WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 105 - Choice (2)

For nearly a year, Scarlet Abyss had expanded.

To the point where a normal organization would have just burst and died.

Now, it would not be an exaggeration to say that more than half of the Empire’s underworld belonged to Scarlet Abyss.

The reason why that had been possible was quite obvious.

"A Fallen? What’s that supposed to be? An inner world…? Are you saying you’re a wizard?

"Hah, I learned Arcane Strength—”

"R-Robin!! What is this? His heart just exploded!”

The presence, or absence, of Fallen.

Even if they were underworld leaders, at best they were men who had stolen techniques from Knights and, through sheer luck, became pseudo-superhumans.

Their Arcane Strengthening only blocked magic of the real world, which meant they could not defeat the Fallen, who wielded the magic of their own worlds.

Walls melted, skies collapsed, the earth rose…

Worlds of bizarre, twisted, and heretical Fallen, utterly different from magic that functioned by proper rules.

Scarlet Abyss simply used Fallen to quietly kill all those underworld leaders. The balance of power in the underworld shifted dozens of times.

However, one ruler, who now possessed countless territories he could not even have imagined owning in the past, realized he could not truly be happy about all that.

Just a week ago, a man with power comparable to his own had been annihilated along with all his subordinates.

Was there any guarantee that he would be spared of such a fate? There wasn’t.

Those whose minds still worked properly knelt before them first.

Those who didn’t were made to kneel.

Of course, the Empire didn’t remain idle.

"Speak. Where did they contact you, and how?”

"I-I don’t know! I really don’t know!”

"...Tsk."

However, because this hierarchy was built through such means, normal communication had been impossible to begin with.

All the underworld leaders knew was one fact. No matter how strong an organization was, if it defied Scarlet Abyss, something would rise from the ground and deliver punishment.

When Scarlet Abyss came and demanded information, they would give it. When they gave them orders, they just carried them out. When they requested materials, they just handed them over by any means necessary. They pretty much were slaves.

Experience was the fastest way to learn something. Some organizations, no matter what, could not endure such treatment and met the same fate as their predecessors.

Ultimately, the difference in available means decided victory and defeat.

To oppose an organization consumed by Scarlet Abyss, one had to deploy an entire Knight Order capable of fighting the Fallen.

However, the Fallen controlled by Scarlet Abyss simply drifted around like grass snatched up by the wind, roaming the nation relentlessly without a single day of rest, simply to survive.

Scarlet Abyss’ pace of subjugation far outstripped the Knights’ ability to crush those underworld groups.

And the cause of that was…well.

[You cannot say that you don’t bear any responsibility for this.]

"...No, but still, I was more helpful overall.”

The upper floor of the mansion.

Borrowing the body of a crow nearly the size of a human, Dercia flapped her wings and sighed from atop a perch.

"I did a lot of spy work using the Gospel, didn’t I? Honestly, if we weigh merits and faults, the merits are greater.”

[...]

The crow shot me a glare, but it was true.

The name of the Fallen, information about their worlds, their patterns of behavior… All things that had long been shrouded in mystery.

None of it could have been known without me. In other words, infiltration had been the correct answer.

As Scarlet Abyss expanded, the Empire used the information provided to prepare countermeasures, and beneath the surface, countless bloody battles were still unfolding even now.

And—the princess, working together with Dercia, was preparing fangs to sink into Scarlet Abyss’ throat.

Truly deep, razor-sharp fangs.

"How far have you developed it?”

[The prototype is complete, but verification is still required.]

-Hck, hhhck

Dercia suddenly began to retch.

No way. I watched in shock, and my anxiety quickly became reality.

Rooooll…

A pale pink pill, mixed with mucus, rolled across the floor and bumped against my shoe.

"..."

[Please try using it.]

I replied with the most disgusted expression I could muster.

"Why not just tie it around your neck?”

[There is a risk of it falling during flight. If we were to make it into a necklace and have me wear it, the risk would be far too great should a Scarlet Abyss member discover it.]

Dercia didn’t even snort. With a sigh, I picked up the pill, wiped off the mucus by rubbing it against my robe, and swallowed it.

A moment later, my body began to heat up a little. I tried to use my water pressure to grab nearby clutter in that state.

-Crrrhg!

"Hmm..."

