Wizard of the Abyss – Ch. 220

Wizard of the Abyss

[Extra Novels]

Chapter 220 - Rakshasa (6)

I didn’t feel any sense of camaraderie toward the Fallen.

But I still had at least the minimum mercy expected of a human.

"Rest."

-Crunch, crack!

I extended my hand and casually crushed the head of a Fallen.

The heads that had been writhing in pain fell silent. Latry, meanwhile, watched as the original owner of the body he was using was destroyed and said nothing.

"You’re not going to stop me? If you’ve got a better body, now would be the time to switch.”

"...I’m not a fool. We have ears everywhere. I’ve heard what you’ve done. By now we’re probably rats in a trap, aren’t we?”

"Yeah, pretty much."

"In that case, what’s the point of resisting when you could wipe us all out with a flick of your finger? If you want to do it, go ahead. Do as you please.”

Latry said it almost cheerfully, raising both hands as if surrendering.

What the hell was this bastard?

I swept the area multiple times, but there really was nowhere to escape. Just as he said, bringing me here was no different from asking to be killed. 

And yet this pathetic attempt at persuasion was all he prepared? 

At this point, it was so absurd it felt suspicious. As I examined the surroundings more carefully, Latry, still holding his hands up, spoke curiously.

"By the way, do you mind if I ask you something?”

"Go ahead.”

"I thought it was a fairly reasonable proposal. Why did you refuse?”

"It’s simple. Even if I brought you bodies from Scarlet Abyss, it wouldn’t actually help you."

"Hm? Why not?”

"What’s the point of increasing small fry just to deal with small fry?”

In the end, the real problem with Scarlet Abyss were those with Great Worlds.

Monsters that could overturn the very laws of the world on their own.

Everything else was secondary. And in a fight like that, there was nothing to gain from a mere assassin organization like this.

"You killed Knights. Why would I cooperate with murderers?”

"You killed some of ours too, didn’t you?”

"The balance still isn't even. If assassins kill even one Knight, the proper compensation is the destruction of their entire organization."

"Haah..."

Realizing I wouldn’t change my mind, Latry let out a long sigh.

"I see. What a shame…truly a shame.”

It was a sigh filled with regret, resignation, and remorse.

—Something was off. I immediately raised the water pressure.

"What we needed wasn’t a body, but a head."

"Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m not giving you either.”

Empty threats meant nothing. I raised the pressure to its absolute limit, crushing everything inside the chamber.

-...Craaaaaack!

In an instant, every piece of flesh was reduced to a pulped mass. The stench of blood thickened even further, and shattered bones registered through my Tide Sense.

A chamber where nothing living remained except me.

I waited inside for about a minute, then titled my head in confusion when nothing happened.

"...That’s it?"

Latry didn’t come back to life and charge at me.

No hidden poison was released, and no reinforcement rushed in.

The assassins who had once moved as separate pieces were reduced to nothing more than blood smears in a single second never to rise again.

I swept the entire chamber again and again with my Tide Sense, but there was no movement nor sound, nothing.

'Was he really just disappointed?'

After lingering for a while, unable to believe it, I finally left the dark chamber.

"So…”

Even after climbing back up, I stood there, lost in thought. None of this made any sense.

Their only plan was to persuade me, and when that failed, they simply accepted death?

That didn’t fit an organization this meticulous.

There had to be something more.

Something…

-Rustle!

"..."

As I continued to question this situation, my Tide Sense picked up something crawling up from the tunnel below and the dark chamber where I had been below.

Only then did I let out a relieved chuckle and turned.

Of course, there was no way it would just end like that.

'Come at me with whatever you’ve got.'

I’d kill them instantly.

Unfolding the Abyssal Sea, I spread it across the surroundings and then paused, tilting my head.

"What is this?”

What emerged was a small-framed man—no, a woman…?

A person in their early twenties, wearing a plain white robe, whose gender was quite hard to identify from their face alone.

Their hair, eyes, and even skin were all disturbingly pale.

However, more unsettling than their appearance was their gaze, which seemed completely devoid of emotion. After gazing at these insect-like eyes, I found myself taking a step back without realizing.

The insect-like figure struggled its way out of the tunnel, clearly not in good physical condition from how it looked.

After barely pulling itself up, it stared straight at me and immediately asked.

"Are you Jern?”

"What?”

"I asked if you’re Jern.”

"If you were down there earlier, you’d already know.”

"Sorry. I wasn’t.”

"Then where exactly did you crawl up from?”

"Below.”

"...Forget it.”

What was I expecting? I had no idea what this thing was, but as long as it was inside my Abyssal Sea, it wasn’t a threat.

And I wasn’t stupid enough to show mercy just because it looked weak. The moment I clenched my hand, the figure jerked in midair, its body twisting unnaturally.

"Hm. What’s this?”

"Water pressure. Goodbye.”

-Crack!

The figure, which probably was an assassin, was crushed without resistance. If anything, it felt less like destroying a machine and more like crushing an ordinary human, enough to make me flinch.

The figure, barely clinging to life, stared straight at me, then slowly nodded, as if it had understood something.

"...I see. I understand…”

"Understand what?”

In the end, its breath faded. After a brief moment of thought, I slung the corpse over my shoulder and returned to the Knights.

