WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 133 - Turbidity (9)

There was no time to question his nonsense.

"Thank you for fulfilling my request. Congratulations on becoming one with the Upper Tier.”

"And when am I supposed to fulfill the next ‘request?’”

"Whenever you wish."

"...What?"

"Do whatever you want. If you run into an obstacle along the way, you may come to me for advice. Of course, nothing comes without a price.”

I frowned.

So he intended to let me roam free, then demand payment every time I asked for help.

I could understand the reasoning.

But—

"Why go through such a roundabout hassle?”

"What do you mean?”

"If you can repel my world in one move, couldn't you just use brute force?”

Great Void chuckled at that and shook his head.

"Doing so would only create more enemies."

"And you think I’m your ally right now?”

"Of course not. I know you’re currently hostile towards us.”

He casually raised a hand and smiled slyly.

"But it would be a terrible waste to simply suppress or eliminate one of the Three Calamities by force. You seem to believe I’m strong, but that’s merely an illusion. If the gap in information were narrowed even slightly, I wouldn’t even qualify as your opponent.”

"What?”

"You don’t yet know how to control your world properly.”

"Is there even such a thing as a Fallen who can control a world? I thought we were all just getting crushed by our burdens, barely able to exploit it.”

"There is. You’ll learn soon enough. And once you do, I want you as my ally.”

"..."

Seeing my expression twist, Great Void burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Yes, it does sound a bit foolish, doesn’t it?”

"...No. I just thought it was quite admirable, giving someone who wants to kill you power to do so, then asking them to become an ally.”

"Of course, that would be a problem. But first, don’t you want to stop this?”

Great Void raised his hand, and even though it wasn’t night, a shadow born from his hand began to writhe.

...I had to stop it.

"Nothing I say right now will convince you. But the knowledge you gain while pursuing your own goals, you will most certainly trust. And once enough of those pieces come together…”

Great Void shrugged as he spoke.

"You will choose to stand with us.”

"..."

His voice wasn’t filled with strong conviction or anything.

At the same time, there wasn’t the slightest hint of doubt either.

It was as if he said, ‘It rained this morning’ or ‘The sun will rise tomorrow…’ He spoke as if he stated such obvious facts. It made me rather curious—

But I would find out eventually.

Watching me as if satisfied with my resolve, he extended his hand.

"Will you be taking that child as well?”

"Yes. She’s my warehouse.”

"Then both of you, take my hand.”

"...Hic."

Sunken Mire approached hesitantly, placing a single trembling finger onto Great Void’s palm.

I took his hand as well.

And the moment I blinked, the world changed.

"Ugh."

Suddenly, an overwhelming fatigue crashed over me all at once.

As I staggered, clutching my head, Great Void held out his hand.

"Welcome to the Holy Land.”

Holy Land.

Those words suited the place strangely well.

"...I was told Scarlet Abyss doesn’t have a fixed base.”

When I took a step forward, snow crunched beneath my feet.

Just behind us stretched out a breathtaking view. Countless jagged mountain peaks rising up like thorns, the highest of which we stood on.

Supporting Sunken Mire, who looked moments away from passing out, I raised my gaze to the spire erected at the summit of the snow-covered mountain—an impossibly tall tower that seemed to pierce the very sky.

Looking at that cloud-piercing tower, rather than awe, I felt a certain unease. Despite seeming as though a single gust of wind could topple it, the weight of countless years was etched into it.

"There are places one can always return to. There are several I would like to introduce you to…but it seems only one remains for now.”

Great Void muttered as he stared at the spire, then turned to me and offered his advice.

"I know what you’re trying to stop by killing us. That was the condition, so I have no intention of preventing it, but be careful.”

"Be…careful?”

"Yes. If anyone other than Decay and myself realizes the truth, they will try to eliminate you. Unfortunately, I can’t protect you from that.”

"..."

It was a very chilling sentence.

Whether it was true or not, offering concern for the safety of an assassin who was aiming to slaughter the members of his own organization…

There were only two possibilities why he was acting like that. Either he had wanted them dead for a long time.

Or…

"You don’t think I can pull it off, do you?”

"That’s not it, but it won’t be easy.”

He had absolute confidence that the likes of me wouldn’t be able to kill them.

Great Void smiled faintly and opened the tower’s door.

And then…

"You're late."

"I’m sorry. Heavenly Balance."

—Sharmia appeared before me.

"Eh, huh……?”

I panicked, doubting my own senses.

But it was, quite literally, a woman who looked 99% identical to Sharmia standing expressionlessly beside a campfire.

The remaining 1% difference was her expression.

Her face was filled solely with killing intent and hatred, far beyond just viciousness, which distinguished her from Sharmia.

The woman called Heavenly Balance turned her head and frowned even harder when she saw me, despite her expression seemingly already having been at the limit.

"Who’s that?”

"Undercurrent. He’ll be working with us from now on."

"...Didn’t you say you would revive Nightfall?”

"That failed.”

"Why?"

"I don’t know. No matter how much I searched Puppet, I couldn’t find Nightfall.”

"Tsk…”

Clicking her tongue, Heavenly Balance suddenly strode straight toward me.

She stared at me with eyes identical to Sharmia’s for a moment, then asked with faint confusion.

"Why is this child so surprised to see me?”

"It’s nothing special. He knows the shrine maiden.”

"...I see.”

Seeing the bitterness spreading over her face, Great Void explained.

"Undercurrent, this is Heavenly Balance. Her role is to translate the prophecies into something we can actually understand. It would be wise to heed her advice whenever possible.”

