Wizard of the Abyss - Chapter 44

WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 44 - Rescue (1)

"Haaah..."

As the corpses rushed towards me, I drew in a slow breath and tapped the floor with my foot. As the sound echoed through the halls, the sensation of being deep underwater surged through me more intensely.

The spreading current licked over my surroundings, turning my sense of sight into something optional that didn’t matter whether it was there or not.

19 corpses in total. 10 men, 9 women. Their weapons were swords, broken pieces of wood, their nails, and teeth.

Despite being vastly outnumbered—I didn’t feel outmatched at all.

I quietly muttered a trigger word.

"Purge."

The pressure on me, made worse by spreading out the currents too far, eased just a bit.

I didn’t feel the need to make use of water pressure here.

-Boom!

"Kgh–rgh!"

All 19 corpses were slammed down in various directions at the exact same time as if an invisible hammer had smashed into them.

I had tried to twist the currents a little, turning them into weapons. The effect exceeded my expectations. The undead bodies of those jiangshi, zombies… whatever they were, writhed but didn’t rise again.

I approached one of them and flipped it over to get a closer look.

"Hmm."

It was quite a gruesome sight. What had been a human mere hours ago was now staring ahead with unfocused, cloudy eyes, endlessly trying to get back up. I remembered seeing something like that before.

It was similar to those mummies that kidnapped the noble children.

While they were much weaker than those… they were probably created by the same person.

"...Damn it."

Anxiety filled my mind.

I was told Elisia was safe. Dercia had said so herself, so she probably didn’t fall yet.

But what about Aletus?

What would it be like for a child to watch her father turn into one of these things?

No 10-year-old would be able to endure something like that.

I ran up the still lit-up stairs of the spire.

Unlike Scarlet Abyss, I had no intention of adding to my ranks.

* * *

Elisia had been feeling as if she was walking on clouds recently.

"Hoho, are you really that happy?”

"Yes!"

"You can relax here. No one’s here to listen in on you.”

Azellin.

A city no amount of money or noble status could get you into just because you wanted to.

The reason was that every reservation was already filled three years in advance.

Some eccentric architect had personally arranged every tree root and flower in Azellin.

The reason stated for such madness was ‘To make every view equally breathtaking from every angle.’

It was an absurdly ambitious dream, but one they’d achieved. And the fact that nine out of ten noble weddings took place in this city was proof enough of that success.

"Look, look, that building’s made of flowers!”

Elisia ran along the streets, laughing in pure delight.

Aletus gave a wry little smile as he waved at his daughter acting her age.

'What an expensive outing…'

Of course, he hadn't made a reservation. He had bought the slot from another noble for Elisia. In return, the other party didn’t want money but a bottle of wine that Aletus truly cherished.

Still, seeing his daughter laugh so brightly left him with no regrets at all.

"Are you happy?”

"Yes!"

"Good. If you’re happy, what more could I possibly need?”

Aletus approached Elisia, who was looking at the flowers, recalling the words of her tutor, Jern.

He told her to give her happy memories. To be a parent to her, not a money pouch—

It was advice meant to keep Elisia from falling, but those words made him feel a pang in his chest nonetheless. He’d been so busy that his motherless child was often left alone.

And that fact pierced through his chest. Jern didn’t say anything else, but he could sense the reproach in those words, having not spent his years as a nobleman in vain.

'...His spirit is remarkable.'

He truly was an unusual fellow, Aletus thought.

Bold enough to directly negotiate with him and eager to demand his due.

His temperament was as cold as frozen steel, so dealing with him felt more like dealing with a monster who lived a hundred years, not a ten-year-old kid. Yet his actions were those of a saint. Risking his life so easily to save some children.

His true abilities were made abundantly clear just from his becoming Dercia’s disciple. If that antisocial witch favored him, then he had to be more than talented.

Of course, Aletus knew that someone who has fallen into the Abyss Realm, with so little information available, would likely meet a terrible end before one year had even passed…

And yet—he simply couldn’t picture that child dying, crushed by his own world.

Even though it went against common sense, all he kept seeing was that boy stubbornly surviving.

