Wizard of the Abyss - Chapter 250

Chapter 250: Depth (17)

TL/ED – Miso

I had obtained a passage connected to the Real World.

In other words, I could escape this terrible Deep Sea anytime I wished.

[The, the Authority of Creation? How could you possibly…]

“Authority of Creation?”

Mallo stared at the air bubble I had produced and muttered, unable to contain his shock.

[That is what we call bringing nonexistence into existence through one’s own power. That is the Divine Realm. It is not a power humans can wield.]

“Really? It’s a lot easier than I thought.”

[…]

Mallo was talking as if I had become some kind of god, but it wasn’t anywhere near that level.

‘About a fistful, I’d say.’

A small bit of Sea Water bestowed by an Outer God.

That was the only material I could use outside of the trial space.

Whether the Outer God who granted me this ability was real or fake, the structure seemed to be: first test the ability to create life, and if the candidate met the assessment criteria, send them off with the materials too.

Looking back now, it was a remarkably kind setup. This thing called the Deep Sea apparently didn’t want anyone, no matter who they were, to die after falling into the Deep Layer.

As I held the air bubble, Mallo stammered out a question.

[So, are you going back now?]

“…”

This time it was my turn to keep silent.

Honestly, I wanted to escape this place that very instant. I figured I had probably done enough to satisfy what Cheon-hwa had asked of me too.

But.

“It feels a little disappointing, though.”

[What?]

“Could I really turn the tide of the war with just this?”

It was the power to create life. Considering it could even create entire spaces from another world, it seemed like it could create more than just life.

If every Outer God possessed an absurd ability like this, it was overpowered to the point that I had to wonder why they hadn’t escaped.

Yet when I really thought about whether it would work on Void, that was about all it amounted to.

“No matter what I create with this power, I don’t think it’ll measure up to that bastard.”

He was closer to a farmer than a slaughterer, a tyrant, or a terrorist.

He could have destroyed the Empire ages ago. The reason he hadn’t was that there were still fruits left to harvest.

Even now he was slowly pressing in on the Empire and humanity, cultivating an environment where Wizards had no choice but to fall.

All to increase the number of Fallen he could swallow whole.

Then how many worlds had he devoured up to now?

If everything in the Deep Sea consisted of gods who had been defeated even once and cast out.

Then Void would be the one and only god in the truest sense, never defeated even once.

If that was the case, this small amount of Sea Water couldn’t possibly stand against him.

I clenched my fist and steeled my resolve.

“In the end, even if it’s a special ability, the sheer quantity is just lacking.”

[No, you have already accomplished a feat unbelievable for any human.]

Mallo declared it firmly, as if trying to persuade me.

[I too was made using that Authority of Creation. You seem to be misunderstanding something. Void is not a god.]

“Yeah? Really?”

[Of course. He’s nothing more than a mere human possessed by a world called Void. I’m not dismissing his strength, mind you, but he can never create anything or reach the Divine Realm. In a certain sense, you are more than he…]

[…Void?]

At those words, the Middle Layer, which had been listening quietly in shock until now, twitched and cut in.

“Yeah. Have you heard of Void before?”

[Of course I know him. I hear of him thousands of times each day. Howls laden with hatred carry far further…]

“…What?”

I tilted my head, wondering what on earth that meant, and the Middle Layer muttered while looking downward.

[What do you think the Outer Gods below sank into the Deep Layer for being defeated by?]

“Defeated by what?”

[All of them by that world. Void. Back when the boundaries between worlds were still vague, any world that tried to reach even slightly toward that pitch-black sky was given its due. The high places were flattened, and the flat places were darkened.]

“…Then-”

[He is one of the strongest even among Outer Gods. I cannot understand how he is still alive… did your master fail to finish him off?]

[Watch your tongue.]

At the Middle Layer’s mocking tone, Mallo snapped back sharply.

[The Creator most certainly struck Void down. The Void of today is not that Outer God, but merely something like an Apostle.]

[Then what is this Void you speak of now?]

[…]

Mallo, who had fallen silent for a moment, glanced at me as if reading my mood, then rubbed his collar as though heaving a sigh.

[I suppose there’s no point hiding it. Jern, you know that the Creator made the world you all live in, do you not?]

“Yeah. Heard that whoever inherits his bloodline becomes a Wizard.”

Anyone capable of using the powers of the Celestial Realm was a Wizard, so by that logic this body’s ancestor was that guy too. Looking at his deeds, there seemed to be something shady about him, so I wasn’t really inclined to think highly of him.

