WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 48 - Rescue (5)

Decay thought.

This battle had been doomed from the moment it began.

"Impressive. You truly put in some effort.”

Dercia, smiling innocently, praised him while the terrain round them was anything but ordinary.

The ground looked as if a dragon’s claw had torn it apart. Melted and burned. Flames lapping at the ink, consuming it, blowing black, acrid vapor into the air. Bricks that had once been part of buildings had become red, sticky liquid that corroded the surroundings, and the last remnants of snow and ice were turning into steam, fleeing from this world…

He had never seen a wintery plain like that.

In other words, he had failed to smother her with the power of his inner world.

—It was his complete defeat.

Dercia, who didn’t seem to have exerted much effort to create this scene, which was probably really the case, murmured in a languid voice.

"It seems I was gravely mistaken. Since I had only seen a few Abyss Realm mages, I failed to recognize your greatest weapon. Calling forth your world and shifting your burdens onto others—an interesting approach. What would have happened to me if it actually started snowing?”

"...You would have become so disoriented to the point that you wouldn’t have been able to think, slowly turning into ice.”

"How truly fascinating. It’s a shame that I didn’t get to experience it.”

A madwoman.

Decay bit his lip as he watched Dercia show the most wicked grin he had ever seen, leaving no doubt that her words were sincere.

He couldn’t run. Half of his face had already been blown away.

The only reason he hadn’t died was because the wounded surfaces had been charred so his flesh did not bleed.

That was because that terrible elf had refused to allow him to die.

Decay forced himself to resist.

"Killing me won’t change anything.”

"Indeed. Well, probably not. You aren’t the original. Only the ‘Lump’ that has somehow transformed into you is here. That’s what you’re trying to say, correct?”

"..."

When Decay clamped his mouth shut, Dercia scoffed and slowly walked toward him.

"But the Lump will most certainly die. That, at least, cannot be avoided.”

She pressed her fountain pen down onto Decay’s forehead, binding him with the ink wrapping around him tightly, rendering him immobile.

He felt something boring into his skull. More precisely, into the brain of the Lump through which Decay had entered.

He ground his teeth trying to threaten her.

"We can kill that tree your kind calls mother at any time. You’d do well not to make needless enemies.”

"Feel free to kill it as much as you want. And it’s actually just a large, old tree and nothing more. I once peeled back its bark and examined it thoroughly before leaving.”

"...What?"

"It was really nothing, and yet those idiots made such a big fuss about it. Tsk.”

Watching Dercia click her tongue and utter words no elf should ever utter, Decay realized something yet again.

This woman—was truly a thoroughly deranged elf.

No, he couldn’t even be certain anymore that she was an elf now that she had said those things. She was just something wearing an elf’s skin.

As he started to wonder why she hadn’t fallen yet, Dercia spoke up again.

"There’s something more important right now. What do you think the ink I implanted into you is?”

"A curse.”

"Indeed. That Lump will likely never be able to move again. The suicidal impulses within you will be amplified by dozens of times. This is true magic, something fake wizards like you can never wield.”

"...A curse isn’t magic.”

"How surprising. The elders who worship magic and the orphans abandoned by it speak the same words. Is this what they mean by ‘opposites attract’?”

Naturally, their conversation held no real meaning.

Decay carefully gritted his teeth and answered.

"What do you want?”

"If you want to save that thing, send me the grimoire you stole. You wouldn’t be able to use it anyway. Then, I will spare the Lump.”

"Why should I trust you?”

"You can choose not to trust me and just let it die.”

"..."

The Lump’s transformation ability was necessary for their plan. Furthermore, since the grimoire had already fulfilled its role by being stolen, returning it would not cause any major problems.

He had nothing to lose here. Reluctantly, Decay nodded. He hadn’t been permitted any other choice.

Dercia added something, as if recalling.

"Also tell me how you did that.”

"What are you talking about?”

"I don’t know what name you have for it, but that ability to overlay your world.”

"...Why do you want to learn something like that? You hate us, don’t you?”

"Hmm..."

After pondering for a moment, Dercia twirled her pen around before answering.

"I might fall as well, so I might as well learn it. Do you have a problem with that?”

"Even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to understand. We simply exist.”

Contrary to Decay’s thoughts, Dercia narrowed her eyes as soon as she heard those words.

"How terrible. Is that what lies beyond surviving?”

"...You—"

His expression twisted. He had realized from her tone.

Decay snapped at her with a cold, biting voice.

"How much do you know?”

"Is that the end for those who survive? Truly a miserable curse. That’s the only way I can see it.”

The world desires the death of its master.

However, if a miracle were to occur that allowed one's survival in a world that wishes for your demise—it would melt you down and make you part of it. How truly cruel and terrible.

Decay, receiving Dercia’s gaze filled with pity, glared at her fiercely.

