Wizard of the Abyss - Chapter 113

WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 113 - Using One Evil to Fight Another (3)

There were plenty of cases throughout history where the attacking side succeeded in an unfavorable siege.

For example, didn’t the Greek allied forces bring down Troy using the Trojan Horse?

Of course, if Troy had possessed the intelligence to think, “Why are these bastards retreating after building a giant wooden horse big enough to hide dozens of soldiers?” the story would have been different.

But what’s done is done.

Here’s another example. According to the Bible, there was a prophet named Joshua who received a revelation from God. He led the Hebrews toward Canaan, claiming that this land was promised to them by Yahweh.

The problem was that people were already living quite comfortably in Canaan. From their perspective, they were living peacefully when suddenly a group of armed men showed up and declared, “Our god told us this land is ours, so hand it over.”

Naturally, Canaan shut its gates and chose a siege.

This was the famous Battle of Jericho. To break Canaan’s defenses, Joshua decided to march around the fortress for seven days. Absurdly enough, God then brought the walls down for them.

There was something we had to learn from such siege stories.

If the opponent wasn’t extremely incompetent, or if the heavens didn’t personally collapse the walls for you—

The attacker would never be able to win.

Needing three times the manpower was only the bare minimum. Even then, breaking through fortified walls required placing variables in the attacker’s favor and spending a long time.

Then what about with just 10 people? And not just a single fortress, but an entire country?

Complete nonsense.

"A frontal assault is absolutely out of the question."

"Infiltration won’t work either. You can’t stage a coup when all the citizens are being controlled.”

-Clop, clop.

Riding on horseback, we searched for a way to break a rock with an egg.

"The answer is speed. The moment we meet her, we’ll have to immediately seize the opening and assassinate Nightfall. That’s practically the only viable option.”

"Hmm, will Nightfall even agree to meet us?”

"Not a chance. She’s the ruler of Manganji. For most Fallen contracts, she has puppets handle them and doesn’t involve herself directly.”

"Then is there another way?”

"Of course. We sell you.”

"...What?"

At my dumbfounded expression, Vile Blood started explaining his plan.

"I’ll persuade Nightfall that you possess a Great Realm of unbelievable scale, and that if she makes you into a puppet, you’d be immensely useful. Of course, in exchange I’ll demand an enormous amount of World-Sealing Elixirs.”

"...Then Nightfall will come to investigate herself.”

"Exactly. She’s not the type to trust the words of someone from the Lower Tier. Even out of curiosity, she’ll summon you to check in person. That’ll be our first chance.”

"And the second?”

"It’s easier to assume there is only one… If for some reason she backs out of fighting during our first meeting, we’ll have to look for another opportunity within her country. But securing another face-to-face meeting by any other means will be extremely difficult. And if we’re even expelled from the country, then we’d have to wage a siege with the forces we have.”

So, in other words, it had to be a first-encounter kill.

"...I see."

I clenched and unclenched my hand. Even though my burdens had worsened, I still had enough capacity left to summon my Abyss Realm a few times. There was no risk of being consumed by them mid-fight.

The real question was whether I would be able to reach the Upper Tier if I were to use my full power.

I had killed the Lump. But that thing was like a cockroach. A being that had invested every last stat point into survival.

Nightfall wasn’t specialized in combat either—but still, who knew?

Given that she had countless puppets under her command, including ones made of Fallen, it wasn’t easy to predict the outcome. I was weighing our odds when my horse’s hooves hit the ground again.

Only then did a question occur to me.

"By the way, where are we going?”

"If you want to catch a tiger, you have to enter the tiger’s den. We’re going to make contact with Nightfall.”

Deep in the forest?

Following them with a doubtful gaze, a small cabin came into view.

It was so shabby that it seemed generous to even say that two people could live there, yet there were clear signs of someone living here. Scattered tree fruits on the ground, piles of laundry hanging out to dry.

"Hmm~Hmhmhmm~”

-Creak!

And then, someone really did step out, arms full of laundry.

It was a man who looked to be in his mid-40s. When he saw us on horseback, he flinched in shock, hastily set the laundry down nearby, and stammered.

"Wh-who are you? What brings you here…?”

Fear and trembling terror mixed together in his body. Vile Blood looked at the man for a moment, then spoke to me.

"How is it?”

"I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

"Didn’t you notice anything strange about him?”

"...?"

I studied the trembling man, then shook my head.

"No. Nothing in particular?”

I didn’t just say that based on what I could see with my eyes.

I swept my Tide Sense over him. His shaking skin and racing heartbeat told me his fear was genuine. In other words, he wasn’t hiding his power or something. He was truly just an ordinary person.

Vile Blood sighed and tossed a World-Sealing Elixir.