Did she just resemble her?

I steadied myself and extended my hand.

"I’m Undercurrent.”

"...What did you say?”

Heavenly Balance glared at me as if dumbfounded.

I wondered if I had misspoken when she suddenly tapped the top of my head.

"You insolent child. How dare you speak to me informally?”

"?"

"When addressing your elders, use proper honorifics. Again.”

"What exactly are you trying to pull right now?”

When I glanced at Great Void, he shrugged as if there was nothing he could do.

"Heavenly Balance is sensitive to human morals and rules. I’m sorry, but at least when dealing with her, I’d like you to humor her request.”

"Hah."

Up until now, no one in Scarlet Abyss had ever commented on my age.

Considering they were lunatics who didn’t distinguish between children and adults to begin with, it made sense to me, but it seemed there were different kinds of lunatics as well.

With no other choice, I gritted my teeth and extended my hand again toward her, who had her arms crossed.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you. Lady Heavenly Balance. My name is Undercurrent.”

“Tsk. You speak like some old man. What kind of upbringing did you have?”

Should I kill Heavenly Balance first?

As that thought crossed my mind, she suddenly rubbed my head roughly and glared at Great Void.

"So you’re planning to shove this into the Upper Tier? A child who’s still wet behind the ears?”

"Yes."

"What kind of world could he possibly have to make you decide that?”

"The deepest place. That is his world.”

"The Hollow? That’s hardly sufficient for entering the Upper Tier.”

"Deeper.”

"What are you talking about? A world deeper than the Hollow…”

Mid-sentence, the hand ruffling my hair suddenly stopped.

I felt a faint tremor. Her sharp gaze swept over me, and before I could stop her, she pulled ink from her pocket and scattered it around me.

I hadn’t done anything yet, astonishingly, but the ink stopped near my head and then spread outward.

Heavenly Balance clenched her teeth as she watched the void stain black.

"...Great Void. Is this something you created?”

"I merely discovered it. You know as well as I do that unlike the Grand Sea, the Abyssal Sea is not something that can be created.”

"So you’re telling me that a world that can only even be theorized, a Realm that might come into existence if a mage on the verge of reaching the heavens were to fall, exists inside a mere child, and you’re saying you didn’t create it?”

"As I said, I don’t possess that kind of power. Even if I did, I would have died the moment I tried."

"Tsk."

Heavenly Balance frowned at Great Void as if something about him was deeply unpleasant to her, then turned back toward the campfire.

"I’ve seen something I didn’t want to see. Don’t appear before me again.”

"Hmm, I’ll do that.”

Scratching his head, Great Void led me upward.

"It seems Heavenly Balance doesn't particularly like you. Her temperament is rather unpredictable, so it can’t be helped.”

"I don’t care. Where are we going?”

"Don’t you need a motive as well?”

"?"

"I’ll tell you about the plague spreading through the Empire.”

He answered as if it were obvious.

If he was using the word ‘plague’ now, he was undoubtedly referring to the shadows.

But now? Here?

.....To someone who had literally just joined?

I clenched my fist.

If that was true—

Then the time when I would have to die was approaching far sooner than expected.

***

Great Void climbed all the way to the top of the spire.

Partway up the countless stairs, Sunken Mire grew so exhausted she looked ready to collapse, so we left her resting in one of the side rooms. By the time we reached the rooftop, only Great Void and I remained.

"It’s quite a sight, isn’t it?”

"I can barely breathe.”

"Are you even breathing?”

"..."

My attempt at throwing up a smokescreen was effortlessly brushed aside.

Certainly, the view of mountains reduced to something small and distant beneath us had a way of stirring one’s heart.

However, I was too tense to truly take it in. I continuously spread my Tide Sense, trying to detect how the plague had been spread throughout the Empire, yet all I sensed was empty air.

Did Great Void lie? As that thought crossed my mind, he gazed down with satisfaction, muttering.

"This is the highest place on the continent. The highest peak of the highest mountain range, with the tallest spire built on top.”

"So?"

"From here, only a fall remains. To drop downward and scatter…”

Great Void extended his hand, pointing toward the clouds drifting around the middle of the spire.

"Undercurrent, I told you that my world is the real world, right?”

"I know that’s a lie. Otherwise, that would make you a god.”

The real world, the world in which we existed.

To manipulate it freely would indeed qualify one as a god.

Great Void burst into laughter and shook his head.

"That’s true. Sorry for misleading you. When I say my world is the real world, I mean only this.”

In the next instant, Great Void vanished from before my eyes.

He was completely gone, to the point that I couldn’t even sense him anymore with Tide Sense. And yet—

"You can’t see me, right?”

"..."

His voice still reached me.

He was there. But I couldn’t see or sense him.

As I started to panic, Great Void suddenly reappeared, smiling.

"What you just saw was my burden. What happens when reality itself becomes hell.”

"...What did you do?”

"I was merely expelled from the world.”

"What?"

"I was driven out into another world. Reality rejected me, so it forced me elsewhere.”

-Thud.

He tossed something alive onto the floor.

And as I looked at the thing flopping there, my expression slowly hardened.

It was—a fish.

An unusual thing with six heads, spines instead of scales, vaguely resembling a pufferfish.

"What should I call this, I wonder…”

After a moment, Great Void smiled, seemingly having found a satisfying name.

"Yes, deep-sea creature. That sounds fitting.”

Great Void…

had just visited my Abyssal Sea.

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