[Originally, He was meant to live forever, but in order to create the Real World, He sealed all the hells inside His own body. As a result, He lost His immortality, and worried about His creation collapsing after His death, He wished that someday, a Wizard who reached the same heights as Himself would be entrusted with His position.]

“And Void went and gobbled it all up.”

This much I already knew.

[Actually, the order is reversed.]

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

[The moment a Wizard who could touch the Celestial Realm was born, Void devoured him.]

“…What?”

As I furrowed my brow, the Middle Layer shuddered as if amazed.

[Was such a thing even possible? He committed a truly insane act.]

“I don’t get it. What exactly did he do?”

[…The Creator sealed every world within His own body, so His descendants too bear the same duty. To “fall” means that when a part of the worlds flowing through the blood is stimulated, the Wizard’s World shifts from the Celestial Realm into something else. Void was aiming for that.]

Mallo continued his explanation in measured tones.

[Reduced to nothing but consciousness after his utter destruction, he waited for a single human to reach the heavens… and in the end, his gamble succeeded. He devoured the Wizard who had touched the Celestial Realm.]

“Hm.”

After hearing Mallo’s words, I frowned.

Because there was only one conclusion to draw.

“Then he’s invincible. How am I supposed to win?”

[I’ll say it again, he’s nothing more than a human eroded by a world called Void. If you transferred your consciousness, exactly as it is, into the body of a dog or a pig, could you accomplish the same things you do now?]

“Even taking that into account, doesn’t that still mean he’s a being close to a god, one who wields the powers of the Celestial Realm?”

[That would be the case…]

The Middle Layer cut in as if agreeing with me.

[From the explanation, that being is at a level equivalent to the Celestial Realm itself, while also possessing Void’s power. He must be superior to Void’s original body…]

[No, it is not to that degree. I’ll say it however many times I have to, Jern. The Authority of Creation you wield holds a worth beyond even that.]

Mallo still refused to accept that Void was a being equal to a god, but in the end, it seemed clear that Void was a being on par with a god.

In the end, my thinking didn’t change.

“It’s still not enough.”

[…]

No matter how much it belonged to the Divine Realm, I couldn’t see any way to deal with him using just this one Authority of Creation.

At the very least I’d need to know how to put it to use, and as it stood now, even though it was an ability uniquely mine that Void couldn’t use, it was nothing more than pearls before swine.

[So, what is it you intend to do, in the end?]

“I’ll have to go down. I want to see what these beings who use this power are like, that they’re so strong.”

The Deep Sea had tested my qualifications to descend to the Deep Layer.

If I’d passed, didn’t that mean I was allowed to enter?

As I was thinking that-

[I’m sorry, but I cannot permit it…]

“Huh?”

The Middle Layer showed an unexpected reaction.

It suddenly stirred up the Sea Water and began to constrict me.

Frowning, I burst the air bubble and adjusted the Currents around me, going on the defensive.

“Why all of a sudden? Weren’t you going to let me through if I passed the Qualification Test?”

[I’ll be honest… I didn’t think you would pass.]

…Far too honest.

[And you are particularly dangerous, so it would be difficult to let you go.]

“Me? Why me?”

[You probably saw it. The kind of abilities the lives you created possess.]

I’d seen it before too, but the Middle Layer wasn’t merely a strong opponent.

To fight the Middle Layer inside the Middle Layer meant the terrain itself became hostile.

-Crack…

The moment he applied his power, the space around me began to slowly distort.

“Tch…”

[Lives born in the Deep Sea had to adapt in order to survive. In that process, they came to absorb the traits of everything they devoured… though of course, they were all driven to extinction once the Outer Gods entered.]

“Th, then what the hell are the Deep Sea Creatures I saw on my way down? Ghosts?”

I worked to buy time however I could and stirred the Authority of Creation.

My own Sea Water slowly began to spread out and cover my surroundings.

[Those are all things newly created by the sunken Outer Gods, using the same Authority of Creation as you.]

“…Why? Was the Deep Sea too quiet for them?”

[To obtain a Wizard of the Deep Sea.]

“??”

[You weren’t the only one who fell into the Deep Sea. Countless humans have fallen, and the Outer Gods instinctively knew that those remains were the sole solution to escaping. That is why they made the Deep Sea Creatures.]

-Crrrrrack…

The transparent membrane covering the Middle Layer rippled.

