WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 115 - Using One Evil to Fight Another (5)

I, of course, knew that Nightfall wasn’t sane even before meeting her.

But I hadn’t expected it to be this bad.

"P-pardon?”

"I said I’ll give you 700,000. Do you not understand words?”

When Vile Blood stammered at the completely unexpected answer, her voice instantly filled with killing intent.

"It looked like you wanted the proper price, so I doubled it. And now what more are you asking for? You seem awfully greedy. Do you even know where you are right now?”

It wasn’t just mild irritation. Her emotions instantly flipped into outright hatred.

Vile Blood stood frozen, stunned by that sudden shift, hardly believing this was the same person who had been calmly conversing with us just moments ago. I stepped forward before things could get even worse.

"Lady Nightfall. I apologize, but may I speak up?”

To redirect her anger, I addressed her as politely as I could, hoping to at least shift the focus of her anger toward me instead.

"Ah, right. Undercurrent, was it? Nice to meet you.”

But Nightfall didn’t really get angry at me.

Like a complete woman (which, admittedly, she was), she changed her attitude again in an instant, greeting me in a friendly tone.

"I am Nightfall. How old are you? You look like you’re still young.”

That question likely cam because I was wearing a mask. It seemed she hadn’t heard anything from Decay.

"I’m not entirely sure, but probably in my early twenties. I was abandoned when I was young, so I don’t know my exact age.”

"Abandoned? By your parents?”

At that, I could hear a hint of joy creep into Nightfall’s voice.

"I see. That’s unfortunate. Could you take off your mask, by any chance?”

"I’m sorry. It’s related to my burdens.”

"Hmm, I see. Then it can’t be helped.”

She accepted it quite lightly and graciously allowed it.

"So, what is it you wanted to say? I’ll listen, so go on.”

"Thank you.”

I had no clue what was going on, but one thing was clear from that exchange. Nightfall had suddenly taken a strong liking to me.

I had no clue why, but regardless, this was an opportunity. One that I absolutely couldn’t afford to miss.

"From what Vile Blood explained, it seems that if I were to become Lady Nightfall’s…”

I paused, carefully choosing my words. Selecting the term most likely to win the other party’s favor.

It was something I had done my entire life. Smoothly, naturally, one word I had filtered from our conversation slipped from my lips.

"...'Family,' I was told I would receive many benefits.”

"Ahaha, Vile Blood explained it well!”

Thankfully, I had chosen the right word.

Nightfall looked happier now, clapping her hands together.

"That’s right. If you become my family, you’ll be freed from those hellish burdens. Forever.”

"Ooh, that truly is astonishing.”

I nodded in admiration.

Of course, I didn’t believe her. Even if such a thing were possible, the price would probably be a life more horrific than those burdens themselves.

"I’d love to make all of you my family, but, haah, that’s quite difficult, realistically speaking.”

"..."

"So I’ve been gathering and adopting children who truly need help. Even if their quality is a bit lacking. But…”

Her voice grew as sweet as honey.

"You look really good.”

"Thank you. May I ask what it is about me that you find appealing?”

"It’s big."

That wasn’t sexual harassment. She was talking about my world.

"I need lots of big family members.”

"...Why is that?”

"Hmm, should I tell you? That’s a secret only family members are allowed to know, you see…?”

I could feel that sticky gaze through the curtain. How amusing.

I smiled lightly and went down on one knee.

"If you can resolve my burdens, I would even offer my life. I still have things I must do in this world, so I cannot do it immediately, but after that, I will certainly become Lady Nightfall’s family.”

"Really? I should tell you one thing. I’m not very patient.”

"One week. Please wait just that long.”

"May I ask what you intend to do?”

"Revenge.”

I gritted my teeth, channeling intense emotions into my words.

"Before I am freed of my burdens, I wish to face the root cause and remove it with my own hands while I still have this power. Please, wait just a little longer.”

"Haah, once you become my family, such things will be completely meaningless…”

Shaking her head, Nightfall slowly added, as if she had no other choice.