I tried a few more times after that.

But I felt no real difference, so I shook my head.

"Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like my burdens have changed. It might still be too early.”

[Hmm, I see…]

Mass production of World-Sealing Elixirs.

The princess’ strategy was to exploit the fact that most Fallen were bound to Scarlet Abyss through those pills.

Even I could see that if the Empire were able to produce World-Sealing Elixirs themselves, the balance of power would clearly shift.

Considering how much time Dercia had spent producing even a failed prototype, the difficulty must have been immense.

Cawing with frustration, she continued.

[I have reached the limits of manipulating existing World-Sealing Elixirs. Increasing their effect, or condensing them to raise potency, has succeeded about a hundred times, but reproducing them same effect using other materials seems impossible. I will have to try using more extreme ingredients.]

"You’re not grinding people up to get this effect, right?”

[If it were that simple, there’s no way I wouldn’t have known already.]

"?"

[More importantly, Jern, how has your physical condition been lately?]

A different emotion crept into the crow’s nasal voice. After thinking for a moment, I decided to ask honestly.

"...So you share sensations with that body as well?”

[? Yes.]

I stepped closer and grabbed the feathered nape of her neck.

The crow flinched for a moment, then trembled slightly.

[This is—]

"It’s been like this for a while now. I can still endure it.”

Breathing isn’t a problem. Thanks to the golden pipe embedded inside my body.

As long as I have the Water Partition, the pain doesn’t go beyond a sharp tingling.

[...What a ridiculous thing to say when you’re within the Abyssal Sea.]

But on the other hand, how was I able to endure the worst of it but had trouble with this?

The burden I had dismissed as trivial, like nothing more than a small fry, began to assert itself.

The Abyssal Sea’s temperature wasn’t something normal humans could live with. No matter how many layers of clothes I wore, it still felt like I was standing naked in winter.

"For now, I’m using Purge to dull the sensation of my hands freezing, but I won’t be able to last long."

[It’s not a particularly dangerous burden. If you return and receive some treatment, it may be resolved more easily than you expect.]

"I haven’t obtained anything decisive yet. I can’t go back already.”

I shrugged and refused.

Honestly, I had gained a lot by joining. Through meeting various Fallen, I’ve formed several plausible hypotheses about my own Abyss Realm. Even if I escaped now, it wouldn’t be a loss for me.

But I still hadn’t gotten the most important piece of information I wanted when I joined Scarlet Abyss.

The Three Calamities.

Of course, I didn’t just sit quietly doing missions. Over the past year, I met and questioned several members, but most were no different from Sunken Mire, either completely clueless or dismissing them as mere rumors.

It was, honestly, driving me insane. Why did Faris know, but none of these bastards do?

Thinking about that filled me with anger.

"Seriously, why the hell aren't these bastards contacting me? There’s no one in the Lower Tiers who’s shown achievements even close to mine.”

[What about the possibility that they found out about your identity as a spy?]

"Then they wouldn’t have given me this so-called Gospel, right?"

Gospel. That’s the name of this book, according to Sunken Mire.

The amount of information I’ve uncovered, from the mission list to the identity of members, was akin to a mountain. From a cost-benefit perspective, it didn’t add up.

Of course, I’ve committed many acts of terror, but in the process, I always left behind a means of recovery. Those hundreds of missions were, in effect, 80% landmines planted inside Scarlet Abyss.

Doing all that both earned me the enemy’s trust and let me plant bombs at the same time. It was like killing two birds with one stone, so I worked hard…

But now it felt like I’ve only been planting mines. And the only one who benefitted from that was the princess.

"Something…something else must be what the Upper Tiers are watching for. But I have no idea what that is.”

The words that Decay left behind became harder to understand the more time passed.

What did he want from me exactly? Was he satisfied with me playing this role in the Lower Tiers?

As I sank deeper into thought, Crow Dercia offered me some cautious advice.

[Jern. Have you tried contacting other members in any other ways?]

"Yes. I’ve contacted the warehouses with the widest connections and a few other prominent members as well.”

[What I mean is, have you ever carried out missions together with them?]

"I haven’t. That seemed genuinely dangerous to me after all.”

I said bluntly.

In other words, taking on missions with anyone other than Sunken Mire would be crossing a very dangerous line.

