Wizard of the Abyss – Ch. 184

Wizard of the Abyss

[Extra Novels]

Chapter 184 - Oblivion (9)

I did want to know what Dercia had done to my body, but the situation was too urgent.

"I’ll guard the carriage properly!”

Leaving Sunken Mire, who was no longer of use to me, behind in the carriage, which she seemed quite happy about, we quietly began making our way towards the mountain.

"It won’t take long."

"Why does this damn snow fall so quickly…”

How long had we been walking, listening to Balkan’s grumbling?

"..."

A sense of unease.

Feeling something off, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Since I had been walking at the front, making use of my Tide Sense, everyone halted and looked at me in confusion.

After briefly tracing where this strange feeling was coming from, I chose my words carefully and asked,

"How long has it been since we set out?”

"?"

Balkan tilted his head, as if asking what I was talking about.

"What nonsense are you spouting? We just left.”

"..."

I looked at Dercia and Brimdal, but they also seemed unsure about what I meant.

"I live counting every second. If we consider departure as the moment we stood up, then 3 minutes and 29 seconds have passed.”

"That sounds about right. Did you notice something strange?”

3 minutes and 29 seconds.

After a moment of hesitation, I turned to Dercia and asked,

"Lady Dercia.”

"Yes."

"It’s not that I don’t trust you, but could you measure time using something more physical perhaps?”

"I don’t usually use it, but I do have a pocket watch I was given. I’ll synchronize it.”

Despite the odd request, she calmly took out the pocket watch from inside her robe, adjusted it, wound it, and put it away again.

After briefly watching the towering mountain where Decay was supposed to be, I took a few steps—

Then I immediately turned my head and asked again.

"How long has it been since we departed?”

"What are you on about now…”

It had been less than a minute since I last asked.

Just as Balkan frowned and was about to complain…

"1 hour, 3 minutes, 30 seconds.”

Dercia murmured as she slowly opened the watch.

"...An hour has passed.”

"Is that right?”

Dercia handed me the pocket watch.

The second hand was spinning wildly. So fast that it looked broken.

"...What the hell is going on here?”

Brimdal looked at me, extremely confused.

But unexpectedly, Balkan was the one who kept his composure and rummaged through his pocket.

"Yes. This is…”

"I already know. It’s an illusion.”

"What?"

"I know how to break it. Here, everyone, take this.”

He pulled out a piece of black gum that looked really disgusting at a glance.

The moment he took it out, a horrific stench flooded the area. I could easily imagine the taste and recoiled, shaking my head.

"Absolutely not.”

"The best way to break an illusion is shock. The taste is certainly vile, but it leaves no external or internal injuries. It’s the most rational method.”

After hesitating for a moment, Balkan put the gum into his mouth and began chewing.

Not even someone who’d chewed a live insect would make the face he was pulling right now. Enduring it like torture, he chewed a few times, then pulled out the remaining pieces.

"Hurry. The situation is urgent. We don’t know what the world outside the illusion looks like…”

"Please tell us. How is it?”

"Let’s see. Right now, we’re…that can’t be right.”

Of course, Balkan did not break free of the illusion.

He looked around in confusion, then asked.

"Are there Fallen who wield illusions as well?”

"No. This is just our cognitive ability being impaired.”

"What?"

"Decay’s Absolute Frost can drastically slow the thinking speed of those nearby. So slow that a turtle would look like a rabbit to us. When thought slows down, naturally, all actions slow as well. That’s the state we’re in right now.”

"...It’s not an illusion?”

"That’s right. I was about to explain, but then you suddenly started chewing on that gum.”

"..."

Leaving the deeply wronged-looking Balkan alone, I rubbed my chin and sank into thought.

"I never imagined it could slow cognition over such a wide area, though.”

Honestly, this level of tyranny was just absurd.

If I had to compare it, it was like me turning several thousand meters around myself into a zone of crushing pressure where anyone entering would be flattened to death.

I understood that he’d spread his world across the real world…but how could even something like this be possible?

'What happens when we get even closer?'

Pushing that question aside, I focused on the present.

"Based on the watch, 1 second as we perceive it equals sixty seconds in reality. One step we take in one perceived second appears as 60 seconds of movement outside this cognitive delay. Let’s call it a 60-fold slowdown, or x60.”

"Do you know how to escape it?”

"No. Once you enter Decay’s range, this is a burden you must endure.”

Just like my water pressure.

"This probably isn’t the end. x60, x120, x180…I don’t know the exact multiplier, but the closer we get, the more it’ll increase. Naturally, the other burdens will affect us by the same amount. No, they already are.”

As I spoke, I looked down at Balkan and Brimdal’s feet.

"This is insane—"

Their feet, which had been standing on the snow, were already buried by freshly fallen snow that had accumulated during nothing but our brief conversation.

Watching them hastily pull their feet free, I continued explaining in a calm voice.

"Thanks to Lady Dercia, we’ll suffer less from the burdens, but in the end, this is just like an antlion pit. By the time we reach our destination, it’ll be like enduring the cold for over a full year. Not only our fingers and toes, but even our arms and legs would fall off.”

"Tsk. Then can’t we go underground? Borrowing that woman, Sunken Mire's power.”

"That won’t work."

I quietly shook my head.

"For you, Sunken Mire’s swamp is nothing more than an attack that prevents you from breathing. More importantly, it’s the same down below.”

"The same?”

"Yes. I can’t explain the details, but it is.”

