WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
Wizard of the Abyss
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 51 - Knight (3)
I quickly took in my surroundings and assessed the situation.
He had just told me to join Scarlet Abyss. In other words, they had discovered I was an Abyss Realm mage.
Without knowing how they came to that conclusion, denying it would be pointless. Instead, I gently refused, trying not to provoke them.
"I have no desire to join a murderous terrorist group whose future plans I don’t even know. I apologize, but I must decline. I wish your organization continued prosperity.”
"Our future plans, huh…?”
Decay muttered as he took a step forward.
Just that movement made cold sweat run down my spine. I’d seen it before, but I could feel the Abyssal Sea freezing over, the surrounding temperature dropping sharply.
"If you’re curious, I can tell you.”
"Really?”
"Yes. We will do nothing.”
Bullshit. I felt a sigh leave me before I answered dryly.
"...How reassuring.”
"There’s no reason for me to lie. Our goal has been achieved. You, too, will soon lose the place you're supposed to go.”
"Huh?"
"What have we done? Think about it.”
"You’ve done terrible things without any apparent purpose…”
What was he talking about? As that thought crossed my mind, I felt Decay’s gaze landing on me.
...What did that guy just say?
"...Isolation?”
"Hooh."
He seemed to wear a pleased smile. I felt dizzying panic, almost forgetting that I was faced with an enemy.
"So, by letting everyone know that Abyss Realm mages exist, and at the same time planting the image of all of them being potential terrorists…you make it so there’s nowhere left for them except Scarlet Abyss—”
"Strictly speaking, we make them come to us.”
"This is insane.”
Kidnapping, murder, terror, theft. They did all these things without any clear causal logic.
So Dercia and I concluded that their overall strategy was to raise Scarlet Abyss’ name and standing by doing these things.
Of course, there never was an original, sensible goal. They were in contact with the underworld already, after all.
"It will be a long war. We must prepare the foundation.”
However—if that was the essence.
This was neither aimed at the Empire nor at normal mages.
It was like a coercive love letter directed solely at Abyss Realm mages. They were telling them that there wouldn’t be any other place but Scarlet Abyss left for them.
"...It seems there are more hidden Fallen than I thought.”
"So you didn’t know. We’ll be contacting some for some time, and then we’ll hide. And the Empire, in an attempt to find us, will persecute every Fallen. Where do you think they will go? Whom will they seek out?”
...No matter how I looked at it, this was pure insanity.
Hiding my deep contempt, I glared at Decay, preparing the most effective attack I could muster.
I had to make him focus on me, so I asked him the hardest question for him to answer that I could think of.
"Why do you do all these things? Do you want to live that badly?”
"Our purpose is protection.”
"...Excuse me?"
I hadn’t expected that he would actually answer, so I was slightly flustered.
Protecting what exactly? Their own lives? Or that cheap power of theirs?
However, what Decay said surpassed everything I could have possibly imagined.
"You and this world. Everything that allows us to exist.”
"..."
If that was supposed to be a joke, it wasn’t a funny one.
Seeing my cold, frozen eyes, Decay twisted his lips into some sort of smile and raised his hand.
His skin was as pale as a corpse’s.
"Watch."
What did he want me to see? Right when that thought appeared in my mind, his arm turned violet, then black, then shriveled—Thud.
It froze solid and fell to the floor. In an instant, Decay, who was now missing an arm, muttered as he looked down at his severed limb.
"I am not allowed even a moment of rest. Every day, every minute, every second I must resist. The moment I stop resisting the pain, I will turn into what I fear the most, a frozen corpse.”
His burdens looked almost as awful as mine.
He casually stepped on his unbleeding arm and asked calmly,
"You think this is about clinging to this life? Who would want to continue existing in this kind of world? If we could, we would just become phenomena and escape this hell. That state you call death. It is only by my own will that I remain human, resisting this impulse."
"Then just do it.”
"You will fall into the place I am in as well. Do you really think, when you experience pain far worse than death, that you will still choose not to end it?”
"...I don’t know.”
I wasn’t just saying that. I really didn’t know.
That damn Decay bastard seemed to have lived for quite a long time, so he surely went through every desperate struggle I could imagine.
And yet he still ended up in that state… I would like to be able to endure my burdens with as little pain as possible, but that clearly wouldn’t be something easily achieved.
Whether I could withstand that pain wasn’t something I could answer without having experienced it.
But there was one thing I was absolutely certain of—
"But no matter what happens, if I die, I’ll die alone. I won’t put anything other than my own life on the scale.”
"..."
—If I die, I'd die alone. I would never drag innocent people down with me.
I wasn’t sure what expression I was wearing when I glared at him, but Decay grinned broadly, clearly pleased, and waved his arm.
Crunch—Like some kind of invertebrate regrowing a limb, bone sprouted, then flesh wrapped around it, revealing a new arm. Rather than being repulsed by it, I was curious how someone who couldn’t even use magic was able to do things like that.
"You will do it. You’re a clever child. When you see that the world lies on the opposite side of the scale, you might hesitate a thousand times, but you will give up on others’ lives. And then you’ll come to us.”
He extended his hand. It was still pale white.
"Take it, and you’ll learn what your true enemy is. Once you do, you will stop caring about trivial things such as individuals, groups, and nations.”
"May I ask a few questions?”
I silently gripped the key I had kept hidden in my robe, masking the soft rustling sound of wind blades carving into the table.
"Go ahead."
"How did you figure out that I was an Abyss Realm mage? That Illusory Flower guy didn’t know.”
"Illusory Flower wasn’t in his right mind. But—I am not certain either. I cannot see your world.”
"Huh?"
