Wizard of the Abyss - Chapter 258

Chapter 258: False God (2)

TL/ED – Miso

“Since you came out of that place alive, you must already know.”

Cheon-hwa looked at me with the kind of exasperation reserved for someone who should know better.

“What happens when something like that gets loose in the world.”

When she jabbed her finger at the “something like that,” I winced slightly.

“You’re awfully confident. For one, that’s not even a real Outer God, but even if it were, it’s not the kind of being you can just point at like that. One offense and you’d be dead on the spot.”

“It makes no difference once it’s already out.”

Cheon-hwa said flatly, glaring at Nightchase, who was floating on the lake gazing up at the moon.

“Do you even understand how fragile and broken the world is right now? The world the Creator built is crumbling in real time. It cannot withstand even a single Outer God. If that thing starts running wild, all of your efforts will be for nothing.”

“If that’s all you’re worried about, it’s fine. That thing isn’t a divine being anymore.”

When Cheon-hwa pressed me to explain, I slowly began.

***

Inside that Deep Sea.

At first, I had misunderstood, thinking that Nightchase had given up on everything and chosen to die fighting me.

Well, it wasn’t entirely off the mark. The focus was just slightly skewed.

“Rather than living forever as a god who can never escape the Deep Sea, it’s better to give up the life of a god.”

“…What?”

What Nightchase attacked wasn’t me.

-It was herself.

Watching her presence in front of me steadily thin out was rather unsettling. It was like seeing Mimicry happen right before my eyes.

But this wasn’t someone devouring Nightchase. The elements that composed the god called Nightchase were simply dissolving into the sea, slowly fading away.

-Crack, crrk…

In proportion to that, the World Nightchase had created began to collapse.

When I asked her with my eyes what the hell she was doing, Nightchase, with the look of someone who had steeled herself, demanded an answer.

“Tell me. Is it because I’m a god that I can’t leave? Because if I’m out there, the lives you treasure will die, and that’s why you can’t let me out, right?”

“Th… that’s right.”

“Then if I lose all my power and fall to a mere mortal who can no longer interfere with the world in any way, will you take me out of here then?”

“Nightchase.”

A serious expression, color draining from her face by degrees.

It was enough to tell me her resolve was genuine. I answered just as seriously.

“Whatever you do here, I can’t give you a definite answer.”

“…”

“Want me to spell it out more kindly? If you really cast away all your power right in front of me and become something less than human, then I might be able to take you out.”

If she truly did that. It would just be adding one more human to the Real World, which was already overflowing with humans.

If she could trust me.

“But beyond my word, I can’t promise you anything more than that.”

Even if she threw away her life as a god, all I could offer was my word.

There was no reason whatsoever to give Nightchase enough consideration to swear a binding contract or oath that I would absolutely take her out.

“You’ve got time, so think it over again. If I change my mind, you’ll be stuck in this terrible Deep Sea without even being a god.”

In that state, she’d probably last about an hour before going the way of Mimicry.

Nightchase immediately twisted her face and glared at me.

“You really have a nasty streak, don’t you?”

“…What?”

“Just now, when you told me to take time and reconsider, if I’d even pretended to hesitate, you were going to ditch me on the spot, weren’t you? You’d have decided I had ulterior motives.”

“…”

Nothing to hide there. She was right.

Nightchase sighed as if she’d seen it coming, and continued strangling her own neck.

“Living forever was a blessing. Until I was trapped down here. After that, it became a curse. The only thing that kept me from ending it myself was the hope that someday I’d get out. The hope that you shattered.”

“Sorry…?”

The parts that Current Sense couldn’t distinguish kept shrinking.

Until she was within reach of my skin.

Nightchase, having stepped right up to me, closed her eyes as if she no longer cared what happened.

“If you’re sorry, then take responsibility.”

“…What is this.”

She really had gone from god to human.

This had to be considered suicide. A god giving up divinity meant a far greater loss than a human reverting to nothingness.

The thought, “is she really willing to take that kind of loss just to get out?” was buried under sheer disbelief.

“Why are you still in that form?”

The now-human Nightchase was still imitating Linmel.

She opened her eyes and tilted her head as if asking what the problem was.

“I show what someone most wants to see, don’t I? I thought this form might influence your decision.”

A practical reason.

“So, what’ll it be? Decide before I die a second time.”

“…”

That form had no influence on my decision whatsoever.

Truly.

***

“So that’s how she ended up like this. Now she’s just a powerless god housed in a human body. In other words, a human.”

I shrugged, pointing at Nightchase, who was bobbing on the surface of the water.

After hearing the whole story, Cheon-hwa answered without the slightest hesitation.

“Then all the more reason to leave her behind.”

“Why.”

“She’s useless. What’s the point of keeping something like that around.”

“She’s useful, actually.”

Nightchase, who had been listening sullenly, drifted lightly until she reached the lakeshore.

“From what I heard her say, you, well, this world, is being targeted by Void, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“And this world is basically a Hanging Garden set up by the Deep Sea Outer God, with not a single Outer God left to keep Void in check?”

“…That’s right.”

“It’s over. It’s done. There’s no answer here, no matter how much you flail.”

Nightchase, keeping her lower half submerged in the lake, let out a cold laugh.

“Why do you think Void kept hurling us into the Deep Sea? Because Heaven wasn’t enough, he wanted to claim Earth too. But now there isn’t a single Outer God left on this Earth, is there? And meanwhile that bastard has resurrected inside the body of the world’s ruler. His enemies are gone, and he’s grown stronger. What exactly are you going to do?”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Cheon-hwa calmly deflected Nightchase’s sarcasm.

