WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 137 - Turbidity (13)

"..."

"..."

Somewhere in the spire, at a table.

Vile Blood and I locked eyes for a moment…

But I was the one who looked away first.

In the end, I was the one with something to lose.

"I’m sorry. At the time, there really wasn’t any better option."

"Haaah..."

At my words, Vile Blood let out a deep sigh.

Honestly, if I had come to my senses only to find everything over and a bump on my head, I’d be kind of pissed as well.

However, as befitting the leader of a faction, he forced himself to calm down despite the irritation on his face, then shook his head.

"It’s…not something that needs apologizing for. In the end you did what you had to do, and you proved it to us.”

"Thank you for your consideration.”

"Nightfall is definitely dead, then?”

"Yes."

I didn’t bother mentioning that what we killed had been a world pretending to be Nightfall.

Vile Blood seemed to relax slightly, settling into his seat more comfortably as he looked around.

"Still, you’ve clearly risen to the Upper Tier. How is it? Did you find what you were looking for?”

"No, I’m still searching.”

"That’s good enough. We actually came because we have a small favor to ask.”

"A favor?”

I tilted my head.

Of course, they hadn’t come all this way just to ask why I’d knocked them unconscious.

He definitely came here for some kind of purpose…

I nodded for him to continue, to which Vile Blood’s expression turned serious.

"Find out where the World-Sealing Elixir comes from.”

"The World-Sealing Elixir?”

"Yes. We’re certain the Upper Tiers are producing it, but…”

Vile Blood drummed the table with his finger impatiently.

"We can’t figure out where or from what it’s being made."

"Hm, I’ve heard it’s difficult to produce.”

"It’s worse than that. We’ve searched nearly everywhere among the Lower Tier, but we still have no idea what materials were used. Or even where they're making them."

"Hmm."

I nodded slowly.

"So that’s what this was really about."

"Now that you say it, yes. Trusting our lifeline to a bunch of lunatics like them makes us extremely uneasy.”

It seemed that sending me to the Upper Tier had largely been about tracing the source of the World-Sealing Elixir.

To be honest, I wouldn’t say that he was a huge help, but it was true that I kind of used them without proper explanation—

And this was also something I needed to investigate anyway.

"Understood."

If the Empire began mass-producing World-Sealing Elixirs, it would gain a means to pull the Fallen of the Lower Tier to their side.

Which meant Scarlet Abyss’ arms and legs could be bound. At the very least, if we could identify the materials, Dercia would be able to handle the actual production.

That was the conclusion I had reached, but Vile Blood seemed to take it as me acting purely for their sake, which was probably why his expression showed how deeply moved he was.

"Thank you. I think I can forgive you for smashing me over the head and selling me out to that damned bitch.”

"And one more thing.”

"Hm?"

"There’s something I’d like to ask. It’s related to the World-Sealing Elixir as well.”

"Of course. Say the word and I’ll head out immediately!"

The moment the World Sealing Elixir came up, Vile Blood nodded eagerly.

Well, considering how many Fallen he was supporting, no amount of requests would ever be enough.

Given that he and his squad had been knocked unconscious for quite some time because of me, all the more.

"This Veil of Darkness…The phenomenon where shadows come alive. Do you know anything about it?”

"Hmm, from what I heard, that was a plan the Upper Tier carried out while we were subjugating Nightfall.”

Vile Blood frowned, glaring at the shadows.

"Spreading burdens across the world…I honestly don’t know what those lunatics want anymore. Did you hear anything about it from the Upper Tier’s side?”

"I’m still in a probationary period. I think I need to find out what the Lower Tier Fallen were involved in regarding the plan.”

"It was a designated mission, so it didn’t even show up in the mission logs. Most likely, it was a request given directly to individuals the Upper Tier had already picked out.”

"I have a reason to look into it more closely. Can you investigate?”

"Really? That shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Vile Blood rose to his feet with a crooked grin on his face.

"We know who was involved. If we rough them up a bit, they’ll talk. From the looks of it, though, it wasn’t a job about killing or kidnapping someone but more like transporting something.”

"...Transportation?"

"Yeah. The ones who were inactive during that period were specialists in moving things. They probably carried it from the far end of the continent all the way here. We just need to find out what it was.”

"I see. Once you learn anything, come back here. I’ll look into the World-Sealing Elixir in the meantime.”

"That sounds reassuring.”

I watched him leave with his companions, then turned back toward the historical records—

"..."

"Sir Undercurrent?”

When my Tide Sense picked something up.

"I’ll go down to the basement for a moment.”

"Ah, yes.”

Heavenly Balance, who had said she’d be dealing with matters related to the Abyssal Sea, would occasionally read the bestiary or search through books, calling for me whenever she had a question.

The way she summoned me, however, was a bit odd.

Whenever she wanted something, she would simply write words on the desk.

‘Come down’ or something like that.

"...Doesn’t that bother you or anything?”

-Creak

As I opened the door to the basement and asked somewhat awkwardly, Heavenly Balance looked up from the paper in her hand, turning her head towards me.

"What do you mean?”

"Well…this is the first time I’ve really explained my Tide Sense in detail. Honestly, if it were me, I’d tell someone not to use it in the place I’m in.”