I recalled the shards of ice beneath Decay’s land.

Thinking back, those only appeared when I was near Decay.

Those ice fragments probably meant that even if I was underground, my cognition would start decaying.

In other words, I had slowed down even while underground.

'If I hadn’t set a time limit, I really would’ve been buried alive.'

Feeling a chill go down my back, Balkan gritted his teeth and shook his head.

"So there truly is no way? Should we just give up then?”

"No. There is a way.”

"...There is?”

"Yes. It’s just a bit crude."

I turned to Dercia, who looked puzzled, and asked,

"Lady Dercia. Can you fire us at that mountain like cannonballs?”

"Aha."

"Oh…”

"I-I see. You mean to decide the action before thinking."

If only our cognition slowed, then we just had to act before that happened.

No matter how slow your thoughts became, an arrow already shot would still strike the mountain in a matter of seconds.

"Then after that …"

"Yes. That’s where the problem starts."

We’d reach the mountain. But once there, we’d have to act under an even more severe delay.

"That’s why I’ve identified three potential points where Decay might be, using my senses.”

"A-are you sure?”

"Not completely. There’s a chance he’s at none of them. In that case…we’ll have to endure the cognitive delay and act accordingly.”

Brimdal, looking over the mountain map I had prepared in advance, nodded in amazement.

"The map is as detailed as if you’d gone there yourself.”

"It’s thanks to my world. Lady Dercia. Here, here, and here. Please launch us separately to these locations.”

"You intend to split our forces?”

"Yes. To be honest, any one of you could defeat Decay on your own.”

Calling this a boss raid was rather generous. From Decay’s perspective, it was three bosses teaming up to gang up on him. Decay seemed to have invested everything into the mastery over these debuff burdens, so his body wasn’t particularly strong.

Dercia had defeated him multiple times already. Even with his world spread out like this—no, because he spread it—his chances weren’t great.

As for Brimdal… There was nothing to say. If he decapitated Decay the moment they met, it wouldn’t be surprising in the slightest.

"If Decay is within your zone, you engage immediately. If not, you’ll have to endure the cognitive delay and regroup to eliminate him. That’s the basic plan. Are there any questions?”

"Can’t we just have the elf’s magic collapse the entire mountain in one go?”

"He wouldn't die from that. He would just realize he'd been ambushed and flee. Then things would become far more complicated.”

"If that’s the case, then I like the plan.”

Neither Balkan nor Dercia seemed to have any objections.

"But Jern. If there are three points, who do you plan to go with?"

"I’ll go with Sir Balkan."

"...Me?”

Balkan tilted his head, clearly not expecting that I would choose him.

I didn’t particularly want to be paired with that ill-tempered guardian Knight either, but he didn’t seem like someone who could take down Decay in one clean swoop.

If Balkan ran into Decay, I had to be there with him.

Dercia and Brimdal could handle Decay even without me.

"That’s reasonable."

"Hmm, that makes sense.”

Whether they’d sensed my hidden intention or simply agreed, the two nodded in approval.

"Then let’s move immediately. Even now, the burdens are piling up.”

Dercia formed a hand seal, stars sparkling in her eyes.

Heat bloomed beneath our feet, slowly intensifying.

"There’s a good chance that Decay may notice us even now. We don’t have much time. I’ll send you there as fast as I possibly can.”

"...How fast would that be?”

"For a mountain as big as this, fast enough that it won’t be much different from opening a gate and having you step through it.”

Being fired at near-teleportation speed.

Right when I gritted my teeth and braced for impact, she hesitated slightly, then spoke again.

"And—this may just be my concern, but I believe Decay’s cognitive delay is hiding something.”

"Hiding something?”

"Yes. After losing most of my memories in our last battle, I replayed that fight countless times. Even frozen memories, when examined closely, can yield something, or so I hoped. And…”

Her voice trailed off, displaying rare uncertainty.

"There were many things that felt off. These worries might just be unfounded, but please be careful.”

"I will do that. Ah, speaking of which, what exactly did you do to my body—”

"Let’s depart."

-Bam!

The ground beneath my feet exploded, launching me up like a cannonball.

Surprisingly, the impact wasn’t as severe as I expected. I was hurled up at a tremendous speed, and yet when I landed on the twisting mountain path, my feet barely sank into the snow.

"Peh, peh! What about Decay?! Is he here?!”

"...I’m not sure."

Unlike me, Balkan had hit the ground with his face. Still, he immediately drew his sword.

It was a ridiculous sight, but knowing the danger of the cognitive delay, his killing intent was as sharp as a razor. He was greatly determined to take Decay’s head the instant he appeared.

I, too, immediately activated my Tide Sense.

Then frowned, shaking my head.

"A miss.”

Decay wasn’t here.

He was probably in either Dercia’s or Brimdal’s zone.

"Damn. That’s unfortunate.”

Balkan didn’t sheath his sword, immediately starting to walk forward.

"So did Brimdal or Dercia run into him? No, or did neither?”

"If you can see the fight from here, it’s Dercia. If not, it’s Brimdal.”

"?"

Balkan tilted his head, not understanding my calm answer.

-Booooom!!

"What…?!"

A black line carved across the mountain, cleaving it from the middle to the base.

Unfamiliar with this sight, Balkan stumbled back in shock, but I knew exactly whose work it was.

"It’s Dercia.”

It seemed like Decay had drawn the losing lot.

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