Wizard of the Abyss – Ch. 205

Wizard of the Abyss

[Extra Novels]

Chapter 205 - Journey (11)

"...No. It’s too dangerous.”

I gently pushed Elisia away, who was covered in my blood, trying to stop her.

In the meantime, Dercia had already wrapped me up tightly in bandages.

She hadn’t just wrapped me carelessly. She had skillfully treated my wounds.

"You still don’t understand how dangerous that place is.”

"It’s okay. I’m confident.”

"But I’m not. I’m not confident I can protect you in there.”

If I died, Elisia would die as well.

I couldn't fight while carrying that kind of penalty. I had no intention of backing down on this point, so I raised my voice slightly.

"Jern."

Elisia’s eyes trembled slightly as she stepped closer.

Surprisingly, she was far calmer than expected.

Her unwavering gaze, praised with her silver hair stained with blood, made for quite the chilling sight.

"Look.”

"...!"

The moment Elisia’s hand touched my shoulder, the world fell silent.

For a moment, I doubted my ears. What I had thought was silence all this time was actually a muffled environment filled with faint, constant underwater noises.

However, for that brief instant, while Elisia’s hand rested on my shoulder that noise disappeared.

My connection to the Abyssal Sea…had clearly been cut off, even if only for a moment.

"Ah, as expected, this is tough."

"How did you…?”

How did she manage to do something like this?

Before I could finish my words, Elisia already answered.

"When you first brought me into that world…”

She looked at my blood-soaked bandages and murmured.

"I understood that it was an incredibly harsh place. But more than all that, there was just something I felt.”

"What was it?”

"That your world is far too lonely.”

Elisia removed her hand from my shoulder and looked up at me with sad eyes.

"If it were something else, I wouldn’t know what to do. But loneliness is something I can fix. So I thought, if I cut it off you wouldn’t have to leave alone…”

She rubbed her hands together, as if reflecting on her realization.

"Besides I’m the only one you can take with you anyway, right?”

"That’s…”

I was about to say I still couldn’t take her, but I just ended up trailing off.

If she could really cut off my connection to the Abyssal Sea like that, then bringing Elisia wouldn’t be a problem. Actually, I should be begging her to come along with me. 

Being able to escape the Abyssal Sea in an instant would be like my last lifeline in a crisis.

"There’s no time. And with the child’s resolve being this firm…”

Dercia, who had been watching me with concern the entire time, glanced at Elisia, asking.

"What will you do?”

After thinking for a long time—

I finally let out a deep sigh and lowered my head.

* * *

...This really felt like I was doing something unforgivable.

Taking a child into a hell crawling with killing machines.

If there were a god, what were they doing not striking me down with lightning this instant?

While my thoughts kept spinning like that, Dercia continued stuffing fist-sized black spheres into my Water Partition.

"The objective is simple. Throw all of these into the creature’s mouth, then tear this paper—after 30 seconds, they will explode. No matter how much it looks like a mountain, as long as it is a living being, it won’t remain conscious. Jern, you must use that opening to stop the barnacle’s life activity.”

"Got it!”

"...Elisia. Stay by Jern’s side and make sure other deep-sea creatures cannot perceive him. And if something goes wrong…”

"Yes! I’ll immediately take Jern and escape!”

"Good. Just remember. This is not your only chance.”

Elisia answered cheerfully, clearly excited. Dercia finished packing the bombs into my Partition until it reached its limit and gave her one final piece of advice.

"Deal with it as quickly as possible. But if you can, it would be good to bring back a specimen. Barnacles that can see Jern…or rather, eyes. That’s quite an interesting trait.”

"I’ll try. Though this might be the last time.”

To make sure I wouldn’t be separated from Elisia, I gripped her hand tightly.

Then I reversed the world.

Elisia had experienced this a few times already, but the sudden darkness still startled her, and she tightened her grip on my hand. But soon she steadied herself and asked,

"What should I do?”

"Can you—seperate me from the Abyssal Sea a little?”

"Yes!"

Elisia immediately separated me slightly from the Abyssal Sea.

The effect was immediate. I was clearly still in the Abyssal Sea, yet it felt like I was floating in murky water.

I was about to surge upward using the current but stopped when I saw Elisia just staring at me blankly.

She couldn’t control the currents. If I dragged her along at that speed, her arm would be torn apart. I considered carrying her on my back, but my back was already loaded with bombs.

Left with no other choice, I supported the back of her neck with one hand and held her waist with the other, lifting her gently.

"J-Jern?”

"This might be a bit fast. Please try to endure.”

"Huh?...Kyaaaaaaaaagh!!”

Even in the Abyssal Sea, I could tell her face had turned red. Then, as we shot through the water at incredible speed, her face turned pale as she clung tightly to me.

The thought that I maybe shouldn’t have taken her along after all crossed my mind, but…

[...---.....]

[...??]

Not only ordinary deep-sea creatures, but even those with barnacles attached failed to notice me.

It meant the risk had been worth it. Following my memory, I headed to where the barnacle mountain had been, and it was still there.

As if it had no reason or need to move.

[...Strange. It’s not moving.]

"?! J-Jern, your clothes are talking…”

"Huh? Aah, I thought you already knew.”

She must not have realized, when she overheard things outside that Malo was actually my clothing, because she looked quite startled. I tried to quickly calm her down.

"This is Malo. Um…Just think of it as a relic or something.”

"A-a relic…?”

[Greetings, young True-Blood Factor. According to my plan, I should have been bound to your body. Things have become quite complicated.]

"That’s creepy. Can’t you just throw it away?”

"Later. So…are we safe right now?”

The barnacle—just like before, it was mimicking the shape of a mountain.