“Among the beings who know the truth, if there hadn’t been exactly one who hadn’t given up, right here, I would not have made the effort either.”

As she said this, Cheon-hwa looked at me.

Nightchase pursed her lips, then sighed.

“All the more reason I’m useful. Not to brag, but I wasn’t captured by Void and locked into the Deep Sea. I was playing in the sea when the Deep Sea itself swallowed me up. Because I knew how to stay hidden.”

“You still haven’t grasped your own position. Human.”

“Listen to this, the wooden puppet talking. Why don’t you stop pretending to be human yourself?”

“…”

“And I’m not entirely human either. If this kid would lend me jus~t a tiny bit of the Authority of creation, I think I might be able to put some power to use…?”

I looked at Cheon-hwa and nodded.

“I was wrong. I’ll just dump her and come back.”

“Of course, even without that, I know how to hide from Void.”

Nightchase hurried to continue.

“Since long ago, there’s only ever been one way to conceal yourself from Void. Don’t stand on the ground.”

“The ground?”

“Yes. Because his essence is up there.”

Nightchase pointed at the sky as she replied.

“From up there, everything below is in plain view. And Void can go anywhere he can see. Which essentially means there’s no way to hide.”

“…I see.”

No wonder he threw around what amounted to teleportation so freely.

When I frowned, Nightchase clicked her tongue and wagged a finger.

“So? Just don’t stand on Earth. For example, deep inside the ground, or, inside a lake like this. That way you can avoid his surveillance.”

“Good. We can do that, then.”

I nodded and scratched my head.

“What about after that?”

“…”

Hiding was all well and good.

I had become the Outer God of the Deep Sea. I had a plan to bring him down.

I had even absorbed Mimicry, and my abilities had reached up to Heaven itself.

Just barely reached.

“For now, my plan is to cover this world with the Deep Sea.”

“You mean to destroy it so the enemy can’t take it?”

“Hear me out. Even if I get a chance to fight him head-on and win, Void still governs Heaven. With that sly teleportation Authority of his, he can slip away anytime.”

“…That’s true.”

“So I’ll cover the world with the Deep Sea, lift the space beneath it, and seize Heaven with my own hand.”

“Hah.”

Hearing my words, Cheon-hwa furrowed her brow.

“That’s an extremely… extremely brutish method. When did you come up with something like this?”

“Came to me while taking Outer God lessons down there. How’s it sound?”

“I don’t know what kind of reaction you’re hoping for…”

Cheon-hwa tilted her head, arms folded.

“It’s such a godly way of thinking, I’m at a loss for what to say. Drowning the entire world, dragging Heaven down below. Maybe ask the ex-god about it.”

Receiving the look, Nightchase frowned as though even she found it difficult.

“What do you take gods for. There’s never been a single one in history who tried something like that.”

“You’re saying it’s impossible?”

“In the past, yes. Now, there isn’t a single god on the Earth you’d be drowning. Void is up in Heaven, so he’s essentially the only god left, which means… it does look possible. However, drowning the world without leaving even a sliver of a gap would still be impossible even now, with Mimicry absorbed. Even more so if you try to keep the beings down below alive. Still…”

Nightchase sighed and answered.

“Given the circumstances, no, it’d be more accurate to say it’s barely theoretically doable thanks to the circumstances. At the very least, I’m sure of one thing. Void will never see a method like this coming.”

“Bizarre even by an Outer God’s way of thinking.”

Hearing that, Cheon-hwa actually smiled as if amused.

“…Perhaps, this isn’t a bad idea.”

“To repeat myself, as you are now, it’s nowhere near enough.”

Nightchase looked at me again.

“You need to be at least ten times bigger. And you need to learn how to handle an Outer God’s abilities. The fine-grained use of power seems to be done, but wielding a large-scale Authority with precision is a different story.”

“Can you help?”

“And if I say no, you’ll throw me back into the Deep Sea?”

“I’ll let you out on weekends.”

“That’s not a joke. You’re genuinely scary.”

Grimacing, Cheon-hwa sank into the lake with a trail of bubbles.

Of course, I was grimacing too.

“So the direction’s set, and in the end I have to get back in the water…”

Outer God of the Deep Sea or not, the feeling was like I was about to break out in eczema all over my body.

I couldn’t dig a hole in the ground right now since Nightchase wouldn’t be able to come in.

I should at least give Dersia a status update. As I was thinking that, my thoughts suddenly landed somewhere else.

I’d been inside the Deep Sea far longer than I’d realized. Weren’t the others probably worried?

“Come to think of it, how many days have passed? About a week?”

“What are you talking about.”

Cheon-hwa tilted her head.

“A week, you say. You went in without even knowing… ah, right. I never told you. I’d assumed you’d die in there.”

“What? What don’t I know?”

“The place you went into wasn’t the Deep Sea. It was the domain where the god was imprisoned. In a place like that, time passes a little faster than usual…”

Cheon-hwa, trailing off, pointed at the water’s surface.

“It’ll be faster to see for yourself.”

“…”

Don’t tell me.

With an uneasy feeling, I looked at my face reflected in the mirror the moonlight had made.

There, I saw.

“…Nightchase, cut it out.”

“? Cut what out?”

“It’s a prank, isn’t it. You. Tell me right now it’s a prank.”

“I’m telling you, what are you talking about.”

A man I had never seen before was standing there.