WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 91 - Hunt (4)

The emotion I felt when I crushed a person was, strangely enough, not guilt or anguish, but a tangible sense of growth.

Before, it felt like even gripping an apple too hard using pressure would make my body burst into pieces.

Maybe it was because I had the Water Partition, and with the robe added on top of that, even after crushing someone, all I felt was a faint resistance.

I couldn’t waste it. Every time I used water pressure, the Water Partition’s protection would diminish. Once it completely disappeared, I would have to suffer from the same backlash I did before.

I never thought this would be enough to kill that thing in the first place.

"Hey, that hurt, you bastard…”

As expected.

-Pah!

Still crushed, it leapt backward to widen the distance, grinning.

Its body was a grotesque sight to behold, like a ruptured sack, but after spitting out a mouthful of saliva tinged red by some blood, every wound on its body started healing instantly.

It was the same sight I had seen when Dercia was fighting it before.

A lump of flesh crudely stitched together from human meat. A monstrosity.

No matter how many times I saw it, I couldn’t get used to that appearance. I frowned unconsciously, sharp words slipping out of my mouth.

"If you can become anything, why do you choose to live as something that hideous?”

"Because I can become anything, I…cough, ugh!”

It vomited up several swords and then grabbed one with each of its hands.

In just a few seconds, a Knight with bulging muscles and bronze-colored skin stood before me.

The Knight slowly closed the distance between us as he spoke.

"Kyrais. Do you know this man?”

"...No. Do you?”

Even its voice had changed into a deep, heavy one.

"He was an outstanding Knight who once served as a Knight commander of a small nation. He could have joined the Empire and lived in luxury, not missing anything, but instead, he was content living in a small cabin and with a single horse.”

"I don’t really care. What’s your point?”

I stepped backward instead, measuring the distance.

The Lump continued walking toward me regardless.

Then it suddenly stopped, a blank expression appearing on that face, and then looked around.

"...Where am I right now?”

"...?"

"Where is this place?”

Was it joking around? As I thought that, the Lump suddenly looked up at the sky and muttered to itself.

"My last memory… Yes. I was fighting monsters that invaded to destroy the kingdom. That was the end I wanted. I have no regrets. However…”

-Thud.

It abruptly let go of the sword. It pierced straight into the desert sand.

Rather than laughter or madness, the Knight’s expression was filled with fear and realization.

“—Wh-what am I right now? Why have I become that monster?”

"...Are you acting?”

"Boy, where is this? What about Lagrissa? What happened to everyone? Why? What are these memories? No, this… I couldn’t have done that…!”

This felt far too genuine to be an act.

Trembling violently, the Lump dropped to its knees, cold sweat pouring down as it clutched its head in panic.

"I-I remember the sensation. My lord, his heart, with my own hands, I, the one who was supposed to protect him—”

"..."

"Yeah, something like that."

-Boom!

My Tide Sense traced the trajectory. That bastard suddenly grabbed the sword and charged, but instead of my torso, it blasted apart the sand.

Wearing that vulgar grin again, the Lump aimed the tip of its sword at me.

It took less than a second for it to pull out the embedded blade from the sand to hurl it at me. It seemed like it didn’t exaggerate by calling Kyrais an ‘outstanding Knight’.

"This is why I choose that grotesque form.”

"...That didn’t look like acting.”

"Well, I deliberately loosened the reins on the guy just now. But I’m telling you, it’s really dangerous if I don’t make a clear distinction. That’s the part you’ll have to understand.”

"..."

"Since I’ve shown you my weakness, now it’s your turn.”

The Lump suddenly turned serious and threatened.

"What are you? Why do you look exactly like one of our dolls?”

"Don’t you think there’s another possibility?”

"We threw the original into a river when he was four years old.”

I guess I got lucky.”

"...Wahaha, that doesn’t make any sense, you know?”

It burst into laughter, then wiped the corners of its eyes.

"How absurd. We struggle like hell trying to make some Fallen, and all we get out of it are corpses, yet the kid we casually tossed into a river comes back as a Fallen who can crush me to death…? Is that what one calls life’s twists of fate…?”

"?"

Casually—tossed into a river?”

That couldn’t be right. Dercia was quite adamant that my world had to have been artificially created. Even that damned elf shaman said a Great Realm isn’t something that could just form like that.

In other words, I was probably subjected to something else by Scarlet Abyss.

If the Lump wasn’t lying, it was probably done by someone even it didn’t know.

...I’d have to subdue it somehow and conduct a proper interrogation.

Before that, there was something else I wanted to ask, though.

"How many people do you have locked up in that head of yours right now?"

"Hmm."

If that earlier act was actually real, then that meant this bastard was—a living prison.

Those killed by Scarlet Abyss weren’t even granted peace in death. They were used as tools for even greater suffering.

I finally started to understand why Scarlet Abyss cherished this monster so much.

