Wizard of the Abyss - Chapter 123

WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 123 - Using One Evil to Fight Another (13)

"....! What in the world happened here??”

After some time had passed, Sunken Mire returned to the cathedral and froze in shock at the grotesque sight of people collapsed on the floor, their swollen bodies stained red.

I wasn’t in perfect condition either. I swallowed hard, forcing down the bitter taste as I felt my body being pressed down by pressure. It was a relief that I couldn’t taste any metallic tang in my mouth.

Still, I couldn’t help but smile as I looked at those whose threads were gradually snapping.

"So it worked."

"Wh-what did you do?”

"I forced Nightfall to fulfill her end of the contract.”

They had offered up their lives in exchange for transferring all of their burdens to Nightfall.

I gathered those who had made such contracts and ‘applied’ my own burdens to them.

Those burdens would first go to Nightfall, who then passes them onto the livestock…

So then.

How long could that livestock survive within my world?

"...Huh?"

As I stepped outside the cathedral with Sunken Mire’s support, an unbelievable sight greeted me.

The capital was silent. Even accounting for it being nighttime, not a single footstep could be heard. Considering that every street was brightly lit with lanterns, it felt incredibly artificial, making it an eerie sight.

From past experiences, this should still have been a time when the livestock were active and moving.

Just 2 minutes.

In that short time span, merely exposing them to my world had caused most of the capital’s livestock to cease functioning.

It was quite the unexpected result.

"It’s far more effective than I thought.”

I clenched and unclenched my hand, recalling the sensation from earlier.

So this was my burden. It made me feel quite uneasy. It was hard to make any optimistic guesses about my lifespan.

I didn’t know how I had ended up in this world, but I was certain that this was the most optimal weapon to deal with Nightfall.

Only then did a question suddenly occur to me.

"You said you were Sunken Mire, right?”

"Ah, yes.”

"Do you happen to know anything about my past?”

"...Yes. Sir Undercurrent was originally someone from the imperial capital named Jern.”

Jern?

Just as I was about to dig further into that fragmented information of my past—

Suddenly, I heard the pattering sound of rain.

"Wait a moment."

-Pattpattpattpattpattpatt

The sound of rain relentlessly striking the ground echoed around us, yet not a single drop touched our bodies.

Sunken Mire, on the other hand, seemed unable to hear those sounds, tilting her head in confusion.

"..."

I slowly turned my gaze across the capital and looked upward once more.

Countless threads stretching into the sky were snapping one by one, creating sounds similar to a heavy rainfall.

—A chain reaction had begun.

"...It’s too fast.”

I hadn’t expected things to turn out like this so quickly. I hurriedly snatched a spear from a nearby guard and shoved it into Sunken Mire’s hands.

"Looks like we’ll have to talk about that later. Something’s come up that needs to be done.”

"Wh-what is it?”

"Nightfall’s shell game is about to collapse.”

"...Shell game?"

"Yes. You thought a burden forcing one to uphold a contract was weak, right? It’s the opposite. Being absolutely obligated to uphold it makes it an absurd kind of burden. It’s like a rental deposit scam…ugh.”

A strange term suddenly surfaced in my mind, followed by a sharp headache. It seemed like I was being affected as well.

Clutching my throbbing head, I continued.

"...Anyway, it’s a scam. But unlike a scammer who can run away, Nightfall can’t escape. When the livestock can no longer bear the burdens and start dying, the days will come when Nightfall herself has to shoulder all of her family’s burdens.”

"You had to endure such heavy burdens alone?”

"No matter how harsh my world is, it’s not that extreme. It’s just that the timing was very bad for Nightfall.”

"Huh?"

I was the one who made it like that.

Recently, Nightfall had accepted an unprecedented number of Fallen all at once, creating a situation where the livestock had to bear more burdens than they could handle.

It wasn’t as if Nightfall hadn’t tried to counteract. She had begun considering sending out other Fallen, slowly increasing the number of livestock. If that had happened, then even if I crushed and killed every Fallen under my control, it would’ve been impossible.

That was why I knew the time to act was approaching.

And just then, this piece that my past self had prepared arrived.