"Watch."

-Rollrollroll…

The man blinked when he saw the pill roll toward him.

"Oh."

What he did wasn’t much, but the man’s heart immediately stopped.

It was so sudden that there was no chance for anyone to react. My Tide Sense no longer conveyed his heartbeat.

Yet the man didn’t collapse. He just stood there blankly, looking at Vile Blood.

Humans would die when their hearts stop. If they didn’t, that would make them not human. Following that logic, I cautiously spoke.

"Is that guy…that?”

"Yeah. A puppet.”

I examined the man, who was facing Vile Blood with an expressionless face, as if waiting for something.

"It’s strange. Just a moment ago he was clearly an ordinary human. Now he feels like a walking corpse.”

"He was ordered to be that way. To imitate his living self.”

"Does that mean his memories remain?”

"Probably. I don't know the details either. All I know is that these things are the only means of connecting to Nightfall.”

"Things?"

"Yes. There isn’t just one or two. Nightfall scattered these throughout the entire Empire. That’s why contacting her is pretty easy.”

Vile Blood looked at the man with visible displeasure, then suddenly pulled out a dagger from his pocket. There was no time to stop him.

The dagger, thrown in a smooth, straight line like flowing water, pierced straight through the puppet’s neck.

"You…”

Before I could say anything, I noticed that no blood flowed from the wound.

Shaken by the impact of the throw, the puppet still stood there, wearing the same vacant expression as it stared at Vile Blood.

It was a bizarre sight, but Vile Blood seemed satisfied with his work and sat down.

"I showed it a World-Sealing Elixir to establish a connection, then cut it. Nightfall will send her subordinates soon. This is the only way to make contact with her.”

Vile Blood began setting up a tent as if nothing had happened.

I couldn't do the same. I uneasily stared at the puppet standing there with a dagger lodged in its neck, then sighed and leaned against a nearby stump.

"How long will it take?”

"Who knows? I’d have to have used this kind of loan-sharking business before. Betting my own life is one thing, but I’ve never been desperate enough to wager my soul after death. I’e seen others try to contact Nightfall a few times, but—”

Vile Blood let out a bitter sigh.

"When I checked later, they were all at Nightfall’s side.”

"Wouldn’t it have worked if you’d lent them what they needed?”

"That’s a truly horrific thing…”

Right. He was still part of Scarlet Abyss after all.

As we kept chatting like that, evening came. The members Vile Blood had sent out returned with bright expressions.

"We’ve brought back sacred relics!”

"...Haha! You bastards brought back something good. Undercurrent, look.”

With a satisfied expression, Vile Blood carefully lifted what looked like a rosary-like bracelet.

"Among sacred relics, this is a high-grade one. Every time you suffer from a heavy burden placed on you by your world, one bead shatters and protects you. It’s convenient since it requires no activation. There’s nothing better in terms of ease of use.”

I carefully accepted the relic and put it on.

For a moment, I tensed, half-expecting all the beads to shatter the instant I wore it. But it only vibrated for a bit, as if it was processing something, and didn’t break.

"Good."

As I waved my hand and examined the black beads on the bracelet, Vile Blood, who had been watching me, suddenly cleared his throat.

"Ahem, by the way.”

"Hmm?”

"So…why did you send the Knight who drove off Carose away?”

"You mean Brimdal?”

"Yes. If you’d kept him with us, he would’ve been a great help. Unless there’s a particular reason, wouldn’t it be better to bring him along?”

It was a reasonable suggestion. I almost nodded to it.

But I couldn’t do that.

It wasn’t because persuading him would have been difficult. If I asked him to come, he would.

Brimdal just…couldn’t act.

He was catastrophically bad at it. Bad enough that not only Nightfall, but even Vile Blood, no, even Sunken Mire, would have noticed.

The battle with Carose had been so intense that it covered for that skill, but even in the middle of it he kept blurting out things he shouldn’t have. I had been intensely nervous the entire time.

He was completely unsuited for covert operations like this. I could have just pretended like I was controlling Carose and taken her with me instead—but if I did that, Nightfall would never let me get close in the first place.

It would be the end the moment it was discovered, so looking into other Knights was a gamble I didn’t particularly want to partake in.

In the end, I just shrugged and replied.

"Sorry. I can’t control the same person twice.”

"Wh-what?”

From the sound of it, these guys didn’t seem to know the details of Nightfall’s puppets very well either. I’d said it expecting that this level of bluff would work on them.

As expected, Vile Blood fell into thought for a moment, then nodded.

"In that case, it can't be helped. A shame, though.”

"Rather than trying to procure someone here, I think it’d be better to steal and control the strongest Knight or Fallen Nightfall commands in Manganji. What do you think?”

