Wizard of the Abyss - Chapter 81

WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 81 - Selection (12)

There was one more burden—one I hadn’t accounted for.

The world felt muffled.

It wasn’t silent. There were the sounds of bubbles popping, things being crushed, teeth grinding, and writhing screams.

The noise was no different from those heard on the surface. Only, all of them sounded distant and muted, as if I had dunked my head underwater.

I wondered whether my voice sounded the same to her.

"Can you hear me?”

"..."

Dercia didn’t answer.

I could sense her frowning as she watched the leaves and stones around me move in an impossibly slow crawl.

"Where do you think you are now?”

I realized that it was a rather difficult-to-answer question, so I clarified,

"Hmm. How does it look to you?”

"Nothing has changed. In my sight, you are still standing in the exact same place, in the exact same posture.”

Dercia paused for a moment, then glanced at the blade-shaped stone drifting beside me, moving ever so slightly.

"...Though reality seems otherwise.”

"Yes."

I reached out to touch the stone.

My skin met it, but no blood was shed. Instead—

-Crrrrsh!

The stone disintegrated into a fine dust beyond recognition, then slowly sank downward.

That should be impossible. If this were truly the Abyssal Sea, it shouldn’t sink but gradually rise.

Only then could I answer my own question.

"If I had to describe it, it’s somewhat like the superimposition of worlds.”

"..."

I nodded, meeting Dercia’s surprised eyes.

Meanwhile, I examined my surroundings. This place was the Abyssal Sea.

However—I could also see the physical world where Dercia was standing overlapping with it.

It was a fifty-fifty overlap. More than enough to understand what was happening.

"The Abyssal Sea’s buoyancy and gravity from the real world acting simultaneously, is it? You’ve experienced this before, Miss Dercia, right? I assume the whole idea of forcing burdens that interfere with each other’s worlds came from observing this phenomenon—”

"Jern. Leave that space immediately.”

Dercia sharply cut me off, her expression tense.

"I don’t know how you did it, but manifesting your Abyss Realm is something that must never be done. I didn’t even consider it possible in the first place, so I never accounted for it. Just how did you—?”

"Oh."

I interrupted, meeting her alarmed face with a proud smile.

"Is it beyond your imagination?”

"...Jern. This isn’t the time for that.”

She moved her right foot forward, trying to approach me, so I warned her, wearing a slightly more serious expression than before.

"If you fully take that step, I’ll consider that your defeat.”

"..."

Only then did Dercia realize it, to which she quietly gritted her teeth.

She had understood that I had no intention whatsoever of ending this duel.

"I understand your concern. If the entanglement of laws collapses, the Abyssal Sea will devour me, reducing me to nothing more than a phenomenon.”

The moment that fallen dust started to rise. The moment the laws of the Abyssal Sea overpowered the laws of the real world, declaring its victory.

That was when I would become part of it. Defeat, dissolution, death. All that came with it.

Just remembering that mixed feeling of despair and ecstasy I experienced on that spire made my skin crawl.

Dercia frowned and tried to reason with me.

"If you understand that much, then you’re still capable of rational conversation. The entanglement is a problem, but the real danger is the burdens. This is nothing like the playful burdens you’ve been feeling so far. You will be crushed to death in less than a second.”

"But I’m alive."

"..."

"Perfectly fine, contrary to what you’re saying.”

"....."

Dercia looked at me with a strange gaze, as if she had finally arrived at the thought she’d been missing.

Of course—she wasn’t wrong.

This time was different. The burdens weren’t like they were before. Instead of overwhelming pressure, it felt like there was a clear glass bubble around me, separating me from that world.

My tiny world separated me from the Abyssal Sea. Even though I had dragged the Abyssal Sea into this space, it felt as if I were inside a diving suit.

Yes, a diving suit. That described what I was feeling perfectly.

My small world. Too small to be called a Realm, yet still a world.

A boundary that separated me from the Abyssal Realm. A Water Partition.

Within this Water Partition, even the deep-sea creatures couldn't recognize me. They approached out of curiosity, examining me briefly, but they didn’t seem to consider me prey or a member of their species.

I was treated like those exploratory robots that were sometimes used in documentaries. I guess that was how they saw me.

If I were to step outside of the Water Partition, hmm.

They would probably react just like they did last time.

"...I don’t understand it, but I can tell that what you’re using isn’t normal.”

Dercia had regained her composure and spoke sharply.

That wasn’t a baseless assumption. I was basically dumping all the burdens that I would usually have to suffer under onto the Water Partition.

And the Water Partition wasn’t invincible. This tiny world, barely 2-star, was already beginning to crack.

"True."

I raised my hand, and I could feel the faint boundary between me and the Abyssal Sea shrinking.

This miracle wouldn’t last long.

"But then again, the method you use isn’t exactly proper either, don’t you think?”

"Do not try to twist my words. I am more than capable of distinguishing between safe and unsafe.”

"And which side is actually unsafe, I wonder."

I glared at her.

I could feel it clearly. Every current, and all the water pressure I generated, carried none of my burdens.

A 2-star Dercia? With a single twitch of her fingers, she could literally tear me to pieces.

"Then go ahead and try.”

Dercia smirked and raised her hand.

"I know you can’t. Whatever method you used to bring that space here, you’re not foolish enough to borrow its power.”

"..."

She was right. If I were to use anything—water pressure, currents, Tide Sense—even once, the Water Partition’s golden entanglement between all the worlds would instantly collapse.