Of course, the moment I entered the crater, or rather, its mouth, it would reveal its true from again.

[For now. But if you intend to destroy something like that, even with explosives, they must be detonated deep inside. If you simply throw them in, it will likely wake up and spit them back out.]

"Should I try carefully sending them in with the currents?”

[If it can use that Tide Sense of yours, it will probably notice.]

"True…”

We had successfully approached without making a sound, but no matter how much Elisia was able to suppress my presence, the moment we entered its mouth, it would definitely notice.

As I hesitated, Malo rubbed its collar and offered a suggestion.

[Then there’s no helping it. I’ll go place them myself.]

"?"

I tilted my head, wondering what nonsense it was talking about.

Then, it slipped off my body on its own and grabbed the bag full of bombs.

Watching it flutter away, I stared with my mouth slightly open before picking one of many questions to ask.

"...Y-you could move?”

[How did you think I was speaking…? Though, to be fair, in a normal place I wouldn’t be able to carry something this heavy.]

Holding the bag, Malo drifted forward like a jellyfish, heading into the barnacle’s mouth.

[There are things only possible in the Abyssal Sea.]

As we watched it slowly enter the creature, Elisia asked, seeming puzzled,

"Um…won’t that relic get noticed?”

"It’s not exactly alive, so…”

No matter how precise its Tide Sense was, it wouldn’t react to something inorganic.

Before long, Malo returned, empty-handed.

Which meant the mission was a success.

When I held out my hand with a dubious expression, it wrapped around me again with a soft rustling sound, fitting snugly back onto my body as it spoke up.

[I placed them at the deepest point. If the bombs explode, it will definitely bleed as long as it is a living creature.]

"Alright, preparations are done. Then…”

As I carefully lifted the trigger paper, Malo hurriedly stopped me.

[Wait. What’s the plan after that?]

"Plan?”

[It will bleed, yes, but it won’t be fatal. If you intend to destroy that thing with explosives alone, you’d need tens of thousands of times more.]

It was right.

"I was thinking of scraping at the wound as much as possible…”

I forced the water pressure slightly and looked at the barnacle, organizing my thoughts.

"If you ask whether I can definitely kill it…it’s questionable.”

[We rushed here because of time constraints, but thinking about it now, we’re really unprepared. For now, we should be satisfied with planting the bombs—]

"No, that won’t do."

[Hm?]

When I spoke in a hard tone, Malo seemed quite startled.

"The deep-sea creatures I know are beings that devour each other and absorb each other’s traits.”

[If that’s all, then it should be fine, right? That thing isn’t eating anything…]

"It seems like that ‘True Blood’ has slightly altered that condition.”

I muttered while scanning the barnacle's outer shell with my Tide Sense.

"This thing is bigger than before.”

[...What?]

"It’s increasing the ice. The number of barnacles, their size…even the range of its Tide Sense.”

As something of the same kind, I could tell.

That I was already within its range.

I could feel it much more strongly than before. If it had been emitting this kind of pressure from the start, I wouldn’t have even considered entering.

"If we come back next time, it’ll probably be a completely absurd monster.”

It had grown that much in the short time I turned away from it.

If it became a top predator capable of devouring everything in this Abyssal Sea—it would evolve into something uncontrollable in an instant.

The Slow Fish had been like that. The giant octopus at the bottom of the sea had been like that. This thing was somewhere in that transitional stage.

"We have to kill it now.”

Now was when it would be at its weakest.

When I spoke firmly, Malo tried to calm me down as if it understood me.

[I get what you’re saying, but what exactly can you do right now? Remember, you’re not alone.]

"Why would you phrase it like that…?"

I frowned deeply and glared at its collar—then something suddenly struck me.

I turned my gaze to Elisia, who was nodding as if she understood what we were saying despite clearly not understanding at all.

"Elisia."

"Y-yeah?”

"From now on, can you close your eyes and count for exactly 5 minutes?”

"5 minutes? And when it’s over?”

"—Use everything you have and separate me from the Abyssal Sea. Can you do that?”

Our eyes met. Rather than hesitation—there was something like excitement in her expression.

"Okay!”

She closed her eyes and began counting.

Taking that moment, I reached out with all my strength to every current in the Abyssal Sea.

To everything within my range.

[...Wh-what are you trying to do?]

Even Malo could sense the massive convergence of currents, its voice clearly flustered.

I clenched my teeth and endured the crushing pressure trying to suppress me as I answered.

"I’m going to use everything I’ve got…and then run.”

[...What?]

After all, the burden of pressure only applied because I was in the Abyssal Sea.

And Elisia’s ability could momentarily pull me out of it.

That was why—

"I’ll land one hit and then escape.”

Burdens?

Let them crush the space I was in all they wanted.

With that thought in mind, I tore the paper.

The bombs would go off, and while it was disoriented, I’d follow up—

-BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

"?"

[??]

"4! 41! 41, right? 40..."

The barnacle that had been imitating a volcano had turned into a real volcano.

The pitch-black Abyssal Sea was suddenly flooded with blinding light, as a massive eruption of heat burst forth.

The sight of an ice volcano spewing fire was so awe-inspiring that I almost stopped gathering the currents without realizing it.

Naturally, the barnacle didn’t come out unscathed. It let out a tremendous roar, announcing to the world its pain.

[?!!?!?!??!?!?!?!?]

[W-wait, I only put in…a single bag…]

The deep-sea creatures, terrified by the groans echoing through the currents, fled in all directions.

Watching the scene, Malo stammered before becoming entranced by the pillar of fire, then (somehow) let out a sigh and muttered,

[An elf, indeed.]

"Hm."

I swallowed dryly, thinking of my heavenly master.

...What the hell did she give me?

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