"Woow…!”

After hearing that much, Sunken Mire nodded, wearing a stunned expression.

"S-so is it over?”

"What? Have you been listening properly?”

"Huh?”

"This is just the beginning.”

The livestock would all die in time, which would be the moment Nightfall would have to bear all her family’s burdens.

When that happens, would she be able to endure it?

No. Absolutely impossible.

"It’s not just the capital. This entire massive country struggled just to distribute the burdens of fewer than 500 Fallen. There’s no way an individual like Nightfall could ever endure all of them.”

"...Then doesn’t that mean it’s already over?”

"She just called the family to gather.”

Why would she call in all her family right now?

The reason was quite simple.

Because there was exactly one way to uphold the contract without paying the price.

"The pruning is about to begin.”

* * *

At the same time, in the castle halls.

Nightfall’s family was heading toward the royal audience hall, their faces filled with confusion.

"What’s going on at this hour of night?”

"I’m not sure. But where does this sound of rain keep coming from—?”

"Sir Number 1. Do you know what’s going on?”

"Sir Number 1?”

"It’s not me. It’s not me…”

"What?"

They could all sense it instinctively.

Something about tonight felt off. Number 1, who usually was cold and composed, was biting at his fingernails with an anxious expression, and the attendants were nowhere to be seen.

However, there wasn’t a single person among them bold enough to ignore Nightfall’s summons over nothing more than a bad feeling.

In the end, the royal hall filled with her family members.

"Hmm, is everyone here?”

"Yes!”

Fortunately, Nightfall didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.

With a slightly languid expression, she lounged on her chair and began counting her family members with a smile.

"Uncle, little sister, nephew, mother…”

After her weird tally, Nightfall let out a sigh.

"Haah, as expected, big brother isn’t here.”

"...?"

Only then did the family look around.

Indeed, Undercurrent was nowhere to be seen. He hadn’t answered the call.

Nightfall puffed out her cheeks and tapped the armrest with her finger.

"I thought big brother would understand me. What a shame. Such a shame.”

"...Ah! Undercurrent is probably at that place called the cathedral right now, brainwashing the children. Shall we go bring him back?”

"No. If he didn’t come, then it’s already over.”

"Pardon?"

"But still, hmm…”

Soon after, she smiled.

"I still like him. No, I actually like him even more now.”

Very deeply.

After muttering to herself, Nightfall casually explained to the bewildered family members.

"It’s nothing serious. It seems like my dear big brother betrayed me.”

"…You mean Number 33 committed treason?”

"Yeah. The plan was pretty thorough. Even I didn’t expect him to keep acting the same way after losing his memories. That should’ve been impossible, right? But I guess he knew he would.”

"Haah, how dreadful!”

"We’ll go arrest him immediately!"

“It won’t be easy.”

She shook her head and replied calmly.

"Big brother seems to be quite strong. I thought they would be able to digest most burdens without issue. Should I have realized something was wrong when Puppet gave up on the contract? Haah, this is hard. Really hard.”

"Th-then what should we do?”

"Hmm. Would you be willing to sacrifice yourselves for me?”

"Of course! We’ll sacrifice anything!”

"Really?”

"Yes. For the sake of our family, we can sacrifice anything, right?”

Slip.

A thread coiled around the head of Number 17 as he spoke eagerly, trying to earn her favor.

That was the last thing he saw.

-Crunch!

"...H-huh?”

"What?”

Number 17’s body staggered for a moment without its head, then collapsed forward.

The family members, splattered with blood mixed with fragments of skull, still hadn't grasped what had happened. Only Number 1 watched the scene with clenched teeth.

Nightfall looked down at them and spoke casually, as if making a simple request.

"Don’t worry. I’ll find another nephew soon.”

"..."

Only then did the family members understand.

To Nightfall, a nephew was simply a title.

Male or female, child or adult. Human or not. It didn’t matter to her.

Even if it was someone else entirely, the moment she called them a nephew, they became the same as the one before.

That was all family was.

"...Uwa-uwaaaaaaah...!”

Number 20, terrified, bolted for the door.

-Clack!