[Deep Sea Creatures absorb the traits of what they devour. If countless Deep Sea Creatures roam this sea, then someday they will catch and swallow one who has fallen into the Deep Sea, and absorb that one’s traits. And then someday they will be eaten by a stronger Deep Sea Creature, and again, and again. After that process repeats over and over, they will fall from the Surface Layer to the Deep Layer. Carrying the full abilities of a Wizard of the Deep Sea.]

“…What?”

So, in other words-

The Outer Gods wanted the remains of fallen Wizards in order to escape from the Deep Sea.

But since those remains couldn’t reach the Surface Layer on their own, they brought back into existence beings that would carry that power down to the Deep Layer, and made them spread across the world.

And it didn’t even end there.

[However, they did not understand how powerful a weapon it was to dominate them within the Deep Sea. Once a Deep Sea Creature devoured a Wizard of the Deep Sea, it used that ability to never die, and in the end, the deathless Deep Sea Creature, in the process of preying upon all the others, ended up sharing that ability with every other Deep Sea Creature…]

“Wait, Water Pressure, Currents, all of that?”

[Yes…]

“…”

In other words, the Deep Sea Creatures were a kind of biological courier that devoured the corpses of pitiful former Wizards of the Deep Sea who had unwillingly fallen and died, then delivered them to the Outer Gods.

No wonder they had reacted so violently to my echoes. They’d clearly been built, right down to the instinctual level, to chase Wizards of the Deep Sea.

[That method worked far better than expected. The Outer Gods gradually learned how to dominate the Deep Sea. To the point that someone had to step in and stop them.]

“…So that’s why you came into being.”

It was only then that I realized what the transparent floor of the Middle Layer existed for.

To keep the Deep Sea Creatures from reaching the Deep Layer.

In other words, to keep the Outer Gods from absorbing any more of the Deep Sea’s abilities.

[It was a terribly belated countermeasure.]

The Middle Layer answered in a hollow tone.

[Even before I came into being, they had already obtained more than enough power. Even now, if they’re willing to bear a slight loss, they can extend their influence all the way to the Surface Layer. Something that would have been unthinkable in the past.]

“…”

[I’m sorry about your World, but I cannot let you head toward them in this state. Even the powers delivered through the Deep Sea Creatures alone made them that strong. If you, the genuine article, fall into their hands, the Deep Sea will no longer be able to hold together…]

The Middle Layer was, quite literally, the guardian of the Deep Sea.

And that self-awareness seemed firmly resolute.

He clearly had no intention of letting me through.

I gritted my teeth and slowly bowed my head amid the steadily intensifying Water Pressure. It felt like my bones were bending.

[Jern! Go back to the Real World now, while you still can!]

“…I’m fine.”

I forced a smile in response to Mallo’s frantic advice.

[I don’t know where this confidence of yours comes from, but if you think I would fear that bomb you mixed up, you are mistaken. To keep you from leaving, I’m prepared to accept some level of sacri-]

“Sorry to cut you off mid-sentence, but you’re a little late.”

[…What?]

In truth, the Middle Layer had eased up somewhat.

If he’d really wanted to fight me, he should have stopped me from leaving the Qualification Test in the first place.

The moment I escaped. More precisely, the moment I gained the ability to handle my own Sea Water.

Some of the Deep Sea’s Burdens could no longer act as Burdens on me.

[…Mm.]

The Middle Layer, who had been pressing me with Water Pressure, finally seemed to realize something and let out a low groan.

The surrounding Water Pressure was gradually being disrupted and dissipating.

It was because my Sea Water had mixed into the Middle Layer’s Sea Water that pressed down on me.

At the same time, the surrounding Water Pressure began to ease.

“I don’t know about anything else, but this much I figured out right away.”

The Deep Sea’s Water Pressure was still horrifying to me.

But if it wasn’t natural Water Pressure, but Water Pressure exerted by another being’s ability.

Then I could insert my own Sea Water into that Water Pressure.

“That kind of thing won’t work on me anymore.”

Now considerably more comfortable, I looked him straight on.

“And besides, that’s all you’ve got, isn’t it?”

[…]

Unlike the other Outer Gods, this one was made entirely of Sea Water, one hundred percent. From the moment the Deep Sea’s abilities stopped working on me, he couldn’t oppose me. Of course, I couldn’t take him down either.

If neither of us could touch the other, then I could descend.

Of course, given the mercy he had shown me, I felt a little bad about just barging down without a care.

“Ah, well, you don’t have to worry too much. I’ll do my best to use Mimicry, and if the Outer Gods catch on that I’m a Wizard of the Deep Sea and try to grab me, I’ll bolt right away.”

