WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 214 - Blade (8)

What had to be done to avoid meaningless slaughter was kidnapping.

[Lord Rodran! A fierce battle has broken out at the lake!]

[The princess has already made her move...]

[...Is it over?]

There had to be a king in this country as well.

The one called Rodran had been cunning, hiding not in the royal palace, but among the surrounding residential houses.

It was a good hiding place. Even a skilled assassin would have struggled to notice him.

If his opponent weren't me.

[...C-cough?!]

[Sir Ranne? Why…cough!]

-Thud!

As the Knights inside the house collapsed one by one, I placed a hand on the door.

"..."

-Creak...

As the rusted hinges groaned open, Rodran could be seen quietly closing his eyes.

So he had already steeled himself. I stepped forward when someone reached out and grabbed at my leg.

Or tried to at least. The trembling hand was crushed just before it could touch my ankle.

"M-My Lord…”

I had clearly tightened his throat enough to knock him unconscious.

Just as I was about to casually snuff out the resolve in his desperate eyes, the one seated calmly at the round table rose and spoke in a steady voice.

"That’s enough pointless killing. You’re only after me, aren’t you?”

"No. I need all of them. To quell the princess’ wrath, even staining this lake red wouldn’t be enough.”

"..."

"For a leader of a nation, that was an unbelievably foolish decision.”

As I approached and pressured him, he looked down at me with a curious expression.

"Who…are you? I’ve never seen someone like you under Sharmia’s command.”

“It’s your arrogance, thinking you knew everything that doomed this country. Do you even realize that?”

As I tightened the water pressure around Rodran’s arm, his eyes widened for a moment, then he let out a hollow laugh.

"You’ve gone too far.”

"...Are you sane?”

"Of course I am. I calculated every variable and prepared for the worst-case scenario. What I didn’t account for was that an unknown dagger from that mysterious princess would destroy everything in less than a day. How could I have predicted that…?”

His tone couldn’t be said to be bitter and was more as if he were lamenting the world itself.

"The assassin I hired with half the national treasury was utterly crushed by you. And this location, which I told to no one, was discovered in just five minutes. The heavens have abandoned us.”

"..."

It seemed the plan to kidnap Lumia had been in the making for quite some time.

There was no time to ask for details. I immediately began tightening my grip around his neck.

"Ugh..."

"Shut up. Call off the assassin immediately, and pull your soldiers back.”

"And if I do, what will change?”

"Then you won’t have to die a miserable death right now.”

"Your, kgh, terms are wrong.”

Even as he struggled to breathe, clutching his throat, Rodran rebutted with eyes that hadn’t lost their clarity.

"You should kill me first. As a ruler, do you think I’d want to live while watching all my people die in misery?”

"No, are you insane? You’re the one who created this situation.”

"A rat doesn’t bite a cat when it’s cornered. It does so when it’s been made into a toy.”

"...?"

"The Empire can no longer protect us. The short ice age brought about by Scarlet Abyss has turned our lives into hell.”

Forcibly turning his gaze, Rodran looked toward a dust-covered fishing net hanging on the wall.

"With the exception of a very small part of the sea, nearly all fish have been wiped out. How many hundreds of years do you think it will take for life to return to this lake?”

"You pulled all this crap over some fish?”

"It’s the lifeline of this nation. It’s not like we can bring fish here alive from those distant seas. But that’s not the important part.”

He glared straight into my eyes, grinding his teeth.

"This isn’t the end. They will do the same thing again. And you? What can you do? Will you stop it only after everything has already happened? If that time comes, the end will only be longer and more painful.”

In other words—

This country had already been driven to the brink of collapse by the ice age of Absolute Frost.

And even if they somehow endured, Scarlet Abyss would not disappear.

The disaster would come again.

The Empire could do nothing. At best, it would respond after the fact…

As a result, the vassal states, unable to endure, had joined forces and plotted a rebellion.

"What a worthless reason.”

"...What did you say?”

"In the end, all you’re trying to do is side with the stronger force.”

Now it made sense why they had gone as far as kidnapping Lumia.

"You needed a way to negotiate with Scarlet Abyss, the force opposing the Empire.”

"...Right."

As long as they held the imperial princess, the Empire couldn’t attack them.

If Sharmia made a move, Lumia’s life would be at risk.

At the same time, Lumia could be used as leverage in negotiations with Scarlet Abyss. After all, she was the Empire’s princess.

"You don’t even have proper information on those lunatics, and you’re already stirring shit up.”

I couldn’t help but let out some harsh words.

The entire mess existed because they had mistaken Scarlet Abyss for an organization that could be reasoned and negotiated with.

Whether they brought the princess or even the Emperor himself—negotiation with Scarlet Abyss was impossible. If it looked like it was working, it just meant they were being deceived.

That was just how fanatics were.

"I say it again. Call off the assassin and withdraw your soldiers. Fortunately for you, the princess you kidnapped has shown you one last bit of mercy.”

"...What?"

"She said she understands your situation, even after being kidnapped, and hoped this could be resolved peacefully. Don’t believe me?”

"I-I can’t…”

"Then I’ll give you a reason to.”

-Cruuuunch...

I dragged Rodran outside the house and forced him to look around.

At the same time, the shabby ceiling was torn away.

[Wh-what the hell? Shit?!]

[The roof… What is this…??]

And it wasn’t just one.

Every roof within a radius of several hundred meters was torn off and lifted into the sky.

Amid the shocked screams of ordinary citizens, Rodran’s mouth slowly fell open. I grabbed his head and forcibly turned it toward me.

"Do you see even a single star in my eyes?”

"...A Fallen! H-how…?”