"...Steal ownership? That won’t be easy.”

"If I were expecting something easy, I wouldn’t be doing this in the first place.”

When I said that with some confidence, Vile Blood’s expression relaxed.

"Right. You’re not the type to spout nonsense, Undercurrent. Then for now—”

"Gh-ghrrk..."

"....Kyaaa!"

In the middle of our conversation, Sunken Mire let out a shrill scream.

Vile Blood, the members, and I all sprang to our feet at once and followed the direction Sunken Mire was pointing with her trembling finger.

"Th-that…”

"Kh-kgh."

The puppet whose neck Vile Blood had pierced earlier that day was standing up, blankly staring at us.

Its heart had begun beating again. It looked as if the man from that morning had simply revived after some time had passed.

But.

"...Ugh"

"Gulp..."

The members swallowed hard and staggered backward in fear, while Vile Blood and I clenched our teeth.

The atmosphere was completely different from before.

A steady heartbeat without the slightest tremor and a cold gaze.

... So this was how it worked.

"Hmm, it’s been a while since I did this."

-Tap, tap

The man, who was probably inhabited by Nightfall, knocked his head slightly, shaking off the blood pooled around his ear, and looked at me. Or so I thought.

His gaze was firmly fixed on Vile Blood, not me.

"Are you Lady Nightfall?”

Vile Blood addressed him more calmly than expected.

The puppet widened its eyes slightly, then shook its head.

"No. I am a servant, Number 9. Please address me as her niece when you speak before her.”

"Nie…ce?”

"Yes. I am her niece.”

"Did Lady Nightfall have family?”

"She didn’t. She made one.”

Number 9 calmly spouted the bizarre nonsense, then pressed for an answer.

"Why did you call for me? At present, I am extremely busy carrying out multiple assignments. Please be brief.”

"..."

Vile Blood swallowed hard, met those cold eyes head-on, and stepped forward to answer.

"There is someone who wishes to meet Lady Nightfall, so I called you here to ask for an introduction.”

"An introduction, you say?”

"Yes."

"Hmm…”

Number 9 rubbed her chin with a hand still smeared with blood, then finally glanced around.

"Who is it?”

"The one beside me. He goes by the title Undercurrent, and—”

"Okay, understood.”

She cut him off casually and moved straight to the point.

"The interest and repayment conditions will be the same as usual. 10% of what is obtained through missions, and ownership of the body after death. Then, how many World-Sealing Elixirs do you want?”

Judging by how smoothly those words flowed out, this clearly wasn’t her first time doing this.

Then her emotionless gaze brushed over me for a moment, so briefly that I could almost dismiss that fleeting contempt in her gaze as my imagination, before disappearing.

"However, no matter how generously I evaluate it, with a body like that, more than 200 would be difficult. I don’t see much, which means the world is quite feeble. I cannot offer a high price.”

"You don’t know about Undercurrent?”

"Ah, is he someone famous?”

Number 9 immediately lowered her head.

"My apologies. I am not well-versed in the Lower Tier’s population. In that case, may I hear what conditions you desire?”

"Very well. We demand 350,000 World-Sealing Elixirs.”

"...What did you just say?”

"350,000. We can’t accept anything less.”

"..."

Number 9’s gaze once again fixed directly on me.

After staring for a moment, she slowly spoke.

"How strange, Vile Blood. You aren’t a fool.”

"Of course not. You’re the fool here. You’re going to pass up the chance to use Undercurrent for a mere 350,000?”

Vile Blood tossed over the Gospel. Catching it lightly, Number 9 opened the mission list.

Going through the entries bearing the name Undercurrent one by one took quite some time, but in the end, she seemed to understand.

"I can see that it is a valuable body… but still, 350,000 is excessive.”

"Then let’s pretend this never happened.”

Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Vile Blood grabbed my shoulder.

"It might take some time, but we can recover 350,000 within a few years. World-Sealing Elixirs are short in supply lately, so I thought I’d sell cheap, but, tsk, tsk…”

"...Hmm."

Honestly, Vile Blood’s acting wasn’t particularly great.

But perhaps this puppet who descended into another person’s corpse didn’t possess a great pair of eyes, seeing how dull and focused they were.

"Please wait a moment.”

Number 9 called out to stop Vile Blood and me as we truly started to leave, then slowly opened her mouth.

"Then perhaps—may I borrow some of your time?”

"Time?”

"Yes. To operate such a quantity, I must first obtain her permission.”

I felt the grip of Vile Blood’s hand tighten on my shoulder.

"...And it is also difficult for me to judge that body’s value properly here.”

Hmm.

At the very least, the first button in bringing down an Upper Tier had been fastened correctly.