I instantly conjured an air bubble in my left hand, showing off my confidence.

“I might not be able to fight them, but I’m confident in running away. I’ve already done it plenty of times.”

[…It seems I cannot stop you.]

The Middle Layer, who had brooded for a long while, finally spoke.

In a tone half-mixed with despair and lament.

[What kind of beings do you think the Outer Gods are…]

“Just a bunch of fucking assholes, basically.”

The Outer Gods were all without exception lunatics who tried to kill me, so I didn’t have very fond memories of them.

The Middle Layer nodded in apparent agreement, then added one more thing.

[Have you ever considered what kind of place the Deep Layer must be, where hundreds, no, tens of thousands of such beings exist?]

“…No.”

[Then start considering it now.]

The Middle Layer melted limply as if accepting his defeat, and began to be slowly absorbed into the floor.

[That place is hell. Always one inch worse than whatever you imagine.]

“…”

[Please, do not put too much faith in yourself.]

For some reason, the advice carried a hint of self-loathing.

***

[Are you really going?]

“Yeah. I’m not heading back at least until I find out what kind of guy Void was. If nothing else, those things lost to him, so they’d at least know his weaknesses.”

After the Middle Layer left those weighty words behind and vanished.

Now that I was officially permitted to enter the Deep Layer, with no one left to stop me, I began to descend immediately.

‘Let’s see just how terrible a place it is.’

Of course, I was keeping the Middle Layer’s warning in mind.

It would have to be a place that quite literally deserved the name “hell.” What I was curious about was just how horrific a place the Middle Layer, who knew the Deep Sea inside and out, could call worse than that.

Was it some kind of Deep Sea made of lava, maybe?

After idle thoughts like that, I dove down for a long while.

Then I realized that the path to the Deep Layer was much, much longer than I had expected.

Ten minutes, thirty minutes, an hour…

Endlessly diving down, enduring the ever-stronger Water Pressure again and again, just as I was starting to think this might not be working out.

Suddenly, I saw something with a different texture.

“Wha-”

I plowed face-first into that thing that had appeared out of the darkness.

And suddenly, my eyes, nose, and mouth were filled with something.

“Pleh, pleh!”

A bitter taste, fine particles, the rich smell of grass.

I frantically brushed away from my face what was clearly, by anyone’s reckoning, a pile of dirt.

Once I’d gathered my senses, I saw that pile of dirt fall to the ground.

The ground.

A space without water, no less.

“…?”

In the middle of this Deep Sea?

When I came to my senses, I could feel a strong light beaming down from the sky.

Squinting against the glare, I felt around me, and only then did I notice that, as a matter of course, the area around me was dirt.

Then I saw, just as naturally, a tree with its roots planted in that ground.

When I turned my head, I saw the soft scent of flowers, sweet enough to want to keep indoors, and a stream gently trickling along.

I rubbed my dry face for a moment, then looked up at the sky in a daze and muttered.

“Where the hell am I?”

The Deep Layer.

The only thing proving that I had been inside the pitch-black Deep Sea just moments ago.

Was the soaked robe dripping water, drop by drop.

And that wasn’t the only thing to be surprised about.

“…!”

As I absently turned my Current Sense, I started picking up something approaching.

Massive. That was the only piece of information I could glean.

It was nothing unusual for top-tier Knights to evade Current Sense. But for my Current Sense, which had grown dozens, no, hundreds of times stronger after entering the Deep Sea, to give me absolutely no information like this, was a clear anomaly.

Its speed was monstrous as well; the other party closed the distance to within my line of sight in an instant. Putting all my strength into forming a Blade of Water Pressure, I turned my head.

‘Hiding would be the best option, but-‘

In theory, there was no way someone wielding the Authority of Creation could be mistaken for a human.

But on the off chance I’d already been spotted, I’d have to throw out the fastest attack I could manage and then flee.

It was a shame to head back with only a fistful of Sea Water, but nothing was more precious than my life.

Thinking such thoughts, I turned around, and the figure that came into my view was-

“Wow, it’s been ages since something new came here, hasn’t it?”

“…?”

A blonde girl in a white dress.

She looked sickly enough that even a draft of wind, let alone the Deep Sea, might give her a cold.

But to my knowledge, she was a true genius with monstrous strength enough to easily tear apart any decent Knight.

“Hi. And congratulations. You’re done for too. You can never leave again, for the rest of your life.”

Linmel smiled with a mischievous expression.

*****

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