But the door, sewn shut with threads, didn’t budge even slightly.

That wasn’t Nightfall’s doing.

"Number 1! Open this damn thing! Right now!”

"...Shut up.”

Number 1 gritted his teeth.

'Don’t tell me I have to go through this insane bullshit again.'

With his nerves already stretched to the limit, he dragged down the other family members who were trying to escape through the windows and recited words he had heard long ago.

"You're not going to die. Lady Nightfall never abandons her family. She’ll find other family members soon and turn them back into you.”

"Stop talking nonsense! I-I’m not some damn uncle! Open the door!”

"You don’t seem to understand, so I’ll put it more simply. If you don’t die, I die.”

"What...!”

That was the truth.

And even if the doors were opened, they wouldn’t be able to escape.

The threads descended like divine judgement, gently wrapping around the despairing family members.

"N-no…”

Thud, craaack!

Blood sprayed and flesh scattered.

Amid this scene one might encounter in a slaughterhouse, Number 1 squeezed his eyes shut.

When he opened them again, he was the only one left.

"..."

Standing there, drenched head to toe in blood with his fists clenched tight, he watched as thin threads were pulled from the corpses and flowed into Nightfall’s fingers.

Nightfall smiled faintly, satisfied, and let out a light breath.

"Haah, this hurts my heart. Why is everyone in so much pain? In the end, it’s just memories. Just bodies. No matter where we are, we’ll always be family.”

"...Indeed."

"That’s why I don’t want to lose big brother even more."

Nightfall flicked her fingers, loosening the threads wound around them.

The threads clung even tighter to Number 1’s body, squeezing him.

"Number 1. While I persuade big brother, release the other children for a little while."

"Yes."

How many people would he have to kill?

Number 1 couldn’t even begin to grasp it.

* * *

"Huh…? Wh-what is that thing?”

With my body tightly bound to a pillar by rope, I looked up to see a vortex forming in the night sky.

More precisely, a vortex made of threads was plunging straight down toward the center of the castle.

Even Sunken Mire could clearly see it.

Which meant—

"She's unfolding her world."

"N-Nightfall declared her Abyss Realm??”

"So that’s what it’s called. Wait, I feel like I know this term…”

My memories felt hazy, as if they might return, but then slipped away again. I had never experienced this symptom before.

From that alone, I could infer that Nightfall was already being affected by the collapse of most of her contracts.

Sunken Mire stomped her feet in disbelief.

"Shouldn't there be some damage by now? She can still do that?”

"It’s not clear. She has taken damage, which is why she declared her Abyss Realm. She’s fallen to a level where she has to fight directly now. If we win here, everything ends.”

"Erm… Can you really win?”

"She made exactly one mistake. Well, calling it a mistake might not be fair. How could anyone have predicted this?”

I snickered.

"Even my past self wouldn’t have known. We have a really good chance of winning here.”

"Then I’ll go run away and hide!”

"No. I have a favor to ask.”

"Pardon?”

After a moment of hesitation, I asked honestly.

"She’ll probably leave at least one family member alive and try to kill everyone in the cathedral. Stop him.”

"You want me to fight one of Nightfall’s executives?”

Sunken Mire shook her head with a dumbfounded expression.

"No way! I can’t do that! And aren’t the people in the cathedral the kind who’d die if Nightfall told them to?”

"Unconscious people can be moved. Those who are already broken can’t. Their joints are completely severed, so no matter how they try, they can’t move. From Nightfall’s perspective, she’ll try to kill them to reduce the number of burdens she has to bear. If you stop that, we’ll be in a much better position in the fight.”

"Even so…”

"Please. My past self trusted you enough to leave you a letter.”

"..."

I threw out some bait to push the hesitant Sunken Mire to act.

"Even if I defeat Nightfall, there’s no guarantee I’ll get my memories back.”

There actually was some uncertainty about all this.

What if Nightfall died and my memories didn’t return?

"If that happens, I’ll have no purpose left. With what remains of this body, I will take responsibility for your burdens.”

"...You will?"

"Yes. I swear it on my life.”

Only then did resolve spread across Sunken Mire’s face.

"I-I’ll try.”