WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 135 - Turbidity (11)

"...You really don’t want to talk about it, do you?”

Unexpectedly, Heavenly Balance only frowned slightly and brushed off my lie without pressing further.

Then she turned and began walking somewhere else.

"We act to seek sacrifices.”

She didn’t explicitly tell me to follow her, but the implication was clear, so I trailed after her and asked.

"...Sacrifices?"

"Yes. You must have heard from Great Void. The goal of Scarlet Abyss is to kill the Prophet and erase magic from the world.”

— Clunk

On the first floor of the tower, there was a door leading underground.

It hadn’t been able to detect it with Tide Sense at all. As I cautiously stepped into the dark passage, endless darkness unfolded before me.

"Magic is the seed of all evil and a fragment of the Prophet. As long as it exists, the Fallen will never truly disappear.”

"That’s interesting.”

I tilted my head at Heavenly Balance, who spoke quite casually.

"If magic disappears, do we return to our original world?”

"Don’t misunderstand.”

Heavenly Balance shook her head.

"If you fall, you cannot climb back up.”

"Then if there’s no hope, why do we do all this at all?”

"That’s for you to decide.”

"...Huh?”

"I act solely out of hatred.”

Despite her words, there wasn’t even a trace of anger in her voice.

Rather, it carried resignation and detachment.

"Great Void believes this is the reason he was born. The Lump seeks amusement in the process. Decay acts by conviction. We dream of the same goal, but what we desire differs.”

“And if I don’t desire that goal?”

"Then Great Void would never have accepted you.”

The conversation ended there.

At the deepest level underground, Heavenly Balance stopped before a small door thick with the stench of salt and blood and asked quietly.

"Have you ever seen hell?”

"A few times.”

"Then that’s fortunate.”

When the underground door opened, it became clear her words had not been exaggerated at all.

"..."

A cavern so vast it was impossible to believe it had been built underground.

Within an enormous pit, hundreds of children, not even 10 years old, were crammed together.

Dozens of such pits were there. That alone was enough to call it hell, but—

"...They’re all alive.”

"If they die, they lose their value as sacrifices.”

Their empty eyes reflexively lifted toward us at the sound of movement.

Whether I was shocked or not, Heavenly Balance didn't care. She simply walked toward the next chamber.

"We're feeding them to the world. In the case of the Veil of Darkness, it can endure if we offer a hundred each day.”

"How efficient. Just 100 lives to cover the entire Empire.”

I followed behind her, forcing myself to respond calmly.

I had heard of it before. That Scarlet Abyss bought natural-born with money. I’d nearly been one of them myself.

I also knew they forcibly bred those natural-born like livestock, increasing the number of children born as mages.

But seeing the result with my own eyes felt different.

I felt like I was about to vomit.

"Are they used only as sacrifices? Do you not inflict pain, make them fall, and turn them into allies?”

"We tried that in the past, but we stopped since the success rate was so low that one could say that it simply doesn’t work.”

"...Why?"

"Fallen fall because of suffering.”

Heavenly Balance looked down into the pit as if observing inanimate objects.

"Suffering is the opposite of happiness. Do you believe creatures like these, who have never known a single bit of happiness, are capable of truly feeling pain? Do you think livestock slaughtered for meat truly suffers?”

"Yes.”

I answered without the slightest hesitation. Her eyebrow twitched for a moment, then her face returned to its blank state.

"Unfortunately, the world itself seems to reject your claim. Still, using them solely as sacrifices would be wasteful, so we did what we could.”

Heavenly Balance turned toward me with a faint, unpleasant smile.

"From time to time, since time immemorial, we scattered these into the Empire.”

"What do you mean?"

"Our grand plan has been in motion for a very long time. The more comrades we have, the better, but since sacrifices cannot be made to fall, we simply release them into the Empire.”

"..."

"Many live their lives without realizing they are mages, only to fall later. Even if they do realize it, we can always find them again and turn them into allies later. We consider it an investment worth a small loss.”

"That could have been me.”

I knew that wasn’t the truth, but it was a vile thought nonetheless.

Thinking back, there were far more natural-born than one would expect, even though they were thought to only occur when some noble blood runs through them. It seemed like Scarlet Abyss’ filthy hand had been behind that as well.

"...Tsk.”

When she saw that I didn’t react as strongly as she hoped, Heavenly Balanced clicked her tongue in irritation and moved to the next area.

Beyond the hellish pits was a space cluttered with countless books, maps, swords, desks, and tools.

Heavenly Balance lit the lantern in the center and muttered.

"Causing all mages to fall or killing them. That is what you, and we, must do. And deciding how to do that is my role.”

"Your role?”

"Yes. Every action Scarlet Abyss has taken was chosen and ordered by me. Sit.”

When I sat before her, she stared straight at me.

"You’ve already heard this, but I am a shrine maiden.”

"Yes. I was told that you’re like Sharmia.”

"No. There cannot be two shrine maidens in the same era.”

Heavenly Balance shook her head lightly.

"I am a false shrine maiden created through the cooperation of Great Void and Nightfall. Since only one flower may cling to the cliff, I was named Heavenly Balance, meaning I keep my balance, clinging to the heavens instead.”

"...A fake, you say?”

"Yes. Do you understand my appearance now?”