If he truly managed that, then even accounting for his commoner status, he would be a talent far too precious to lose.

"This place is so beautiful… I wish Jern was here too.”

Just then, Elisia, who was staring down at the flowers blooming along the roadside, brought up Jern.

Aletus cleared his throat and crouched beside her, asking very cautiously,

"Elisia, what are your thoughts on commoners?”

"I like them!”

"...Why?"

"Because Jern is a commoner, right?”

A perfectly straight and simple answer.

Watching Elisia beam, Aletus felt slightly relieved.

If he were to ever adopt him later on, she probably wouldn’t dislike it.

"So, if Jern were to be registered as part of our family—”

Just as Aletus was about to finish his sentence…

"L-Lord Aletus!!”

A Knight, his sword in its scabbard, came running towards them and dropped to his knees.

Aletus frowned for a moment, then sprang to his feet when he saw the long gash, going beyond the armor, on the Knight’s abdomen, and the torrent of blood that kept flowing from it.

“What… is this?!”

"The city is under attack!”

"...What? What kind of lunatic would attack Azellin…?”

"The situation is urgent. My Lord, please take the young lady and evacuate at once!”

"Understood. You—"

"It’s already too late for me! I’ll buy you some time here.”

"...Thank you. I will remember you.”

Clenching his teeth, the Knight raised his sword, and Aletus lifted the still very confused Elisia, unable to quite grasp what was going on, into his arms.

"Kya! F-father?”

"I’m sorry. There’s no time for dignity right now.”

What in the world was going on?

Aletus tried to calm his racing mind, reflecting on the absurd happenings around him.

But when he felt the warmth of his daughter’s small arms around his neck, everything else fell away.

He had to protect her. He could think about the rest later.

"...It’ll be fine. This is probably the work of those Scarlet Abyss bastards who kidnapped you.”

"W-will we really be okay?”

"Of course. I have equipped our carriage with an emergency evacuation spell. As long as we reach it, we’ll be safe.”

"Then what about everyone else?”

"I’ll get you somewhere safe first, then I’ll return with the Knights to save them. Just hold on for a little while.”

Aletus spoke as gently as he could to reassure Elisia, rushing through alleyways.

The most beautiful city had transformed into hell in but an instant.

"Grrrrrgh, Grrgh..."

"A-a monster…! Help!”

"The Commander’s gone mad! Everyone fall back!”

"Lancel, it’s me, Tommy… W-why are you drawing your sword?”

"Get a hold of yourself! Lancel is dead. That thing’s our enemy now!”

Blood and corpses. Smoke and screams.

Buildings burned, and rivers ran red with the Knights’ blood.

Those who remained alive were transformed into walking corpses, gnawing and tearing at the ones they once loved.

The only sound reaching his ears from every direction was screams and the groans of those close to death. Aletus clenched his fist so hard it bled, but he didn’t stop running.

"Close your eyes. We’re almost there!”

"Okay..."

Feeling Elisia trembling, Aletus sped up as they headed toward the clearing where their carriage was waiting.

He had never run this hard in his life.

Then they arrived. And—

"So this is it. Why hide it somewhere so annoying? Ugh…”

A black-haired girl was rummaging through the carriage, completely surrounded by dried-up mummies.

"..."

"Ah, we’ve got guests.”

The black-haired girl spoke without even looking at them while she continued to search the carriage.

The moment she spoke those words, every mummy in the area turned their heads toward them in perfect unison.

Aletus gently set Elisia down, removed his gloves, and raised his hand.

A small sphere formed, causing the air around him to vibrate.

The buildings nearby shook from the amount of mana he had summoned, but cold sweat still ran down Aletus' forehead.

'Just what is this…?’

If his instincts were right…

All these mummies had mastered powerful forms of Body Reinforcement.

In other words, each one of them was at least on a Knight's level. At this distance, against this many—his chances of winning were infinitely close to zero.

"How about you stop wasting your energy? It’ll only make things more painful for you.”

Aletus wasn’t the only one aware of that fact, however.

The girl continued pulling magic stones from the carriage and muttered as if offering him advice.

