised its trunk and blew out within the waters, a visible bubble opening up from the end of its trunk and expanding so fast as it resisted the remnants of the carp’s attack that within a few moments, everyone, including Skullius felt a breath of fresh air gently lick their faces!

A massive sphere of free space appeared with everyone finding that under their feet, a chunk of frozen water could be found for their continued suspension, with hundreds of other floating frozen water slates and chunks sprinkled EVERYWHERE in the free space for their mobile convenience!

If one looked to the sides, they could see that they were in one massive bubble that separated the waters, its top seemingly reaching the surface of the water, giving a glimpse into the outside space.

…!

“So that’s how it is…!” Natalika was the first to speak before realising that this was exactly what Tulnas meant by his last sentence.

Everyone shared the same expression as they looked up, especially Skullius who gaped widely in shock.

So all this time…

That’s what was happening?!

They had all been…?