"..."

It felt like lightning struck my head.

Now that I thought of it, I too possessed a body created because of my younger brother, the prince, who shared my face like a twin.

That meant that Great Void had used his spatial movement ability to create a doll of Sharmia somehow.

'...Why didn’t he kill her?'

With Great Void’s power, he could have assassinated or abducted the princess at any time. Yet instead, he just made a doll of her?

Which meant—

'He already killed her. Many times.'

Sharmia must have been killed again and again by Great Void’s abilities, and each time, she must have dealt with those incidents.

Only after realizing that every unavoidable ambush was somehow thwarted did Great Void understand that Sharmia could see the future, recognizing her as a true shrine maiden, and then switch tactics, creating a duplicate instead.

I couldn’t be certain, but the likelihood was high. As I clenched my fist beneath the desk, Heavenly Balance looked down at me with those dim, clouded eyes.

"As a fake, my abilities are far inferior to a true shrine maiden. However, I can at least determine what you should do.”

"...”

That was rather dangerous as well.

If she saw a future in which I destroyed Scarlet Abyss, she might turn hostile.

...Should I try killing her here?

No, if I resolved myself to that, would she then foresee it?

As 1 second stretched into 10 minutes, Heavenly Balance calmly placed a hand on my head. After a short while, she nodded.

"You…Hmm. You are ill.”

"...Excuse me?"

"Have you not experienced chest pain or dizziness whenever you use your abilities recently?”

"Ah, yes.”

"That is likely decompression sickness. The common folk call it ‘the bends.’”

"...Ah."

"It seems to occur because your abilities force you back and forth between the Abyssal Sea and reality. You must return more slowly.”

"W-wait just a moment.”

When I raised an objection, Heavenly Balance looked at me, puzzled.

"What is it?”

"Aren’t you supposed to be prophesying my future?”

"Didn't I just tell you that I'm a fake shrine maiden? I exist to understand the suffering of the Fallen and to provide alternatives.”

So, essentially, she was a doctor for the Fallen.

"Then what am I supposed to do now?”

"Recover.”

Heavenly Balance answered decisively.

"Listen carefully. Our grand plan will not be completed in a day or two. For an Upper Tier like you to die from burdens would be absurd. Once you enter this place, the first thing to do is understand your burdens, reduce them as much as possible, and then find a role where your abilities can be used most effectively.”

"...Hm, I see.”

"For now, what you must do is rest and receive treatment. Great Void also knows that, which is why he didn’t assign you anything.”

I blinked a few times, then fell silent.

Dealing with the Veil of Darkness was the most urgent priority.

It really was, but…

"For now, this pressure seems to be the only burden that hasn’t been treated yet. Still, the others look like they could be improved upon to some extent.”

Heavenly Balance rummaged through a nearby bookshelf and pulled out an extremely old tome.

Glancing sideways as she opened it, I felt shocked.

[Bloodspring: Blood does not stop flowing. Even a single wound causes all the blood in the body to drain out, resulting in death. Cover the entire body in soft wax…]

Even a cursory look revealed countless worlds, their corresponding countermeasures, and precautions.

It looked like a medical manual written specifically for Fallen. I was still staring in disbelief when she finally stopped near the very last pages.

There it said ‘The Abyssal Sea.’

[The Abyssal Sea]

[Three Calamities, immediate death upon falling.]

[If Fallen turns into a lump of flesh and blood, it is to be classified as the Abyssal Sea.]

[Occasionally observed that the mass is consumed by something unseen. Considered a type of Sea and part of the Three Calamities, but no known method of utilization.]

"As expected, there’s nothing useful here.”

She let out a sigh, dipped her quill into ink, and began writing something on another sheet of parchment.

"That doesn't mean there's no solution. How are you currently handling the pressure? It should be your most severe burden.”

"I’d rather keep that a secret.”

"Tell me.”

Heavenly Balance looked down at me, dumbfounded.

"After coming this far, you still don’t trust me?”

"Yes. A little.”

"How ridiculous…”

She frowned and continued.

"Listen. I have reduced burdens on the scale of tens of thousands. Among them were even those of the Three Calamities. Whatever method you’re using to endure, I can help you withstand it far more easily.”

Hmm.

I was going to go back anyway.

After a moment of consideration, I answered.

"Actually, I can use magic.”

"...What?"

"Because of that, I have my own world as well. Not a Fallen world, but a wizard’s world.”

"I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I quietly conjured a flame above my palm.

The dismissive look in Heavenly Balance’s eyes slowly widened as she saw it.

"I used this to create something like a Water Partition, slightly separating myself from the Abyssal Sea. That’s why I wasn’t instantly crushed by the pressure, and why I’ve been able to endure until now.”

"...Hm."

Her gaze fixed on the two stars swimming within my eyes.

"2 stars…”

"I’m going to get expelled from the Upper Tier for being some kind of half-breed, aren’t I?”

"..."

Heavenly Balance completely ignored my joke and sank into thought.

10 minutes passed as I tried to calm my pounding heart.

"...Perhaps."

Only after a long silence did Heavenly Balance slowly raise her head.

"You might be—someone loved by the Abyssal Sea."

Hm.

That wasn’t exactly the kind of love I wanted.

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