WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 134 - Turbidity (10)

"So you can cross between worlds.”

"Yes."

Great Void nodded, admitting to it.

To connect the worlds of the Fallen with the real world…

That wasn’t something that could be taken lightly, Perhaps sensing the need for an explanation, Great Void continued.

"I know your world is the deep, dark abyss beneath the Grand Sea. That alone defines it and no other description would carry meaning. To someone who truly lives in the Abyssal Sea, saying that the world is not beneath the sea, that one can breathe freely anywhere, would sound like utter nonsense, would it not…?”

He gazed calmly at the deep-sea creature, which was slowly swelling in size.

"But I alone can understand. Even if the whole world dismisses me as a madman—I can be your sole true interpreter.”

"I understand now.”

I nodded slowly, finally grasping it.

Why this man was the leader of Scarlet Abyss and why the Fallen gathered around him.

To prisoners locked forever in an inescapable cell, Great Void must look like a warden holding the key.

Still, it wasn’t the same.

"Let me make one thing clear. I don’t particularly care to be understood.”

"Hmm?”

"If you could truly extract all Fallen by that method, you would have done so long ago. In the end, you’re the only one who can move, right?”

Great Void smiled silently.

If I were wrong, he would have denied it. As expected, he wasn’t omnipotent.

I tapped my chin and continued reasoning out loud.

"Yet considering that you pulled out a deep-sea creature and overlapped worlds…it’s nearly impossible that you alone are moving. In other words, you are using some sort of passage.”

"...Hooh."

"You create pathways to travel back and forth. That explains how you came from the plains to here in an instant. It’s not crossing worlds so much as creating a corridor that connects any point to any other point…”

I watched Great Void’s eyes gradually widen, then noticed he had one hand tucked behind his back.

"May I see that hand?”

"Haah…”

Those words seemed to have driven in the last nail.

For the third time, Great Void fell silent. He smiled bitterly and revealed his left hand to me.

"I can now see why the shrine maiden has chosen you.”

His ring finger was missing an entire joint, blood still dripping from the wound.

My suspicion had turned into certainty. Instead of joy, I felt only shock and slowly shook my head.

"—Equivalent exchange.”

"Traveling within the same world requires no price. But moving from one world to another and bringing something back from there—well, even I must show my sincerity.”

...Boom!!

At that moment, the deep-sea creature exploded, spraying foul-smelling flesh everywhere.

I frowned. It must not have been able to withstand the extreme pressure difference.

"To bring over even a single insignificant creature like that costs me part of my finger. Moving a Fallen, who is both the master of a world and the object of its hatred, would be impossible even if I wagered my life.”

"...You.”

"Hmm?”

"What did you put in it?”

If this were truly an equivalent exchange, there would be something that didn’t add up.

Right now, Great Void had quite literally brought a world’s burden into reality and let them spread across it.

Even at this very moment, somewhere in the Empire, people were suffering and dying because of those burdens.

If pulling out a single deep-sea creature cost him part of his finger, then what did it cost to bring over burdens at such a scale?

If he couldn’t even extract a single human body, then even offering up everything he had shouldn’t have been enough.

Great Void had put something into the shadow world.

...until the world itself was satisfied.

"You seem rather curious about how I summoned the Veil of Darkness.”

"Yes."

"I’m afraid that’s one thing I can’t tell you.”

"..."

After talking so freely up until now?

I frowned in bewilderment, to which Great Void let out a helpless sigh.

"If you learned that much, I suspect you’d decide to leave the moment you arrived. To be honest, I never imagined you’d deduce this much just from realizing I could cross between worlds.”

He shrugged, then looked down at me with a satisfied expression.

"Still, I fully understand why the shrine maiden chose you as the spear to kill us, and why one of the Three Calamities took root in you. If you stand with us, you’ll be truly reassuring.”

"What are you going to make me do?”

I asked nervously. Great Void would definitely demand something of me.

To keep me in Scarlet Abyss, to make sure I couldn’t go back.

"As I said, nothing at all.”

He spread his arms, saying something utterly incredulous.

"In fact, I’m more convinced than ever. While you're here, do exactly what you want. Kill us. Stop our plan. Fulfill the shrine maiden’s will. At the very least, I have no intention of interfering.”

"..."

"You look like you don’t understand.”

Great Void walked to the edge of the spire, still smiling as he spoke.

"You won’t believe me. No matter what I say, you’ll dismiss it as nonsense and withdraw. You’re doing that even now, aren’t you?”

"So you are aware of it.”

"Then act for yourself. Trust only what your own eyes and instincts uncover. Assume everything else is false, and piece the truth together on your own.”

He smiled at me briefly, then vanished.

Only his voice remained.

"—And at the end of that path, you will stand with us.”

I pushed my Tide Sense to its absolute limit.

"...Ugh."

My head swam, but there wasn’t even a speck of his presence left.

Opening passages truly did seem to be his power. At the very least, he was no longer here.