Sunken Mire was more or less an idiot, so she still hadn’t figured out what my Abyss Realm was, and more importantly, she usually stayed put somewhere nearby while I worked—

But if I were to take on missions with others, I’d inevitably be forced into close contact.

If even one of them knew the Abyssal Sea.

And if what they say reaches the Upper Tiers, then from that point on it becomes far too difficult to control the variables.

The best-case scenario was to be recognized as a member of the Three Calamities and enter the Upper Tier.

The worst case was being abducted and turned into a medium to spread the Abyssal Sea across the world.

"Above all, I’ve reached the conclusion that Lower Tier members are so lacking in information that they’re not much help."

[I agree. But listen. For example, wasn’t the Lump in the Lower Tiers before rising to the Upper Tiers?]

"Yes, that’s right.”

[Then the Lump must have done something worthy of the Upper Tier’s attention. The Lower Tier members may not know the details, but they might remember some strange behavior the Lump showed before becoming part of the Upper Tiers.]

"..."

I considered that possibility for a moment.

"Hmm, in the process of asking around, I might give away that I’m aiming to move up to the Upper Tier.”

[That doesn’t matter. I’m just genuinely curious now. Try this possibility once, and if it doesn’t work, how about returning and dealing with your burdens? To begin with, if things have reached that level, the other burdens won’t be something you can just brush off as nothing either.]

"That’s true.”

The Water Partition continued to narrow.

Which meant the Abyssal Sea’s burdens were growing stronger. I described it as a diving suit, but it doesn't completely block everything. My skin could still feel the intensified burdens.

Lately, I’d almost completely stopped expanding my Realm. If I used it recklessly while in this state—I’d be discovered.

[.,.,....--~~~~~....]

By those guys.

I frowned at the sight of a red eel with nine tails swimming around nearby and opened my deep-sea creatures notebook to note something down. I had never seen that one before.

"Then I’ll try what you suggested for now. Anything else?”

[...If you see a Knight Order on your next mission, run if you can.]

"Why?"

[The commander of the Waxed Wing Knight Order declared that he won’t sleep unless he devoured Undercurrent. He’s mobilized nearly all of his forces. It’ll be a bloodbath.]

"...I’ll keep that in mind."

I had been impatient lately, taking on as many missions as I could and causing just as much chaos.

In the long run, it all benefited the Empire, but from the receiving end’s perspective, there was no bigger nuisance than me.

The name Undercurrent had become quite famous on the Empire’s side. In a very bad way.

"Hmm… The Lump…”

I opened the Gospel and flipped endlessly through the completed mission record.

It was a small book, but no matter how many pages I turned, more kept appearing, while the previous pages crumbled into dust and scattered away.

If anyone knew the Lump’s past, it would be those who had carried out missions with it.

It took over 50 minutes of turning pages before I could find the name Lump written anywhere.

Just what did that thing do to catch the Upper Tier’s attention?

"...No."

And then I finally found the final mission the Lump had carried out in the Lower Tier.

At first I was shocked by the contents, then I was stunned by the participant list.

Squinting, I flipped through several more pages.

But of course, as expected.

The Lump was listed alongside that person in nearly every mission record.

"Haah..."

Letting out a sigh, I left the top floor of the mansion and woke up Sunken Mire, who had been sleeping peacefully.

"Get up. There’s something we need to do.”

"Hmm… Huh, yes?”

Now plump and well-fed, she rubbed her eyes but still quickly prepared to take notes. From the moment she realized I didn’t need a companion but rather a secretary to reduce my workload, Sunken Mire had volunteered to become the perfect one.

I gave orders to the sharply disciplined Sunken Mire while putting on my robe.

"Starting now, go find Vile Blood and pass along a message.”

"Yes! What should I say?”

"Tell him we should do a mission together next time.”

"Yes. Understood… What?? Sir Undercurrent, you’re doing a mission together??”

"That’s right."

Startled, Sunken Mire rushed out of the mansion.

If I had known it would come to this, I would have done a joint mission sooner.

I sighed again and looked back at the list of missions the Lump had carried out last.

[Annihilation of Rogenia]

[Special Note: Leave not a single survivor.]

[Quantity: 900,000.]

[Arbitrary.]

[190/190]

Surely not.

I tried to suppress the thought that I might have to do something like this as well.

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