"...You don’t understand a thing. How dare you claim to understand the sky while looking at the moon reflected in a teacup?”

"I can at least make inferences.”

Dercia withdrew the pen and took a step back.

"Three days. Within that time, return the book to the Dark Magic Tower by any means necessary. If you don’t want to abandon that oh-so-useful world, that is.”

"...The deal is made."

"A good deal, indeed. I like that we only had to exchange a few words.”

-Snap!

Ink plunged into Decay’s heart, stopping his breathing.

He glared at Dercia until the very end, muttering softly.

"Hiding your skills all this time was the luck that saved you today. Don’t think there will be a second time.”

"Was I the one who lost? I can’t understand where that confidence of yours comes from.”

"Truth!”

The skin melted while bones cracked.

It was like watching a corpse thrown into an acid pit slowly dissolving, but the voice of said corpse remained calm, as if chewing on his words.

"Dercia Aspandil. Let me ask you one thing that you will never be able to answer.”

"Sure. Go ahead.”

"This world that you call the real world, whose Realm do you think it is?”

"?"

Decay certainly wasn’t lying.

Before she could even answer, he began to melt away completely.

"...That is physically accurate.”

Then Dercia casually decided to move on, not giving it any further thought.

Having been beaten to a pulp, Decay’s final words were likely just a pathetic attempt to plant useless doubts in her, hoping that she would fall due to self-induced confusion.

Even if that was his goal, he had failed splendidly. The entire premise of his question was nonsensical.

If someone were enforcing the laws of this world, that person could only be called a god.

And there were no gods in this world. She had come to that realization the moment she peeled back the bark of that old tree.

For these reasons—Dercia cleanly banished the question from her mind.

"I should go find Jern.”

The next moment, she had completely forgotten most of Decay’s words.

* * *

"What is this…”

I was at the top floor of the spire.

I checked on the unconscious Elisia and winced slightly from my headache.

"Ugh..."

Withdrawal symptoms.

...How did I manage to solve this?

I tilted my head and looked around. I could remember bleeding profusely and reaching the door.

I must have somehow gotten here, resisting against those suicidal impulses. The very last thing left in my memory was that I got swallowed by the Abyssal Sea, but after that…

No, this wasn’t the time to think about that.

"Elisia, Elisia! Are you okay?”

"Mmh..."

Fortunately, she was still breathing. I sighed and checked her condition.

Then I gritted my teeth.

"These bastards…”

It seemed some evil, devilish bastards tortured her while I was fighting Illusory Flower.

She was covered in bruises as if she had been beaten with a club. Her bones seemed slightly broken as well.

Just how much could they possibly have hit such a small body…? I didn’t know who did this, but I absolutely had to find them and make them take responsibility.

But—right now, nursing her back to health came first. As I tried to stand up while carrying her, I felt a sharp pain in my leg.

The place where I jammed the piece of wood to regain my consciousness hurt. I spat out some blood mixed with saliva, but I had to get up and head to the room where Aletus was locked up.

"Lord Aletus, are you okay?”

"..."

Aletus was also unconscious.

I quickly examined him, but it seemed he had simply been struck on the back of the neck. I sighed in relief and left the room, taking out my key.

After sealing every gap in the door, I turned the handle. What I found beyond it was the treatment room I had seen before. My workshop.

It really was a good thing that I got that one. First, I laid Elisia on the bed, applied some medicine, and wrapped her broken limbs with splints and bandages.

Next up was Aletus. I laid him properly on his back and, just in case, fed him some coagulant.

Lastly, I bit down on some bandages—

"...Kgh, uungh…”

and slowly pulled out the piece of wood embedded in my thigh.

This wasn’t something any sane person would do. With hands shaking as if I were suffering from tremors, I splashed antiseptic roughly over the wound and tied bandages around it.

Pouring the disinfectant felt like pouring boiling water directly on my skin. After I finished the emergency treatment, I swallowed every remaining painkiller in the workshop.

I’d deal with the issue of overdosing later. I felt like dying right now.

"Phew…”

Only after the medicine started to work could I barely manage to stand.

Before closing the workshop door, I checked one last time that Elisia and Aletus were stable enough, then pocketed the key and descended the spire.

I had realized something several times while fighting Scarlet Abyss—

No matter how I thought about it, the safest place was right next to Dercia.

I forced my aching legs to hurry down the stairs faster and opened the entrance door. And what I found beyond it was Dercia with her usual languid eyes, underlined with her heavy dark circles, and this oddly sweet fragrance coming from her.

I sniffed and asked.

"Did you put on perfume?”

"No, I did not. You seem surprisingly fine.”

I silently looked down at my leg, which was still bleeding.

“Even after having paid the price for your foolishness, you still look more than fine. Why did you fight them head-on?”

"I thought you sent me there to fight.”

"Jern. You seem to be misunderstanding something, so I’ll make this clear.”