It was closer to mockery, but she wasn’t wrong. The moment the situation had been set up, the outcome was more or less predetermined. The only difference was how one accepted it.

"F-Father…”

Clench—

But Aletus had a reason why he couldn’t back down here.

He took a step forward.

"How stupid."

Aletus chose the most miserable path.

And the girl didn’t spare him even a single glance until the very end.

* * *

Crrrrack…!

I let out a sigh as I heard the sound of a skull being crushed.

"It’s not like he’s not not dead, right…?”

Sometimes, you just had to give up on certain things for efficiency.

Especially when you’re in the middle of running to rescue a captured princess.

"Kgh, kreegh."

"...If you’re somehow still alive, sorry in advance."

I climbed the spire’s stairs—

I simply swept aside every corpse that lunged toward me, pushing them over the railing.

Thunk, squelch, thud… Those were the sounds I heard every time I did it.

It was cruel but unavoidable, unfortunately. If I tried to fight all of them, I’d be too late.

Sighing, I kept running without pause. Even so, just how damn tall is this stupid spire? After sprinting for about five minutes, I hadn’t even reached the halfway point.

"Ugh, seriously—”

I wasn’t tired. I had trained far harder when I was at the library.

But the stride length of a 10-year-old was far too short. Maybe I could try using the currents to push myself upward faster. Just as I was thinking that—

"H-hey…!”

"?"

While running, I spotted a skinny brown-haired man leaning against a doorway, clutching a bleeding knee with tears running down his face.

"I-I don’t know who you are, but please save me! P-please, I beg of you… I’ll do anything!”

"Yes, understood.”

"Thank you, really, thank you so much…! I thought I was going to die…”

"Right. Just die then.”

"Huh?"

I caught the leg of the man who acted as if he had just met his savior and threw him straight off the staircase.

But this time, I heard no sound of impact.

So that didn’t seem to work. Oh well, it would take him some time to climb back up at least, so before that—

"What?"

Fwoooom-!

Something roared like a missile flying through the air.

A man leapt up from beyond the railing, landing right in front of me.

Unlike when I had thrown him, his whole body was now muscular. It was as if he had completely transformed.

He glared at me in disbelief and demanded,

"How did you know?”

I answered calmly.

"Could you stop pretending to be a wounded ally for once? You people always do that.”

"Well, we’re outnumbered. Making others let their guard down is just a basic tactic. But you seriously figured it out from just that?”

"No. Look at me.”

I spread my arms wide.

If I wanted to use potential energy, meaning to push someone over the railing and finish it, I had to reach a certain height to do it; otherwise, I’d be caught from behind.

But using my Abyssal magic nonstop would be quite risky. I didn’t know how many enemies there were in this spire. My burdens could hit me at the worst moment.

So—I had beaten them up.

I activated both ‘Purge’ and ‘Form’ to beat the corpses with brute force until they didn’t rise to their feet anymore.

Thanks to that, my appearance was quite the sight.

"Who would ask a 10-year-old kid covered in blood, as if he had just beaten several people to death, running towards them for help? If I were injured and someone like that approached me, I’d immediately slam the door shut and hold my breath so I wouldn’t be found.”

"...Ah, I see. I understand.”

The man nodded with a slightly sour face, then took on a more composed stance.

I sighed and tried to talk to the guy.

"Erm, could we do this later? I'm a bit busy right now.”

"No. I knew as soon as I looked at you. At that age and with that level of accomplishment… you’re exactly the sort they’d want to fall. I don’t know where you popped up from, but if I handed you over, becoming an executive wouldn’t be a dream anymore.”

"You’re going to regret this in hell.”

"So I won’t regret it in heaven?”

I watched him carefully as he spoke.

Was it simple Body Enhancement? He didn’t seem to be using magic.

Unless he was an Abyss Realm wizard, he’d be no match for me. I sent a current over to him as I watched a strange smile appear on his face.

"...?"

"How is it? Aren’t you happy?”

It didn’t work.

I blinked.

Something had changed.

Really, really changed.

"Wait, wha-what is this?”