The Lamp tapped its head in thought.

"I stopped counting after 100. If I have to estimate, it should be at least 10,000.”

"..."

"Anything else you want to ask? Let’s keep this pleasant Q&A going. It’ll be good for you too, you know?”

It seemed like it wanted to pry some information out of me.

Indeed, it should have quite a lot of questions for me. For example, how I was able to find it, or how I fell, and so on.

But my answer had already been set from the beginning.

"Do you remember the promise?”

"..."

"What you’re saying right now is hard to believe, so I’ll have to beat you up first and then carefully draw the details out of you. We’ve got plenty of time.”

"...Huh, I’m actually a bit pressed for time here…”

A smile appeared on that thing’s face.

A grin pulled so far upward that it looked like it shouldn’t be physically possible.

"Well, Decay should be able to hold out a bit longer. After all this boring stuff I had to endure up until now, how about we have some fun, hm?”

It was utterly repulsive.

* * *

"You sure you don’t want to call for more people?"

The Lump didn’t charge at me like it did before. Instead, it glanced over at my hand.

It was probably quite wary of the water pressure. Certainly, getting instantly crushed without any warning signs was an ability unimaginable even to an executive of Scarlet Abyss.

"You don’t really have room to worry about others right now.”

My goal was suppression.

My need for information aside, I simply wasn’t capable of killing that thing right now.

Even Dercia had struggled with it for some time. Its regeneration alone was beyond what I could keep up with.

In that case, just enough so that it would not explode into pieces.

"...O-ooh…!”

-Crrrrrrack...!

I slowly crushed the Lump using the pressure.

Unable to even breathe, it looked down at itself in shock, then burst into manic laughter.

"Kgh, kgh… So it really is a Great Realm. One even I can’t glimpse at properly. Are you telling me there was a sapling out there that was able to grow into a Great World without us ever touching it? Or…”

Its muscles suddenly began to swell as it tried to pry more information out of this moment.

"Huh, it’s that bitch, Dercia, isn’t it? The one who made you fall.”

"..."

Its muscles kept expanding.

In an instant, its body grew massive, nearly 3 meters tall, forcing its way forward against the pressure crushing it down.

I squinted. It felt like trying to pin down a steel giant. Without using Abyssal Fusion, I wouldn’t be able to crush it. I wouldn’t even be able to stop it from moving, for that matter.

The Lump nodded, as if it had just come to a realization, and continued approaching.

"Looks like your so-called master figured it out too. If you want to touch the Heavens, you have to first feel the ground beneath you.”

I let it indulge in its delusions. Pressure alone wasn’t going to cause it any damage.

Letting it get closer would also be dangerous. So—

-Whoooosh!

I compressed some wind, forming it into a single sphere.

"...Hmm? Wait, that’s magic…”

Not wanting to give that thing a single second to react, I instantly launched it.

-Boooom!

Thunder Gale. A bolt of compressed wind directly slammed into the Lump’s abdomen.

Even a steel-like body wouldn’t be able to withstand this pointed strike so easily.

And yet—

"...There it is."

It instantly shifted into the Knight’s body and endured it with great ease.

Arcane Strengthening. He was using a body that had already mastered this art that allowed one to withstand magic.

It didn’t get away completely unscathed, but a mere scratch wasn’t nearly enough to stop something that had already been crushed to death once.

"Hmm."

The Lump smiled, clearly even more intrigued.

"As expected, a product of a 9-star mage is something else, huh? This is my first time ever seeing a Fallen use normal magic. But that’s actually quite the bad move in this situation, you know? You shouldn’t do that again.”

"...What?"

"What I’m best at is borrowing the bodies of strong Knights. Of course I’ve mastered Arcane Strengthening. It wouldn’t do you much good, is all.”

That calm and deliberate tone it spoke in made its words seem more like advice than mockery, which only made all of this more absurd.

Giving advice to one's opponent mid-fight usually was just bluffing, but this time its assessment was almost spot-on. In any case, I had no intention of firing another Thunder Gale at it again.

"Don’t let it bruise your pride too much. It’s admirable you came to face me all alone, so I can spare you that much advice.”

The Lump spread its arms. From the start, it hadn’t looked like it was even fighting.

Despite having already been crushed to death by me once.

"I’d love to play a little longer, but if that Decay bastard really got caught by a 9-star mage…”

Scratching its head roughly, the Lump let out a sigh and—forcibly shook off the pressure.

Its body slimmed down into a lean, reddish-brown form, then vanished in an instant, accelerating at an absurd speed.

"..."

I was left alone in the desert engulfed in the darkness of the night.

By all appearances it seemed as if the Lump had run away. Even though that was the most logical conclusion, I knew better. That thing wasn’t the type to do that.

I quietly closed my eyes and narrowed the range of Tide Sense.