As Dercia approached me, shaking her head with pity visible on her face, her scent intensified.

"You are not strong. While I do acknowledge your talent as a mage, you are still far too young. Compared to the organization known as Scarlet Abyss, you are nothing. I never thought that someone as clever as you would choose a life-or-death confrontation. Of course, you should have escaped and waited for an opportunity, then discreetly rescued the kidnapped individuals.”

"...That is true."

After thinking about it for a moment, I acknowledged my mistake.

No matter how I looked at it, she was right.

The moment I saw Elisia, I should have just taken her and escaped, leaving Aletus’ safety up to fate. That would have been what he wanted, without any doubt.

But—

"I let anger cloud my judgement. I have no excuses.”

I couldn’t.

It’s not just that I didn’t choose to do so. I simply couldn’t.

"..."

Dercia sighed as she saw me bow my head and apologize.

"...It’s not something to apologize for. That side of your personality is what drew me to you.”

"You and I are bound by contract, Master. Your goal is to watch my death. If I die alone, that would violate our contract. So it is something to apologize for.”

"Jern. You are not in your right mind.”

"You aren’t either, Master.”

After this short exchange, Dercia asked with a weary expression on her face.

"So, did you rescue them?”

She nodded when I held up my key.

"What about the enemy?”

"He was a fool lost in a dream world. He kidnapped children and their parents, showed them happy dreams, and then, after waking them, would slaughter the parents right in front of the kids to make them fall.”

"Hmm, I see… Do I need to apologize this time?”

"No matter how you look at it, I just idiotically fell for the enemy’s tricks, so please don’t.”

I climbed the spire with Dercia and showed her the grinning head of Illusory Flower.

She grabbed it and opened the door to her workshop using a nearby room, tossing the corpse parts inside of it one after the other.

I slightly flinched at the sight of the library getting soiled by this stuff and asked,

"...Wait. Why are you taking that with you?”

"It’s the corpse of an Abyss Realm wizard. Given the extreme lack of information on them, it’s truly an excellent specimen to study. I don’t see a reason not to keep it.”

"Ah, okay…”

"Let me ask you one thing. How did you do it?”

Dercia looked at the mangled corpse and then at me with some incredulity.

"This—should be something beyond your capabilities, Jern. It seems like you cut him so thoroughly that even his regeneration couldn’t keep up… Just how did you do that?”

"It’ll take some time to explain… Can we do this when we’re back?”

"That should be fine. But we have one last place to visit.”

"Where?”

"The spire’s basement. There’s something down there.”

"Huh? The basement?”

"I scanned the whole spire on my way in and noticed something. There’s always this giant empty space in every city Scarlet Abyss took over, and now we can probably take a glimpse at what it is.”

I hadn’t really been interested in the basement.

I had already been uneasy enough, so I didn’t bother using Tide Sense on it. So I simply followed after Dercia, who had lit a small flame at her fingertip as we descended into the spire’s basement.

As one might expect from a basement, it was pretty damp. When we opened the massive door, we found there—

A foul stench wafted out.

"...Ugh!"

I barely kept myself from gagging as I gasped in shock.

It seemed like a gigantic swimming pool.

However, it reeked like every foul odor in the world condensed into one rotten stench.

... It hadn’t been that long since they took over this city, right?

"Stay here.”

Dercia stopped me from entering the room, then walked in wearing a calm expression and peered at the bottom of the pool.

"Hmm.”

"Is it what I think it is?”

At my anxious question, Dercia confirmed my worries.

"Yes. There are many. About 50. All wearing sealing shackles.”

"So, they are all nobles then?”

"No. I don’t recognize those faces. Hmm… they seem to be natural-born mages born by breeding other kidnapped natural-borns together.”

"...Huh."

"Are you angry?”

"To be honest, at this point I’m more scared than I’m angry.”

Just what was their goal that they would go so far to do things like this?

No, even if all the members of Scarlet Abyss thought the same way Dercia did, seeing humans as anything but human.

Even if they felt no guilt about killing whatsoever.

Even then—there was no way they would do all of this without a reason, right?

"Let’s take a look…”

Dercia snapped her fingers, lifting some of the water up into the air.

Knowing exactly what was in that water, I slightly flinched and took a few steps back.

"You’re not going to drink that, right?”

"...From that question alone I can tell just how horrible a creature you believe me to be. Have I ever said or done anything to deserve that treatment?”

There were far too many instances that made me think that way, so I simply chose not to reply.

Dercia gave me a bewildered look, then conjured some fire to start boiling the water.

The high heat evaporated it instantly.

But something remained in the air. Something solid.

"I see…”

As if she had finally come to a realization, Dercia muttered something to herself, then tossed the substance onto the floor.

"Jern."

"Yes?"

"It seems to me that these Scarlet Abyss bastards want you.”

Scattered across the floor were faint white crystals. Salt.

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