Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

There was no time to ask about such nonsense.

“Thank you for granting my request. Congratulations on becoming one with the Upper Tier.”

“When do I have to fulfill the next ‘request’?”

“Whenever you want.”

“…What?”

“Do as you please. If you hit a wall along the way, you can come to me for advice. Of course, there will need to be something in return.”

I narrowed my eyes.

So he was going to let me roam free, then demand payment whenever I asked for help.

I could understand the reasoning behind it. But—

“Why choose such a troublesome approach?”

“What do you mean?”

“If you’re strong enough to push back my World in a single blow, couldn’t you just force me to submit?”

At that, Void chuckled softly and shook his head.

“Doing that would only create more enemies.”

“And you think I’m your ally right now?”

“Of course, I know you’re hostile to us at present.”

He raised his hand with a sly gesture.

“But simply disposing of the Three Evils or suppressing them by force would be such a waste. You seem to think I’m strong, but that’s merely a misconception. If the gap in information were narrowed even slightly, I wouldn’t stand a chance against you.”

“What?”

“You don’t yet know how to wield your World.”

“Is there even such a thing as a Fallen who can wield their World? I thought we were all crushed under the Burden, barely able to make use of it.”

“There is. You’ll find out soon enough. And I want to make you my ally once you’ve gained that power.”

“…”

Seeing my expression twist, Void burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Does it sound foolish?”

“…No. I was just thinking what a wonderful strategy it is—giving someone who opposes you the power to kill you, then hoping they’ll become your ally.”

“That would be troublesome, of course. But first, don’t you want to stop this?”

When Void raised his hand, the shadow it cast rippled despite it not being night.

…I did need to stop it.

“You won’t take anything I say now seriously, but you’ll believe the knowledge you gain while pursuing your own goals. Once all of that accumulates…”

Void shrugged.

“You’ll choose to stand with us.”

“…”

There was no strong conviction in his voice.

At the same time, there wasn’t a trace of doubt either.

The way he spoke—like stating obvious facts such as “it rained this morning” or “the sun will rise tomorrow”—stirred a slight curiosity in me, but…

I would find out eventually.

Seeming satisfied with my resolved expression, he extended his hand.

“Will you be taking that child as well?”

“Yes. She’s my storage.”

“Then both of you, take my hand.”

“…H-hic.”

Damyu approached cautiously, then placed a single trembling finger on Void’s palm.

I took his hand as well.

And the moment I blinked, the world changed.

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, an overwhelming fatigue washed over me.

As I clutched my head and staggered, Void spread his arms wide.

“Welcome to the Holy Ground.”

The Holy Ground.

It was a fitting name for this place.

“…I heard the Crimson Circle has no fixed headquarters.”

When I took a step, snow crunched beneath my feet.

Behind me stretched a breathtaking vista. A mountain range with countless peaks jutting up like thorns, and we stood at the summit of the highest among them.

Supporting Damyu, who had nearly fainted, I looked up at the spire erected on the snow-covered peak—a tower built so high it seemed to pierce the heavens.

Gazing at the tall spire that rose through the clouds, I felt something closer to eeriness than awe. Despite looking like it would collapse at the slightest breeze, the structure bore the weight of countless years.

“There are places we frequent. I’d like to introduce you to several people, but it seems only one is here at the moment.”

After murmuring this while looking at the spire, Void gave me a word of caution.

“I know you want to stop us by killing us. Since that was the condition, I have no intention of preventing it—but please, be careful.”

“Be… careful?”

“Yes. If anyone other than myself and Decay catches on, they’ll dispose of you. Unfortunately, that’s something I cannot protect you from.”

“…”

It was a chilling statement.

I didn’t know if it was true, but warning an assassin targeting his own organization members to stay safe?

It was one of two things. Either he’d wanted to kill them all along.

Or…

“You must think I won’t be able to do it.”

“Not at all. It simply won’t be easy.”

…he had absolute confidence they wouldn’t die at the hands of someone like me.

Void smiled faintly and opened the door to the spire.

And then.

“You’re late.”

“My apologies, Cheon-hwa.”

—Sharmia was there.

“Uh, um…?”

Confused, I doubted my Current Sense.

But truly, a woman who looked 99% identical to Sharmia stood expressionlessly before a hearth.

The 1% difference was her expression.

Beyond merely looking fierce, her face was filled with nothing but murderous intent and hatred—the only thing distinguishing her from Sharmia.

The woman called Cheon-hwa turned her head, and upon seeing me, her already severe scowl deepened further.

“Who is that?”

“Undercurrent. He’ll be working with us from now on.”

“…Didn’t you say you were going to resurrect Dark Night?”

“That failed.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. No matter how much I searched the Puppet, I couldn’t find Dark Night.”

“Tch…”

Cheon-hwa clicked her tongue, then suddenly strode over and stopped right in front of me.

For a moment, she studied me with eyes identical to Sharmia’s, then asked with a puzzled expression.

“Why did this child look surprised to see me?”

“It’s nothing significant. He knows the Priestess.”

“…I see.”

Watching her expression turn somewhat bitter, Void explained.