"Normally, I wouldn't accept these kinds of conditions. But I really like you. Hmm, I like you a lot. So I’ll make an exception just this once.”

"Thank you. I will also keep in mind that there will not be a second chance.”

"I like how quick you are to catch on. You will be…yes, I’ll make you my older brother.”

"..."

It took a tremendous amount of effort to keep my expression from twisting.

At those words, one of the dolls seated beside her suddenly jumped to its feet in shock.

"Ah, Lady Nightfall. Making him second-degree family or higher right away is…”

"Why?"

"Well—there is someone who’s already waiting…”

"Hmm. I see. Is that something I need to know?”

"..."

It seemed that even after being turned into puppets, some of them still retained fragments of their minds.

"Vile Blood, I’ll hand over the promised World-Sealing Elixirs after Undercurrent becomes my older brother. 700,000. No complaints, right?”

"Y-yes! Th-thank you very much!”

As quick-witted as ever, Vile Blood immediately prostrated himself.

"Then you may leave now. Finish that revenge of yours as quickly as possible. If it seems too difficult, you may ask for help. I’ll take care of it within a day. Of course, I’ll let you deliver the final blow yourself.”

"Yes. I sincerely thank you for considering my circumstances.”

"There’s no need to thank me. We’ll be family soon, after all.”

Satisfied with my response, Nightfall suddenly grabbed me as I was about to leave, as if something had just occurred to her.

"Ah, right. I forgot to mention something.”

"What would that be?”

"Do you happen to have any friends around your level? Not quite as good as you, Undercurrent, but still, if there are any, I think they’d be useful.”

I was about to say there weren’t any—when suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.

I cautiously nodded.

"Yes. There are a few, but…”

"Really? Then could you ask them whether they’d like to become family?”

"Yes. But I don’t think persuading them will be easy. Those of the Lower Tier have strange preconceptions about you, Lady Nighfall. I’ve heard some of them myself.”

"Tsk, those vermin are always spreading absurd rumors.”

Vile Blood, one of those vermin, lowered his gaze.

"So, if you could explain a bit more about what you mentioned earlier, the thing about the burdens, I think I could use that as leverage to persuade them. Simply saying you’ll remove their burdens probably won’t be enough for them to believe it.”

"Hmm, that much is fine.”

It seemed this didn’t count as a family secret, so Nightfall answered casually.

"It’s simple. If you become my family, your world also turns into Puppet.”

"...?"

What was that supposed to mean?

"So…you mean my world becomes Puppet, but then wouldn’t I be taking on Puppet’s burdens?"

"That’s not how it works. I take on all of my family’s burdens instead.”

"What?"

"Quite literally. I bear all of your burdens. Even now, there are thousands of burdens wrapped around my body, you know?”

Which meant—

In exchange for becoming a puppet, all of the burdens would be shouldered by the original Puppet user, Nightfall herself.

"Of course, in return, you won’t be able to use the Puppet world. If I permit it, you can use it a bit, but then you’ll have to bear a corresponding amount of Puppet’s burdens. It’s quite difficult, so I don’t force anyone.”

"I-I see.”

The risk of not being able to use one’s world meant nothing compared to the benefit of not having to suffer from any burdens.

If everything she said were true, Nightfall would be closer to a saint.

But that was quite unlikely.

"Then why do you go out of your way to make Fallen into your family? You’d have to bear as much burden as the number of people you take in…”

"Wanting to increase one’s family is human instinct, isn’t it? Of course, it’s not as though I gain nothing. Just a little bit though.”

Nightfall replied with a light smile.

"Actually, my world is rather small. As a Great Realm, it’s wider than most other Realms, but sometimes, when remarkable children like you appear, I find it quite hard to see just what kind of world you have.”

"But Lady Nightfall, your world reaches distances that take a full month to cross.”

"That’s where my family is.”

It took me a moment to understand those words.

"...!!!"

And the instant I did, goosebumps ran across my entire body.

"In other words, your world is where your family is.”

