Wizard of the Deep Sea

"Where is this…?”

When I opened my eyes, I was outside the forest.

It wasn’t that Heavenly Balance had moved me. If anything, it felt closer to the world itself having been erased.

As if my guess were correct, Heavenly Balance looked down at the writhing vine around her wrist with a calm expression, then spoke in a solemn tone.

"When I said there was no method, I didn’t say it lightly.”

"I know. If anything, that’s the part I want to hear more about.”

What I wanted from Heavenly Balance wasn’t some miracle method to defeat Great Void. If something like that existed, she would’ve used it long ago.

But from what I knew so far, Great Void had already finished everything a long time ago, completely sealing off even the possibility of resistance…

And yet, I couldn’t fully understand from just that.

—Just how hopeless our situation really was.

"I get what’s happened so far, but what exactly is going to happen that makes you act like this?”

"...”

I asked while staring straight at her, pressing that meaning into my gaze.

Heavenly Balance thought for a moment, then answered in a single sentence.

"You will die, and the world will be destroyed.”

"...What?"

"I'll explain. What Great Void is doing right now, forcing out the Fallen, is solely to satisfy his twisted desire. The problem is, no one but him knows when that ‘farming’ will end. However, there is one way to guess.”

"What is it?”

"When he begins collecting the most necessary world.”

Heavenly Balance stared straight at me as she continued.

"No matter what Great Void thinks, one thing will never change. To complete the primordial world he desires, he absolutely needs the sea. More precisely, he needs you.”

"...So what you’re saying is, I’m an essential piece for his goal, and when he comes to collect me, it means he’s already gathered everything else?”

"That is highly likely.”

"That part doesn’t quite make sense.”

I frowned, and Heavenly Balance replied calmly.

"What is it that you don’t understand?”

"Why doesn’t he try to get me first?”

It had always been like that. Great Void only tried to recruit me as an ally and never tried to capture or absorb me.

It was strange. If I were truly a necessary piece for completing his goal, shouldn’t I be the first thing he secures?

As if she had expected that question, Heavenly Balance answered immediately.

"It’s simple. Great Void cannot endure the Abyssal Sea.”

"Hmm…”

"I can guess what you're thinking. By your standards, it doesn’t make sense, does it?”

"Yeah."

The pressure of the Abyssal Sea was certainly terrifying.

But Great Void was a monster who likely held tens of thousands of worlds within himself. Would something like pressure or breathing in the Abyssal Sea be enough to stop him?

From my experience fighting him, I couldn’t imagine that happening.

"If it were only the pressure, then perhaps operating in the Abyssal Sea wouldn’t be that much of a problem for him.”

"There’s something beyond that?”

"You should know. Or have you not come into contact with it yet?”

At Heavenly Balance’s puzzled question, I frowned for a few seconds.

Until the image of a massive tentacle stretching from an endless depth surfaced in my mind.

"...Outer Gods."

"Those of the Abyssal Sea are far worse than in other places as well.”

Heavenly Balance shook her head, looking down at me with something like pity.

"Great Void is incomparably larger than you.”

"Well, I’m still young…”

"I’m talking about the scale of your existence. If Great Void were to consume the Abyssal Sea, every being at its deepest layer would immediately notice him and realize that he is the only means of freeing them.”

"...Ah!”

At that, my eyes lit up as I clapped my hands together.

"Then couldn’t I use the Outer Gods sleeping in my Abyssal Sea against Great Void? Like, make them fight each other? That actually sounds pretty doable.”

"That’s exactly why you’re the last one.”

Heavenly Balance shook her head and explained why it was impossible.

"Even if Great Void reaches a point where he can kill you, he will never do it inside his own world. If he accidentally absorbs you there, everything would go wrong. It would be far better for him to destroy you completely and wait to cultivate another sea.”

"So basically—he’ll save me for last, consume me, and finish everything before the Outer Gods can interfere?”

"Exactly."

Unless Great Void devours me, the process wouldn't be complete, and he wouldn’t take that risk prematurely.

In other words, using the Outer Gods was impossible. Clicking my tongue at the loss of an easy solution, I listened as Heavenly Balance continued.

"In other words, once you are attacked, you can consider everything over. Until then, Great Void will continue gathering Fallen and harvesting them.”

"And…I hold no chance against a Great Void who’s finished harvesting all worlds…right?”

