WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 279 - Disaster (5)

There wasn’t a single Outer God that actually liked the Abyssal Sea.

What they felt went even beyond merely disliking it. They had already attempted to escape the Abyssal Sea thousands, tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of millions of times—and every attempt had failed.

No matter how divine a being was, once trapped behind bars that could never be broken, eventually they learned helplessness. Some abandoned consciousness altogether. Some stopped thinking entirely.

A few Outer Gods still tried to escape. But most fled into a state that could hardly even be called living, giving up on everything no matter what stimulus came from outside.

There was only one thing capable of moving beings like that.

Hope.

And not just any hope, but exquisitely crafted hope. If I appeared before them directly, the Outer Gods would arrive at the same conclusion as Nightchaser.

That they could never defeat me.

"Then if they think killing me would let them escape, I can use that as bait.”

In fact, the Outer God called Contamination had immediately given up and fled the moment it realized it couldn’t defeat me.

But what if, from its perspective, I wasn’t that overwhelming an existence?

What if I looked like some insignificant creature that had never even become an Outer God—something it could absolutely defeat? Would it still flee?

No. It would try to reignite the spark of hope it had abandoned long ago.

It would descend to kill me.

"So…”

That was the explanation of why I needed a decoy elaborate enough to fool even gods.

And I’d already seen such a thing here before.

But Elisia kept her mouth tightly shut and refused to answer.

"Hm, Elisia?”

"...There’s no such thing.”

"?"

"You saw wrong.”

Elisia desperately avoided my gaze as she tried to evade the question.

"How would I even make something that difficult? I didn’t even have any of your hair, and I didn’t have enough authority of creation to make something like that. There’d be no reason for me to waste over half my authority of creation on something like that.”

“You made it using my hair? No, wait, over half?”

"I-I said I didn’t.”

I stared at Elisia for a moment before using a current to pull over a leather pouch that had been carefully wrapped up in the library nearby.”

"Ah."

"Sorry. I wasn’t planning on bringing it up if possible, but my Tide Sense has grown a lot.”

"...U-uuugh..."

Elisia’s face instantly turned bright red before she finally lowered her head completely.

"...I already removed the soul from that thing, so you can’t do anything weird with it..."

"It’s fine. Um, I’ll use it carefully and return it afterward.”

"...Whatever. The real one’s with me now anyway.”

If I stayed any longer, Elisia looked seconds away from literally overheating from embarrassment, so I hurriedly grabbed only the decoy and left the capital.

Opening the pouch, I found myself inside. The younger version of me.

"Wow…”

Nightchaser poked its cheek before muttering blankly with a dazed expression.

"Even down to the cellular level. This is actually pretty creepy.”

"Well, she did make it using my hair. This should be enough to fool them.”

Without a soul, it was essentially a vegetable, but that wasn't really a problem for me. I casually waved my hand, grabbed it, and shook it slightly—

And its eyes slowly opened.

I looked at myself. After thinking for a moment, I opened my mouth and tried making it speak.

"Ah, ah. Test.”

A slightly softer voice came out clearly.

No problem there. The moment I confirmed it worked, I opened a puddle and headed back to Carose, who was probably still waiting.

This time, Carose greeted us without surprise when we emerged from the puddle again while she sharpened her sword nearby.

"You’re back. Where exactly did you go…Eh?”

At least until she saw that there were two of me.

Carose frowned as she looked at the younger version of me standing there with a blunt expression before looking back at me.

"...Can Outer Gods split themselves now?”

"No. This one’s just bait. Could you guide us back to the Fallen again?”

"Under…stood.”

After a brief moment of deciding this was none of her business, Carose led us to another nearby prison.

Once we entered the underground area and I saw another Fallen collapsed inside, I began preparing things.

"Nightchaser, stay back.”

"Not like I was planning on joining in anyway.”

I slowly summoned the Abyssal Sea and closed my eyes.

But this time, it didn’t stop at merely calling forth the Abyssal Sea. Inside of it, my feet slowly began dissolving, then my body vanished completely. I became the Abyssal Sea itself.

'This still feels absolutely awful.'

Assimilation.

In the past, the moment this fusion occurred, my consciousness would’ve completely disappeared, but now that I’d become an Outer God, I could still think perfectly clearly.

Because of that, I could hide myself completely. Standing within this Abyssal Sea now were only my puppet fake self and a single Fallen carrying some unknown world within them.

After waiting a short while, a reaction finally appeared in the Fallen’s body.

Veins began building across its body. Not normal veins like the ones visible on the backs of hands or elbows. Every blood vessel in their entire body swelled grotesquely, seeming rather painful.

Its body inflated several times over, turning into a monstrous mass of muscle as Nightchaser whispered beside me.