I would be exposed directly to the Abyssal Sea and die instantly.

Even so, I refused to give up. Seeing how firm my resolve was, she clicked her tongue and slipped a hand into her robes.

"If you still want to engage in this farce of a duel—fine. I’ll save you.”

"Please hurry. Even like this, I don’t think I can last more than a minute.”

"Then quickly concede.”

A filthy fountain pen appeared. Its nib was warped and broken, and the ink, as thick as tar, dripped from it, staining the ground.

Apart from that, I realized something.

That pen itself was a separate world.

...Was that what Ciel was worried about? Fortunately, Dercia seemed to feel no strain whatsoever in handling her fountain pen.

"If you use something that goes past 2-star—”

"The water pressure you use is already far too strong to be considered 2-star magic. I won't accept any objections.”

"..."

Well, I couldn’t use that anymore anyway.

If there was ever an opening, this was it. Before Dercia could raise that oozing fountain pen, I dashed forward.

As long as the Water Partition held, the burdens I received right now were—low.

I could endure it.

"...!"

A few steps in, a sudden chill shot down my spine, and I immediately dove to the side.

"Hmm?"

Why did I move? I realized the answer a moment later.

[?]

There was a long line drawn on the body of an innocent shark.

Dercia muttered in surprise as she muttered.

"I can’t see clearly, but it was properly drawn, right? Jern, that wasn’t your body, was it?”

"...No.”

"Is that so? Then confirm it.”

Dercia, without a shred of hesitation, flicked her pen.

The target—that shark—was cleanly cut in half.

[...????]

The poor shark was bisected before it even realized what happened. It wore a blank, dazed expression for a moment before being compressed and completely dying.

Other deep-sea creatures rushed in and devoured it. I stared at the sight, dumbfounded.

"Wait, why are you killing an innocent shark?”

"Shark? There are sharks in your so-called Abyssal Sea?”

"Well, you could call them that if you ignore the tentacles, I guess…”

"...You can see them now.”

Dercia picked up her fountain pen again, her expression serious.

It felt different from before. If that line touched me, that would be the day of my funeral.

"Come out already. Before this gets any more dangerous.”

"..."

She had no intention of holding back.

Even I had to admit it. If that line was drawn across my body, I would have no choice but to accept my defeat.

It was no different from having a blade pressed up against my throat.

"Kgh!"

The lines weren’t drawn by swinging.

Even if she didn’t do anything, they still appeared. No matter where I fled, dozens of drawn lines sliced across my path.

Wha-what kind of world was this?

The moment she drew a line, whatever it touched was cleaved in half and subsequently killed.

Was this really a world? And if it was, then what kind of world was it?

It felt like I had become a character inside a painting. I gritted my teeth and kept fleeing, doing whatever I needed to do, until the time finally approached.

The first warning. Only a few dozen seconds remained before the Water Partition collapsed.

The second—

"It’s been drawn."

"..."

Dercia spoke flatly, her eyes fixed on my hand.

It was too much to ask of my 11-year-old body to avoid lines that ignored spatial boundaries.

"Come out now. Jern, this is your defeat.”

"It hasn’t touched me yet."

"There’s no way I wouldn’t know if my color has been applied or not. I can see that your hand has been marked.”

Dercia lowered the hand holding her pen.

She didn’t put it away. It showed that she could sever it any time she wanted.

"I apologize for using such harsh methods. It wasn’t something I should have done to a child like you. But even I cannot withstand the Abyssal Sea’s burdens directly.”

"Oh? You’re feeling them now?”

"You brought it forth. For now, all I feel is blurring vision and slight difficulty in breathing, but…”

Dercia slowly looked around.

She still couldn't see my world as it was. But with what she had heard from me and the burdens she could feel now, her mind was beginning to fill in the image.

"...So this is where you’ve been living.”

"Yes."

"..."

For a moment her eyebrows trembled.

"I…I don’t understand.”

"What do you mean?”

"Why are you able to think about anything else while living in a place like this? How can you still impose human standards… I cannot understand.”

"?"

"It’s like someone stranded on a deserted island refusing to light a fire because they fear starting a forest fire and freezing to death instead. Is that not foolish?”

"I don’t live on a deserted island.”

I slowly approached Dercia.

"...Stop.”

I lightly ignored her warning. As I approached, I spoke up.

"Dercia. You were wrong from the start.”

"What am I wrong about?”

"My surviving in the Abyssal Sea is nothing but a temporary tool. Surviving is no different. I can’t live here my whole life.”

"What?"

"I want to escape.”

"ㅡ"

I spoke honestly to her, who had been struck speechless.

"A person stranded on a deserted island would want a sail more than they’d want a fire starter. Even if they shiver every night for it, it’s far better than living there forever. I, too, will eventually leave this place.”

"..."

"So I’d prefer if you taught me how to endure this place—not how to survive in it.”

I slowly extended my hand.

"Because even if I manage to escape, it’s pointless if you’re still a cannibal.”

"Please stop. I do not wish to harm you.”"

"You know how to make me stop, don’t you?”

"...It will hurt.”

"Would I have challenged a 9-star mage if I weren’t prepared for that?”

Her panic froze the moment my hand was about to touch her neck.

-Ziiik!

A line was drawn, and the world collapsed. Two catastrophes had occurred at once.

I should have been split in half, compressed by the Abyssal Sea, and turned into a human meatball.