They had set up a temporary camp nearby and had been anxiously waiting. The moment they saw me, their faces lit up.

"Sir Jern! You returned. What did you discuss with those brutal villains?”

"We didn’t really talk…They were spouting nonsense, so I just killed them all.”

“Then you had the best kind of conversation! That’s a relief.”

"...Still, it felt too easy. Unsettlingly so.”

I fell into deep thought.

They clearly knew who I was. The moment they brought me into their base, it was no different from inviting a walking bomb inside.

And yet, they tried to futilely negotiate with me and then got wiped out.

...Why?

What was the point of all that? Sure, they were a group of lunatics, but if they acted this recklessly, they wouldn't have lasted long enough to become a legendary assassin organization.

"Something’s off.”

-Thud

I dropped the albino corpse onto the ground and scratched my head.

"Something’s off?”

"Yeah. I think we need to sweep the entire area. I can search on my own, but I’ll need to greatly expand the range.”

"How wide of an area are we talking about…?”

"The entire forest. I want every inch searched. No exception.”

I could hear the Knights swallow nervously.

Still, with my Tide Sense and their detection abilities combined, it wouldn’t take more than 2 hours.

"From here to here. Cover everything.”

"Yes. Understood.”

"And Sir Jahan…Sir Jahan?”

"Ah, yes. My apologies.”

While organizing the search parties, I noticed Jahan staring blankly at the albino corpse before snapping back to his senses.

Something about his demeanor seemed off, so I pressed him for an explanation.

"Do you know this person?”

"N-not exactly. It’s just that their face feels familiar for some reason.”

"Familiar?”

"Yes. I’m certain I’ve seen it somewhere before. I just can’t remember where.”

So far, Rakshasa seemed to be a parasitic kind of entity cutting apart bodies and combining them with others.

If that was the case, it wouldn’t be strange if they were using a body Jahan recognized. Though the face seeming familiar to him was a different matter.

"It’s probably nothing. If it were someone you truly knew, you would’ve recognized them immediately.”

Or maybe it really was just a coincidence.

We split into groups and began combing through the area.

Using my Tide Sense, in combination with the Knights’ fine senses, it should leave no room for even an ant to slip through.

"Nothing here!”

"Clear on this side as well. Sir Jern, have you found anything?”

"...Nothing."

In the end, there were no remnants. And if there had been, they must have escaped long before we started searching.

The Knights exchanged uneasy glances, murmuring among themselves.

"Hmm…So is it over?”

"That would be for the best, but something just feels off.”

"...”

Even as they spoke, I remained deep in thought, rubbing my chin.

This was it? Really?

Those things that could be said to be barely human, able to survive as nothing but a head, were just gone like that?

I couldn’t help but frown, unable to accept this. That was when Jahan spoke up casually.

"It might just be because it’s getting dark. It’s already early evening, isn’t it?”

"I don’t think that has anything to do with it…”

"For now, let’s camp here for the night and search again in the morning. If we still find nothing, we’ll return and report things as they are.”

"Hm. That sounds reasonable. Sir Jern, what do you think?”

Knowing I hadn't resolved my doubts, Jahan was deliberately giving me time.

I nodded, accepting his gesture.

"Let’s do that."

* * *

Late at night.

We should have been asleep to prepare for tomorrow’s search, but there was no way I could.

"What the hell are those bastards doing?”

What were they planning?

I sat there, holding my head, thinking for a long time, then tried to flip my perspective.

What if I were the Rakshasa?

If I were one of those lunatics who cared about nothing but becoming stronger, how would I act?

"...No idea.”

How were you supposed to understand people like that?

I frowned, letting out a sigh, then realized I didn’t need to.

'What have they been trying to do?'

Even lunatics followed patterns. And patterns could be predicted.

They first acquired the techniques of Knights.

Then they tried to steal the abilities of mages.

They replaced their bodies over and over with stronger parts, and when the concept of the Fallen appeared, they added that too.

Looking at it like this, they were greedy to an absurd degree. They tried to incorporate anything that existed into them…

...Everything?

"Ah."

My eyes widened slightly. A line from earlier flashed through my mind.

[What we needed wasn’t a body, but a head.]

I had thought it was just a threat.

But if it was actually a genuine lament, then that meant something else.

It meant they had already gathered the body they needed.

...But what kind of body?

"Damn it."

I shot to my feet and immediately headed toward where I had left the albino corpse.

But I was a step too late.

-...Boom!

"Wh-what was that?!”

"Sir Jern! An explosion…!”

Startled by the sudden blast, the Knights rushed out of their tents.

What they saw was the albino human, its body grotesquely twisted, floating in midair.

No—it was an albino ‘Elf’.

"...So this is how it works. Magic is quite fascinating.”

The elf, suspended in the air, stared at the flames burning around them, then slowly lifted their gaze.

Stars started to appear in their eyes. One, two, three, four…

They increased without pause until they finally stopped at seven. And then, they found me instantly among the Knights.

"So you’re Jern. There’s something I didn’t get to say earlier—”

"...Fuck..."

"It seems I need to take your head.”

The elf spoke casually, raising the sword in their right hand.

...Their posture showed not a single flaw. The perfectly refined stance of a Knight.

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