I cleared my throat, trying to explain.

My Tide Sense was essentially the equivalent of a high-performance CCTV network across several hundred meters, capable of picking up even breathing sounds. In other words, an overwhelming violation of privacy.

If it were me, I’d willingly live at least an entire city away from someone with that kind of ability.

"If you’re not doing anything shameful with it, there’s no issue. It’s rather convenient actually. Since I don’t have to go upstairs every time I need something.”

"Ah, yes.”

We hadn’t known each other for long, but I had spent enough time around her to tell that something about her temperament was kind of strange.

"Why did you call me?”

"I’m done organizing things. I think we’ll need to run a few experiments at another spire.”

"...Experiments?”

"Yes. It seems I can’t manage this alone.”

"What exactly are you planning to do?”

"We need to take out your kin and observe how they survive.”

In other words, she intended to interfere with my world.

I immediately frowned.

"Is that even possible for anyone other than Great Void?”

"Yes. Interfering with a world itself isn’t particularly difficult. You’ll understand once we arrive.”

"...That sounds extremely dangerous.”

"All members of the Upper Tier have faced their own worlds there. You need to do the same.”

Heavenly Balance cut me off coldly and handed me a stack of documents.

"Show them this. They’ll explain everything you need to do.”

"Who am I supposed to find?”

"Illusion. Another Upper Tier like you.”

"I’ve never heard that name before.”

"That’s only natural. He never goes outside. Still, you should have seen his world recently.”

"His world?”

Wearing a faintly self-deprecating expression, Heavenly Balance spoke her next words.

"Illusion’s world is Veil of Darkness.”

Veil of Darkness. The plague currently tormenting the Empire.

Making sure not to show anything on my face, I cautiously asked,

"Isn’t he dead?”

"Of course not. If he died, he wouldn’t be able to spread the burdens of his world. No matter what, he has to be kept alive.”

"I see."

Luck had just rolled straight into my lap.

If I could confirm this information and, if possible, find a way to kill him—

There would be nothing better. I nodded and took the documents.

"Where do I go?”

"Open the door and leave.”

At first, I thought Heavenly Balance was joking.

But when my Tide Sense suddenly failed to sense anything beyond the door, I frowned.

"..."

When I carefully opened the door, pitch-black darkness greeted me.

This obviously was anything but normal.

"So it’s a system where you need an invitation to enter, huh?”

"Just walk a few steps inside. No need to worry.”

Unlike Heavenly Balance’s casual tone, I felt a bit disappointed.

If things worked like this, launching a direct assault on wherever the real body was would be close to impossible.

As I was thinking I might have to look for some other way once there, Heavenly Balance suddenly called out to me.

"Undercurrent."

"Yes?"

I waited, wondering what she was about to say, as she put on a dignified expression, but then she shook her head.

"...It’s nothing. If it’s you, you should be fine. Walk straight ahead.”

"? Yes.”

There was no option not to go in anyway.

The moment I stepped forward, it felt like entrusting my body to smoke that had mass.

I was pretty certain that I wouldn’t be able to breathe inside.

Of course, that didn’t apply to me. I didn’t need to breathe in the first place.

After a few steps, just as expected, everything was swallowed by pitch-black darkness.

I’d long since passed the point of being afraid of the dark, so I kept walking—

"What?"

The path didn’t end.

No, it was hard to even call this a path.

As I wandered through this abyss, unsure of where I was even heading, I finally understood what Heavenly Balance had been trying to warn me about.

"Enough with the games…”

It seemed this so-called Illusion wanted to test me.

Of course, if there was one thing he was mistaken about—

It was that my senses were blocked in this place.

In a place where I couldn’t even see a hand’s breadth ahead of me, I closed my eyes and focused. A short distance away, a door came into view.

I lightly walked toward it—and this time, the door slid away again.

"..."

Annoyed, I used water pressure to firmly pin the door in place, then strode up and yanked it open.

-Click

Beyond the swung-open door was a space identical to the underground chamber of the spire.

The only difference was that instead of Heavenly Balance sitting there, it was a brown-haired man who looked barely in his early twenties.

Not that I had much room to talk, but…

'He’s so young.’

It was hard to believe this person was the owner of a world that had plunged the Empire into terror.

Was he hiding his age somehow? As I kept my guard up, Illusion glanced at the watch on his wrist and let out a dry laugh.

"Heh."

"I’m Undercurrent. Should I have wandered around a bit longer before coming in?”

"...1 minute. You really are the real deal, huh?”

Despite my sharp greeting, Illusion smiled and stood up in front of me.

"I thought there was no way, but…The Abyssal Sea? That’s just impossible. How can something like that even exist?”

"Wait…”

"I mean, seriously. How are you even alive? Normally you would’ve been crushed to death the instant you fell!”

...Like he was handling a toy, Illusion prodded me from every angle.

"How many are down there?”

"What are you talking about?”

This was completely unexpected.

I forced my way out of his grip when he asked excitedly, unable to hide his agitation.

"The corpses sank into the Abyssal Sea. There should be some, right?”

"...?"

That was the first time I had ever heard something like that.

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