The World's System that I had been busying myself with recently had a critical concept that was integral to its existence:
Sustainability.
Or in other words, the power to create an energy cycle using anything involved with it. It was this concept that I had studied and decided to make use of while enchanting the many effigies in the room I was in.
This concept, mixed with the characteristics of the effigies themselves, allowed me to borrow their energy and use it for various things.
The three most basic enchantments that I placed on each effigy were the following:
[ Zoned Drift ] which forced the effigy to move only in a predetermined manner.
[ Allure ] to attract the fairies' attention at set times to make sure they die in the right order.
And my original spell, [ Recycling ], to make use of the enchantments that had yet to be activated upon the effigy's death. It essentially moved the unused enchantments from the effigy's bodies into the ground where they died before then connecting them with the other enchantments using the effigy's residual powers.
These three were nonnegotiable when it came to creating my formation. I then added other enchantments depending on the effigy, most of which, weren't even complete spells. They were set only to function once they were connected with their long-lost brethren.
And usually, that moment of connection and activation would cost me quite a lot of mana. If not for my borrowing another being's powers, I wouldn't have been able to complete such a powerful formation.
Thus, I relished the moment my creation came to life. When Galad's gaze landed upon my unconscious form, I witnessed confusion appear within the depths of her enchanting eyes.
Her confusion quickly changed, however, as she nearly broke her own neck. Her head snapped towards Reflection Ambrosya.
She put her hand on her staff and numerous mana programs appeared, glowing in a malevolent blue. She first aimed for my reflection, clearly bearing a befuddled mind, unsure of who to kill first.
"You—!" It was the start of her roar.
But it was too late.
There was a sudden eruption of light that consumed the entire room.
I watched as an orderly set of mana programs appeared on the floor, gleaming and shining with all their grandeur. They burst out with a deep shade of ocean blue, filled with an immense amount of concentrated mana.
The powers of a horde of B rank effigies all agglomerated into this formation of mine, loading it up to the brim.
In reply, the bodies of the fairies burst out with strength in a desperate attempt to shatter the formation. Like an exploding galaxy, fairy dust scattered throughout the space around them, sparkling in gold and silver colours.
"I knew it was only a matter of time!" Faeldrin cursed out loud as blood seeped out his ears and eyes. His lips had cracked and were as red as a tomato, oozing drops of crimson as well.
The other two fairies weren't doing any better. Wisps of white slowly escaped from their bodies. Their limbs were all rooted in place, and they could not do anything against all the enchantments that I had engraved.
I made sure to guarantee their immobility. The extraction of souls was a delicate procedure, after all. Due to my still-lacking abilities, there was barely any room for any deviations in the target's coordinates.
That, and the process itself was progressing pretty slowly. The most ideal [ Soul Harvest ] would be a sudden theft of life. It would happen in the blink of an eye, preventing my targets from counterattacking through some special ability or treasure.
'But it isn't all that bad,' I thought to myself.
I was able to watch as the fairies bled from every part of their body. Every gap, every pore, and every passageway was leaking blood.
Their souls were being forcefully extracted with an excruciatingly painful technique. My eyes were blessed with the images of suffering before me.
The fairies were withering at a visible rate. Their wings were crumpling like dried-up leaves in autumn, losing all signs of life and vitality. At the same time, they were all writhing around in pain, twitching and vomiting blood whenever their limits were breached.
Their meagre powers were insufficient to even mount a counterattack. I was able to thoroughly tire them out beforehand, revealing the fact that Galad's unconscious greed was the bane of their existence.
It influenced her in the most subtle of ways.
It was in this state that victory slowly fell into my grasp. Wisps of white flew into my unconscious body as I began the recycling process of their souls. I was processing the very root of their beings, turning it into energy that supplemented my humanity.
I felt the quality of my mana suddenly change as it rose to the peak of rank E. My mana reserves were filled to the brim, and I felt my consciousness stir.
Clarity was returning to my mind, and my current state was slowly disappearing.
...
My eyelids fluttered open and I rose from my slumbering posture.
I took a moment to examine the changes in my mana. It had grown even more viscous, turning into a stickier kind of honey. It had also grown denser, progressing more towards the path of making me an unkillable tank. The latter effect was unintended, but it didn't matter too much to me.
Although my spells would inevitably have slower cast times, it was fine as long as I queued them up while using [ Foresight ]. Of course, that was under the premise that my ability to see into the future grew.
As for those three fairies, well...
It seemed like my formation was still lacking in strength. The three of them had yet to perish.
Just one glance at them, however, made it clear that they already had one foot in the grave.