"There’s no chance even now. Even if you somehow found him, do you really think a deep-sea creature could hunt a bird that freely flies in the open sky?”

So attacking Great Void from our side was impossible too.

Now I finally understood what Heavenly Balance meant when she said there was no way. He was freely progressing toward his goal, achieving everything he needed, while we were merely delaying the inevitable as much as we could.

"Hmm…This is tough.”

It definitely wasn’t something I’d figure out in a day or two.

But I couldn’t just sit around thinking forever either, not knowing when the harvest would end and when Great Void would come to me.

I sat down on a rock, letting out low groans as I thought. After watching me for a while, Heavenly Balance sighed and looked at me with pity.

"So you really made me betray him just to hear all this, without any kind of plan?”

"Yeah. No use regretting it now.”

"And you still won’t choose to give up?”

"Hey, think about it for a second.”

I let out a sigh and reminded her exactly who she was talking to.

"If I were the type to give up because something’s impossible, I would’ve killed myself the moment I fell into the Abyssal Sea.”

"..."

I meant it half as a joke, but Heavenly Balance looked genuinely startled, her eyes widening as she stared at me for a moment.

It was only for a brief moment. Soon, she let out a scoff as if I were pathetic, shook her head, and sat down beside me.

"Well…If you’re going to choose an impossible path, then there are a few options.”

"Impossible path?”

"Yeah. For example, you could directly defeat Great Void, absorb him, and erase all his ambitions.”

"That’s definitely impossible. Like a sardine hunting an eagle, right?”

"I didn’t go that far. But it’s an appropriate comparison.”

Nodding slightly, Heavenly Balance suddenly said something strange.

"Still. if you were to become something similar to Great Void, you might be able to stand on the same battlefield.”

"..."

Her tone hinted at something deeper, so I listened closely as she continued.

"In the end, Great Void became the ruler of this world by reaching the Heavenly Realm. If you were to do something similar..."

"Sorry to cut you off, but that’s impossible.”

And here I wondered what she was going to say.

I let out a sigh and raised a finger, creating a small flame.

It was tiny and, at the same time, the largest flame I could currently produce.

"My magical talent is so bad even my master admits it. There’s no way someone like me could reach the Heavenly Realm. Not in a hundred million years.”

"When did I ever say you had to reach it through magic? Everyone already knows that’s impossible for you.”

Heavenly Balance shook her head and continued.

"What you should be aiming for is not the sky, but the bottom.”

"...?"

"Become an Outer God of the Abyssal Sea.”

She said it as casually as if suggesting a short walk.

"Is that something you can just become if you want to? I don’t even know how that works.”

"It’s not difficult. You just need to descend further.”

"I'm already going deeper as we speak. That happens just by my breathing.”

"Faster."

"That’s..."

I frowned, turning her words over in my mind.

Going deeper, faster.

In other words, die faster.

"And what does that change? Do I just suddenly become a god when I reach the bottom?”

"No. The shackles binding your arms and legs will become your crown. The process of reaching that bottom will turn you into an outer god."

"What does that even mean?”

An Outer God was simply a being that existed at the bottom of the Abyssal Sea, and the “Bottom of the Abyssal Sea” was merely defined as the place where such beings existed.

From my perspective, it was nothing more than circular logic.

But Heavenly Balance was firm.

"Great Void has already become something akin to a god of this world. If you cannot even become a God of another external world, then this war is nothing more than a one-sided struggle that cannot even truly begin. No matter your goal, becoming an Outer God must be your objective.”

"...Let me ask one thing.”

Was this a trap? That was the thought that crossed my mind.

But her tone and expression were too serious, so I asked seriously in return.

"If I become an Outer God, doesn’t that mean I won’t be able to return to this world anymore?”

"Most likely. If, during that process, you forget that you are human even once.”

"...?"

"You don’t need to understand it now. Just know that it depends entirely on your own will.”

With her arms crossed, as if she had said everything she needed to, Heavenly Balance fell silent.

I thought for a long time, staring at her.

But in truth, the conclusion had already been decided. I needed to stand on the same battlefield.

Without that, nothing could even begin.

"So…”

In the end, I let out a sigh and asked another question.

"How do I descend faster? I don’t know any method like that.”

"That’s fine."

As if she had been waiting for those exact words, Heavenly Balance pulled out a small silver dagger from her sleeve.

"Because I do.”