"Oh? Looks like you figured it out.”

She admitted it quite casually.

"That’s right. My family members are residents of Puppet, but ultimately, they are my puppets. It’s not another world that just shares the same name. It’s all one single world.”

"...They add to the size of the original Fallen’s world itself.”

"Yeah. That’s why the bigger the family, the better. The larger it is, the wider my world becomes.”

This was—to put it bluntly, a colossal pyramid scheme.

A pyramid scheme with Nightfall at the very top.

She devours Fallen and gives birth to offspring called “family.”

Those offspring become her. Even if they are given different memories, appearances, or genders, in the end they are all doppelgängers bound to the same world, Puppet.

If those things were spread out, then anytime, anywhere, that place would turn into Nightfall’s world.

This is no longer a matter of size or breadth. The more Fallen Nightfall devours, the more the world is covered in Puppet, until one day the whole real world is covered by Puppet.

Nightfall smiled deeply. At least, I felt like she did.

"Ah, I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I?"

"...Even if it’s a family secret, I’ll be family soon anyway, so I don’t think it’s a problem.”

"Yes, that’s right. I’ll be counting on you to persuade them.”

So this was an Upper Tier.

This was what the real Scarlet Abyss was like.

It was quite repulsive, terrifying even, but—

What was far more terrifying was the last thing Nightfall said.

"I’ll be waiting, big brother.”

* * *

Once we had left Nightfall's palace and confirmed the surveillance on them was gone, Vile Blood immediately asked, completely bewildered.

"W-what was that? Why did you call off the attack?”

"I told you. We couldn’t do it. The moment we showed even a hint of hostility, we’d have died first.”

I rubbed my neck. The place where the threads had been hanging just moments ago.

I pushed my Tide Sense to its absolute limits, but I couldn’t see anything anymore. I finally let out a sigh of relief, only for my chest to tighten again.

It was that burden I had mentioned to Dercia before.

"Ugh..."

"What’s wrong?!”

"...It’s nothing.”

I needed to deal with this unknown burden quickly as well.

After calming down a bit and explaining everything in detail, Vile Blood looked utterly dumbfounded.

"So—what you’re saying is, the moment we stood in front of her, we were already dead?”

"Not quite. We’re alive right now, aren’t we?”

"If the enemy holds the power over life and death, that’s the same as being dead. We survived only by her mercy. You’ve figured out a way to deal with it, right?”

"No."

That answer left no room for hope.

But honestly, I didn’t even know when those threads had wrapped around us.

And even if I had known, stopping it would be another matter entirely.

Assassination was practically completely blocked.

"...Then."

Vile Blood grabbed his head, his expression showing clear hints of despair.

"You’re saying we should give up…?”

"?"

"To be honest, if everything you said is true, I can’t even see a road forward. How are we supposed to fight something like that? We were just chasing an empty dream…”

"Wait, what have you been blabbing about?”

When I snapped back in disbelief, Vile Blood stiffened in surprise.

"Weren’t you saying that there was no way for us to succeed?”

"I only meant that it’s difficult. And…”

I glanced sideways at Manganji, where Nightfall was residing.

"I managed to find a way in one way or another. She told me everything herself after all.”

"...Is that really true?”

"It’s a bit ambiguous to use the word 'kill,' but we can achieve a breakthrough at least."

Every world had its own burdens.

And what those burdens were depended on the nature of the world.

As a resident of the Abyssal Sea, I was subjected primarily to pressure. Illusory Flower, who lived in a never-ending daydream, could no longer distinguish reality from illusion.

Then what about the world of Puppets, which endlessly replicates itself to expand its Realm?

"But there are still a few things that need to be verified first.”

"Verified?”

"Yeah."

The Upper Tiers really were ridiculously absurd.

But I had known that ever since I met Decay and the Lump.

However, if there was one thing I had, it was ample amounts of resolve.

"One week, was it…”

The time I had promised Nightfall.

Within that span, one of us, either Nightfall or me, would be dead.

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