"Madness."

"Madness?”

"A world governing insanity. Annoying bastard. Create as little life as possible.”

As I listened to that warning…

"U-uuugh…”

awareness returned to the Fallen’s bloodshot, ruptured eyes.

Their dazed gaze looked around as though they had just awoken after sleeping for thousands of years.

"Where…is this…place…?”

Confused that this wasn’t the deepest part of the Abyssal Sea, Madness frantically looked around and saw me.

My fake self simply stared back at Madness with the same vacant expression as always.

Naturally, in this state, I was still human. The being I was before I became an Outer God.

"......You are..."

In other words, there was a good chance Madness wouldn’t realize I was the Outer God of the Abyssal Sea.

If that happened, I was planning to reveal the authority of creation to make it realize that I was the enemy it hated—

"Y-yooooooouuuuu!!!!!!!!!”

but that concern turned out to be unnecessary.

Madness exploded instantly. Burst blood vessels dyed the seawater red as they wrapped around every nearby deep-sea creature.

"So you were the source of it all! You! The one who cast me into this place! The Abyssal Sea…!””

Hm.

Separate from the situation itself, I felt relieved.

If I’d gone into the depths while still human, I would've ended up exactly like that. There was a reason the Abyssal Sea tested whether I could imitate an Outer God in the first place.

[K-kgh.]

[Cold, yet burning……with rage.]

As that happened, the deep sea creatures affected by Madness’ blood surrounded me with bloodshot eyes.

Apparently all authority over the life I’d created had been transferred to that thing. And even now, more and more deep-sea creatures were continuously falling under Madness’ control.

We had reached the most critical moment.

"I’ll make you pay the price…"

Though Madness spat out rage-filled threats, it never attacked first.

It simply glared at me as I stood ready for battle, constantly trying to figure something out.

—It was measuring the gap between us.

'Come on.'

I swallowed my tension and waited.

Even though it could fully descend, Madness didn’t. Just like Contamination had done, it was merely using the Fallen’s body as a passageway to peer inside.

Unlike how they appeared on the outside, the Outer Gods were extremely calculating and experienced. Standing on the battlefield personally meant wagering the entirety of their world in a single contest. They refused to go all-in so lightly.

Even if their opponent was a mere human.

Thinking it needed a little more provocation, I made the fake Jern open his mouth.

"So this is all an Outer God amounts to?”

"...”

"If you’re all just empty husks left after dying already, then there's no reason for me to come back.”

Speaking as arrogantly as possible, I slowly opened a passage leading back to the real world.

"Where do you think you’re going?!!”

To stop him, Madness gathered countless deep-sea creatures and tried to block the fake Jern’s path.

But just before they could bite him, water pressure stopped them in place, leaving them trembling helplessly.

With nothing left to obstruct him, the fake Jern sneered and stepped forward.

"Spend eternity rotting in here. Pathetic losers who don't even have worlds left anymore…”

-Tap.

Jern’s foot touched the real world.

If he left completely, the situation would end. Yet Madness still hesitated. I let out a better sigh, wondering if I needed to use even stronger bait…

When Madness suddenly closed its eyes.

"...This world."

As if all the rage from moments ago had been a lie, Madness spoke coldly.

[Shall become a cauldron of slaughter where all kill and are killed.]

-Crack...!

Blood vessels exploded violently. The original form of the Fallen serving as the host had already vanished without a trace.

Something enormous descended into the Abyssal Sea. Following its master, a deep-sea creature swollen several times over burst through the water pressure and swallowed the fake Jern’s wrist whole.

The passage leading back to the real world closed. Within the completely darkened Abyssal Sea, Madness slowly stepped forward.

It had become a skinless giant, its massive eye made entirely of muscle as it stared down at Jern.

[I shall kill you. Slay you and bury you beneath the depths. You will never escape.]

I checked several times.

It was a complete descent. Without question, Madness had entered the Abyssal Sea as a true Outer God.

And the path back had already disappeared.

"That’s true."

The fake Jern nodded as though agreeing wholeheartedly.

"There’s no escaping. You really do understand quickly.”

[...?]

Madness’ expression twisted. Not because of the fake Jern’s strange words, but because something had suddenly appeared within its field of vision.

[This is...]

"Nice to meet you. Though technically speaking, I wasn’t the one who trapped you down here…”

The moment it saw me release my fused state, Madness’ face slowly filled with despair.

-Crunch, craaaaaaaaaaack...!

As I took a single step forward, every single deep-sea creature under its control exploded into a bloody slurry.

"Still, I’m probably the one who’s going to kill you.”

One down, at least.

I’d successfully hooked my first Outer God.

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