"Whether you trust the Empire or not, preparations against Scarlet Abyss are already complete. Taking the first hit ends here. From now on, they won’t be able to stay in one place for even a day. And—”

-Creak.

As the roofs rose even higher, Rodran clenched his teeth.

"If I wanted to, I could bring a disaster upon this place far more immediate than an ice age.”

Just letting the roofs fall as they were would create countless casualties. Not that I intended to go that far.

Rodran gritted his teeth and shook his head.

"Stop it! You’re only after me, aren’t you?!”

"Then it’s about time you realized. You only have two choices.”

I raised my fingers, forcing the decision on him.

"Either you watch your people die right in front of you very quickly or believe something you can’t possibly believe and call off the assassin.”

"...I'll withdraw the soldiers.”

As I made it clear I could drop the roofs at any moment, Rodran hurriedly nodded.

"But the Rakshasa assassin won’t obey my orders so easily. So…”

"Fine. Pull back the soldiers first. And issue the order to stop attacking us.”

Even that alone would prevent the unnecessary bloodshed Lumia had wished to avoid.

The moment I saw him nod, I released the pressure and restored the roofs to their original state.

"If the order isn’t carried out—your people will be reduced to pulp before your very eyes.”

"I-I understand.”

Just in case, I drove the point home and then immediately set off again.

I would’ve preferred to take him with me, but there was no time. As long as I knew where he was, I could capture him again.

There was only one thing that mattered now.

'Linmel!'

I had already used Tide Sense to lock onto her.

She seemed to be holding her own, but in the end, she wasn’t accustomed to battles where lives were truly on the line.

A gap was bound to appear. I had to get there before that—

My uneasy feelings were never wrong.

"Damn it!"

Linmel finally collapsed.

Her unnatural state made it clear that she had been poisoned.

Tide Sense showed her position, but it couldn’t do anything to stop Aksha’s charge as he rushed in at terrifying speed.

How should I use water pressure to stop that? In that brief instant, countless possibilities flashed through my mind, but none of them seemed sufficient.

The outcome I could foresee through Tide Sense was Linmel’s death or something close to it.

My heart ached.

Cold.

"...?"

It was only for a brief moment—but the world seemed to be tinged in blue.

Without realizing it, as if entranced, I reached toward the lake Linmel had touched and grasped something.

The next moment—Linmel pulled out an ice spear.

-Crunch!

"Hmm.”

Watching Linmel stare blankly at the spear she had drawn from the lake, the cold sensation in my chest gradually subsided.

Standing still for a moment, I rubbed my chest, then murmured to myself as I started running again.

"...I couldn’t quite figure it out before.”

Only now did I feel like I finally understood what Decay’s world was.

* * *

Even in a body that couldn’t feel out of breath, by the time I ran enough to reach the lake—

Linmel was facing off against the soldiers.

"Ah, Jeeern."

Standing ankle-deep in the lake, Linmel turned toward me, swaying unsteadily.

How she was even staying afloat aside, she clearly wasn’t in her right mind, like someone drunk. I quickly pulled a nearby boat over with water pressure, boarded it and headed toward her.”

"Stay with me. Are you okay? How many fingers is this?”

"…Five?"

She still seemed to be conscious.

Fortunately, the soldiers had likely already received the orders, so they didn’t attack Linmel in her current state.

The problem was, they weren’t retreating either. They simply stood there, staring at something with horrified expressions.

The reason became clear immediately.

"Kgh, hah."

Aksha, with his head pierced through, was still alive, glaring in this direction.

He was far from in his right mind. Below his neck, his entire body was covered in thin seams, on the verge of falling apart, with blood continuously leaking out and staining the lake.

"...How are you even alive?”

Even I, who had seen all kinds of things, felt a chill at the grotesque sight. Aksha looked down at his own hands as if finding it fascinating.

"I-I don’t know. Perhaps…those bastards…didn’t just help me.”

...Those bastards?

Either way, even he seemed aware that something about this situation was wrong.

"S-still it’s usable.”

That didn’t mean he had any intention of backing down.

Holding up his dagger, he looked ready to charge at any moment, and even in a state closer to a corpse, he was still threatening enough.

"I’ll..."

"Rest."

I pushed Linmel back down onto the boat as she tried to stand, then stepped off and placed my foot onto the lake.

I couldn’t quite pull off something like walking on water—but I could create enough current to move across its surface.

"If you have any last words, say them.”

"Heh, if I’d known this was the kind of job it was, I would’ve refused.”

The next moment—

He lunged forward at a maddening speed just like he had done when fighting Linmel.

Watching him without much thought, I once again rubbed at my chest.

'What kind of ridiculous world is this?’

Who would’ve thought that it only manifests when stirred by a specific emotion?

I glared at the one charging toward me, thinking of Linmel, on the verge of being stabbed to death.

"What pathetic last words.”

"?!"

-...Splash!

The arm holding the dagger sank into the lake before it could reach me.

Frozen solid into a mass of ice.

As he stared blankly at his arm, the other one froze over as well and fell off.

One, two, three.

Piece by piece, his body began to come apart until even his head, wearing a bitter smile, sank beneath the surface.

"..."

"..."

I turned my gaze toward the soldiers, who were staring blankly at the scene, and spoke, my tone threatening.

"The imperial princess is unharmed, right?”

"...Y-yes!”

The terrified soldiers quickly handed over Lumia. I let out a quiet sigh as I took her.

Thankfully, things had been resolved, at least for now, in a way Lumia had wanted.

Which left only one thing.

"Now drop your weapons."

"...?"

"If you want your king to live, drop them all.”

It was time to deal with these rebels the Empire’s way.

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