What was that supposed to mean? Decay furrowed his brows as if he didn’t understand it himself.
"Now that I’m this close, I can at least tell that you don’t belong to this world. But… I can’t see the rest. This is a first.”
"You’re saying you don’t know what world I’m in?”
I had assumed he somehow sensed that I was of the Abyssal Sea and came to recruit me because of that. These pearls as well.
"Correct. But I can tell that it’s a Great Realm.”
"What is a Great Realm?”
"An Abyss Realm that encompasses the self, others, and the world. The largest possible world.”
"You’ve got quite the organized classification system there.”
"Of sorts. Unless your world is larger and broader than mine, it should be visible to me, so I can at least infer that it isn’t easily observable.”
...Well, the Abyssal Sea was quite vast and deep.
"But regardless of the circumstances, we can make your futile struggle meaningful. If you wish, we can even prevent any conflict that might occur between you and your master. Unless she forces it, of course.”
"Just one more thing.”
"What is it?"
Did he not notice yet?
I placed my hand on the desk and asked the most effective question I could think of.
"Who exactly are we supposed to be saved from? I mean, if you people would just shut up and kill yourselves, about 90% of all the world’s problems would disappear instantly. So where does your confidence come from, claiming that you’re saviors of the world and that your purpose is righteous and what not? I’m really curious.”
"..."
Decay blinked, seemingly surprised, but he didn’t seem particularly angry.
He slowly opened his mouth.
"If the ground were to split open and the sky were to tear apart, what do you think would happen?”
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
"If the world you call the Reality Realm were to collapse, that would mean the destruction of all things, right?”
"I…guess so?”
"Then—would preventing that not be salvation?”
"Hmm. So the members of Scarlet Abyss are basically doomsday theorists who believe the world will end soon.”
Well, cults did love to use that whole apocalypse, end-of-the-world thing to recruit new members. However, Decay shook his head.
"I’m not talking about something like that, but someone’s failure to endure.”
"Right, I see. Thank you for answering. I should also give you mine.”
Infiltrating Scarlet Abyss, learning everything I can, and then escaping.
That option still wasn’t all too bad. Judging by the way he was talking, Scarlet Abyss clearly held a great deal of knowledge about the Abyss Realm. If I joined, I would definitely learn more about my own world.
"To be honest, I am interested.”
"As expected."
But—
"Still, I’m sorry.”
The risk is far too high. If they found out that my inner world was the Abyssal Sea, I had no idea what they would do.
And above all, I simply didn’t want to stand on the same side as those guys.
"I’m sure you already knew that I would answer like that."
"I did. And I even prepared a countermeasure.”
Decay stepped closer, his hand still outstretched.
"It’s really a shame that I have to resort to this.”
"I figured as…much!”
I immediately sent a wind blade and leapt backward.
I didn’t use any Abyssal Sea magic. If he didn’t know the identity of my world, I thought it would be better if I kept it that way.
"You know it’s pointless.”
"-Ugh!"
Crack! Before I knew it, my feet were frozen solid.
... Certainly, I didn’t even have a fraction of a chance of winning against him.
He was strong enough to trade blows with Dercia after all. So there was no way in hell. The only reason we were even talking was because he seemed to desperately want to recruit me. If that goal somehow changed, I’d be nothing before him.
My lower body froze next, but I groped along the desk, issuing a warning.
"It’d be best if you didn’t come any closer.”
"What can you even do?”
"Struggle. That’s all I’m really good at.”
—Click
The key slid into the small keyhole.
Decay’s expression shifted when he noticed the shallow lines carved into the desk. Something that resembled a small attic door.
"What...?"
"It wasn’t like I did nothing while we were talking. The space that is a room. A door that can open and a keyhole. All the conditions are met. If I turn this key, it’ll open immediately.”
"...You—”
That had been close.
It would have been better if I had taken this step back while we were still talking, but then he might have noticed that I had been trying to turn this desk into a small room with a door using my wind magic.
Even if Decay were faster than me, I could still open the door. But that didn’t mean I would be safe. He could still kill me in the time it took for Dercia to grasp the situation and react.
So I went for a compromise.
"If you just leave, I won’t tell my master. She cares for me so dearly she even shared her last name with me. If anything happens to me, she’ll make sure to interfere with everything your organization plans to do for the rest of your lives.”
"Hmm..."
Decay rubbed his chin, sounding genuinely disappointed.
"I made a mistake. I should have predicted your temperament from the fact that Dercia keeps you close. I should have just frozen your entire body and then attempted to communicate.”
"...That’s right."
"I won’t make the same mistake next time.”
This was a disaster. The moment my expression twisted, Decay smiled.
"Don’t worry. If there really is a next time, you’ll be the one seeking us out.”
"That’ll never happen."
"It will.”
He turned around, seeming unconcerned.
... He was just trying to abduct me a moment ago, and now he was just leaving?
But he actually opened the door. Just as I was starting to wonder if he was really leaving like that, he left one last piece of strange advice before stepping out.
"Do not trust your master.”
"If you’re trying to drive a wedge between us, it won’t work.”
"Your master is brilliant, and she certainly is interested in you. But she does not desire your survival. If she did, she would have long made you into something that is not human.”
He glanced back at me one last time before fully leaving the library.
"It would be quite a shame if you were to die to your burdens. Find a Knight you can trust, reveal your condition to them, and beg for your life. You may receive some help.”
"Why should I listen to a murderer who treats a human’s life as lightly as a feather?”
"Are those who lack a world of their own even human?”
That sentence showed no guilt in any capacity.
"I sincerely look forward to the day I learn what your world truly is.”
Thud!
His final words echoed in the library.
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