I stared for a moment at the mangled remains of the crushed deep-sea creature, then muttered to myself as I headed back into the spire.

"He’s got some serious delusions going on…”

I understood what he was trying to say.

It seemed Great Void genuinely believed that if I uncovered the hidden truth with my own hands, learning the buried secrets of the world, I would be so deeply moved that I would willingly join Scarlet Abyss.

Unfortunately for him, that was never going to happen.

Because—

"Let’s wreck their plan.”

To be completely honest.

Whatever the truth was, it wasn’t my problem.

* * *

Great Void left without saying much.

There was no ceremony or formal appointment, but I might as well consider that I had been granted the status of an Upper Tier and the freedom that came with it.

The objective was simple.

'Stop and kill them.'

This world called the Veil of Darkness had to be prevented from spreading any further as soon as possible.

At the same time, it would be ideal to somehow kill some of the Upper Tiers. Even if I couldn’t, uncovering a weakness, no matter what it was, would be enough.

After all, I had been given this one chance.

"First..."

I took a deep breath and slowly spread my Tide Sense from the topmost floor of the spire.

It was absurdly tall, but after various attempts, I could finally cover the entire tower with it.

Enduring a dull headache, I swept through every room of the spire as if licking every corner with my senses.

They were all empty. However, strictly speaking, they weren’t completely empty.

"...?"

Unable to believe it even after sensing it, I opened the rooms one by one.

Some were filled with books. Others with swords and shields, or armor.

The only trait they had in common was that they looked extremely ancient and worn, on the verge of crumbling apart.

Feeling both age and the passage of time, I opened one of the fragile books and froze.

Most of the text was written in archaic script, making it difficult to read with my level of education, but one thing was consistent.

"This stuff is hundreds of years old, isn’t it?”

By the clear signs of wear and by the dates written in the margins…

Most of it pointed to a single era, centuries in the past.

After checking bags, food supplies, and various other items, I reached a conclusion.

"Was this some sort of hotel?”

This tall spire seemed to have once served as lodging for many guests.

The unsettling part was that all the belongings were still here, yet the people had vanished all at once, leaving everything to slumber for hundreds of years.

Still, it wasn’t something worth dwelling on. What mattered was how many members of the Upper Tier were currently in this tower.

"...None."

I frowned.

I had no idea what Great Void expected me to learn here, but there were only three living beings in this spire.

Me, Sunken Mire, and that woman called Heavenly Balance.

She remained on the first floor, standing in front of the bonfire.

She didn’t move at all and just stared at the flames, which was quite eerie…

But for now, she was the only member of the Upper Tier I could interact with.

After confirming that Sunken Mire was searching through the rooms and didn't seem to be in danger, I let out a sigh and headed down to the first floor.

"..."

The moment she sensed someone, Heavenly Balance turned toward me.

She really did look exactly like Sharmia. Suppressing my discomfort, I spoke to her.

"Nice to…meet you, Heavenly Balance.”

"Why have you come here again? I told you not to show your face.”

Her personality was the complete opposite.

At the cold response, I sighed inwardly and asked,

"Great Void left me here and left. But he didn’t give me any instructions. If there’s something I should be doing, I’d like to carry it out.”

I wasn’t taking Great Void’s words at face value, but Heavenly Balance likely didn’t know much about who I really was.

As someone who’d just entered the Upper Tier as a Fallen, at least acting the part would be safe.

At my question, her expression twisted subtly.

"What were you doing before you came here?”

"...Pardon?”

"I can assign you a task. But that depends on what you were doing before now. Tell me what you’ve done so far.”

"I lived an ordinary life. Born in an orphanage, then fell, and somehow ended up here.”

"Don’t lie.”

Heavenly Balance snorted in disbelief.

"You don’t seem to understand what the Three Calamities truly are.”

"No, I don’t.”

"..."

"This is my first time in the Upper Tier. How would I know? I’d appreciate it if you explained.”

When I pushed back shamelessly instead, Heavenly Balance frowned, then spoke in an angry, irritated tone.

"A world in which life can exist is called one of the Three Calamities. But why do you think life can exist there? What makes them different from other worlds?”

"I don’t know."

"Size."

Heavenly Balance stated it flatly.

"Because it’s purely vast. Because it possesses a scale great enough for life to blossom, the Three Calamities can cradle living beings within them.”

"I see."

"And you expect me to believe someone who possesses such a world is just an orphan who grew up normally in an orphanage?”

She glared at me.

"I have no intention of indulging jokes. Speak seriously. Where did you come from, and what were you doing?”

"...Is that so?”

Well, if that was the case…

I nodded and answered lightly.

"I was actually raised in the sea.”

"...What did you say?”

"My mother gave birth to me on a ship, then apparently dealt with me by throwing me into the sea. I somehow survived and eventually fell like this.”

"..."

"Is that enough?”

Heavenly Balance’s gaze changed.

More precisely, she stared at me as if I were some kind of monster.

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