“Undercurrent, this is Cheon-hwa. She interprets prophecies and conveys them to us in terms we can understand. It would be wise to heed her advice whenever possible.”

So they just happened to look alike.

Composing myself, I extended my hand.

“I’m Undercurrent.”

“…Excuse me?”

At that, Cheon-hwa glared at me as if I’d said something absurd.

As I wondered if I’d misspoken, she rapped me on the head.

“You impudent child, how dare you speak informally to me?”

“?”

“Use honorifics when addressing your elders. Again.”

“What is she doing right now?”

When I shot a look at Void, he shrugged helplessly.

“Cheon-hwa is particular about human morality and propriety. I’m sorry, but I’d appreciate it if you could humor her, at least when dealing with her.”

“Hah.”

None of the Crimson Circle members had ever said anything about my age before.

I’d assumed they simply didn’t distinguish between children and adults, being lunatics and all, but apparently there was a different flavor of lunatic here as well.

With no other choice, I gritted my teeth and extended my hand again to the arms-crossed woman.

“Nice to meet you, Cheon-hwa-nim. I’m Undercurrent.”

“Tch, you speak like a little old man. What kind of upbringing did you have?”

Perhaps I should make Cheon-hwa the first to die.

As I entertained that thought, she stroked my head and glared at Void.

“So you’re putting this one in the Upper Tier? A child who hasn’t even come of age?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of World does he possess to warrant such a decision?”

“The deepest place. That is his World.”

“Cavity? That seems insufficient for the Upper Tier.”

“Deeper.”

“What do you mean? A World deeper than Cavity is…”

Mid-sentence, the hand stroking my head stopped.

I felt a slight tremor. Her sharp gaze swept over me, and before I could stop her, she pulled ink from her pocket and spilled it around me.

I didn’t do anything in particular. But remarkably, the ink halted near my head and spread outward.

Watching the empty air turn black, Cheon-hwa quietly clenched her teeth.

“…Void. Did you create this?”

“I discovered it, for now. You know as well as I do that unlike the Ocean, the Deep Sea cannot be artificially created.”

“A World that exists only as a theoretical possibility—that an Archmage on the verge of reaching the Celestial Realm might possess if they Fell—and you’re telling me this mere child has it, but you didn’t create it?”

“As I said, I don’t have that power. Even if I did, it would have killed me immediately.”

“Tch.”

Cheon-hwa scowled at Void, who seemed unbothered by her skepticism, then turned back toward the hearth.

“I’ve seen something I didn’t want to see. Don’t appear before me again.”

“Hmm, I’ll do that.”

Void scratched his head and led me toward the upper floors.

“It seems Cheon-hwa doesn’t particularly like you. Her temperament is quite fickle, so it can’t be helped.”

“I don’t care. Where are we going?”

“Don’t you need some motivation as well?”

“…?”

“I’ll tell you about the Plague spreading through the Empire.”

He answered as if it were obvious.

Using the word “Plague” now meant he was definitely referring to those shadows.

But now? Here?

…To me, who had just joined?

“…”

I clenched my fists.

If this was real…

The time to die had come sooner than expected.

***

Void climbed all the way to the top of the spire.

During the ascent up countless stairs, Damyu nearly collapsed from exhaustion, so I left her in a nearby room. By the time we reached the rooftop, only Void and I remained.

“Quite a view, isn’t it?”

“It’s hard to breathe up here.”

“Are you even breathing?”

“…”

Even my deflection was easily countered.

The sight of mountains looking small beneath us certainly had something moving about it.

But I was too tense to appreciate it properly. I kept extending my Current Sense to examine our surroundings, wondering how they had spread the Plague across the Empire, but there was nothing but empty air.

Just as I began to wonder if Void had lied, he looked down with a satisfied expression and murmured.

“This is the highest place on the continent. The tallest spire, built atop the tallest mountain, in the tallest mountain range.”

“And?”

“From here, the only thing left is to fall. To drop down and scatter…”

Void extended his hand and pointed at the clouds midway up the spire.

“Undercurrent, I told you my World is the real world.”

“I know that’s a lie. Otherwise, you’d be a god.”

The real world—the world in which we exist.

If someone could manipulate it at will, they would indeed be worthy of being called a god.

Void let out a hearty laugh and denied it.

“You’re right. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. What I mean by my World being the real world is simply this.”

The next moment, Void vanished from sight.

He literally became undetectable to my Current Sense. But—

“Can you not see me?”

“…”

His voice continued to reach me.

He was there. Yet I couldn’t see him or sense him.

As I stood bewildered, Void suddenly reappeared with a smile.

“What you just saw is my Burden. What happens when reality becomes hell.”

“…What did you do?”

“I was simply exiled from this World.”

“What?”

“I was cast into another World. Reality rejected me, sending me elsewhere.”

-Thud.

He dropped something alive onto the floor.

And as I watched the thing flopping about, my expression gradually hardened.

It was—a fish.

Something abnormal, resembling a pufferfish with six heads and spines instead of scales.

“What should I call this…”

After pondering for a moment, Void seemed to arrive at an answer and gave it a name.

“Yes, Deep Sea Creature. That would be a fitting name.”

Just now, Void had…

…visited my Deep Sea.