Expanding its range would be completely pointless. At that speed, spreading out my perception wouldn’t be the best choice if I wanted to detect it.

20 seconds passed as cold wind bit into my body.

-Boom!

"Oh?"

I leapt sideways just as the Lump burst up from the ground, slicing through empty air.

It stared at me with genuine amazement, its expression clearly conveying something like, ‘How’d you manage to react to that?’

I had to thank Brimdal, who had forced me to train my Tide Sense to the brink of death and back. I once again placed my pressure upon that thing.

Crrrk!

This time, I didn’t let go, firmly applying force to the nape of its neck.

My goal was to knock it unconscious. I left it not even the slightest breathing space—

"Hmm."

Yet it just let out a calm hum, frozen in place.

"What kind of world is this? Being crushed to death, sensing killing intent…? Something like that? Never heard of something like that, though.”

—It was playing around.

It hadn’t been serious from the start. Only now did I realize that it didn’t matter the least bit to this thing whether Decay lived or died.

Or perhaps it simply found playing with me more entertaining.

"Or wait…? I feel like I have heard of it somewhere…”

Applying pressure to its neck didn’t really do much.

At some point, a mouth had opened in the center of its chest through which it was talking. It was a truly grotesque sight.

I had no choice but to admit it.

Water pressure alone wouldn’t cut it against this bastard.

Our compatibility was terrible. My world could kill instantly without warning, but this thing revived no matter how many times it died.

If I couldn’t even knock it out, pressure was perfectly useless here.

And since it had clearly mastered Arcane Strengthening, my Thunder Gale wouldn’t work on it either.

Even setting all of that aside, it was a Scarlet Abyss executive. I couldn't even begin to imagine how many tricks that thing still hid, and to be honest, my odds in a straight one-on-one didn’t exactly look good.

If it got serious, switched bodies to endure the pressure, closed the distance, and forced a close-quarter fight, the countdown to my death would begin.

Of course.

I didn't come here without a plan either.

"...Hmm? That’s not…our medicine.”

I pulled out a red pearl from my pocket and swallowed it.

Then, facing that thing watching me with interest, I slowly opened my mouth.

"You seem very curious about my world.”

"So you finally feel like talking? Yeah. I’m damn curious. If you want to live a little longer, conversation’s your best choice.”

I casually answered it, who was grinning widely.

"The Abyssal Sea."

"—What?"

Was this the first time I actually ever told someone from Scarlet Abyss?

If this information reached them, they might try to hunt me down.

Even knowing that, I still chose to explain.

"I live in the deepest, darkest part of the ocean. You can’t breathe. The moment you relax just a little, you’ll get crushed into mush. You can’t tell front from back, up from down.”

"...W-wait. The Abyssal Sea?”

For the first time since we met, the Lump looked genuinely shaken, its eyes wide open.

"That world can’t exist. Aren’t you just confusing it with the Grand Sea?”

"You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to.”

"..."

One of its eyes twitched. Then, as if realization struck it, it blinked rapidly.

"I-I see. Water pressure. That’s what you crushed me with…”

"Correct."

"...Hah."

It scratched his head, then let out a long sigh.

"Wait, why are you telling me that…?”

Its presence had changed.

The Knight before had been strong without a doubt, but this transformation was on another level.

Scars began carving themselves into its body—on its fists, face, back, and abdomen.

Countless grotesque, brutal wounds appeared, making it look as though it was killing itself.

But in reality, it was the complete opposite. Through Tide Sense, I felt that its presence was slowly growing blurred.

It was the same kind of phenomenon I saw first-class Heavenly Knights of Retribution displaying.

That signified that the Lump had transformed itself into a Knight of the same level.

"Now this just ruins the fun, you bastard.”

Genuinely disappointed, it grumbled as it clenched its fist.

Just from that single motion, I understood. The power packed into that fist wasn’t something I could ever withstand.

No matter how much pressure I exerted, it wouldn’t be able to stop it. It would break through and immediately kill me.

Swallowing dryly, I took a step forward instead.

"Looks like I’ll have to take you alive and drag you back with me. I can’t afford to play with you anymore.”

"What a coincidence. That’s what I’ve been thinking as well.”

"If you’re going to blame someone, blame your master’s absurd genius for letting something like you live. No, seriously. How do you even keep someone who fell into the Abyssal Sea alive? That’s just impossible. Even with preparation, no one could endure that kind of pressure.”

"Like you, right now?”

"What are you talki—…?”

The Lump, who had been about to step forward, blinked and turned its head to the side.

"...?"

It seemed like it saw something brush past it just now.

It probably wasn’t anything with a clear shape and was closer to a silhouette.

"...You. Don’t tell me the reason you just explained all that was—”

Trigger.

I gave it a short bow to show some hospitality to the Lump, who seemed to have just realized what was going on here.

"Don’t hate it too much. It’s a shithole, but it’s still my home.”

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