Wizard of the Deep Sea

Of course, my plan had a problem that had nothing to do with logic.

'If I flood the world, how is that any different from being an Outer God?'

Setting aside whether it was even possible—to seize the sky, there was a very real chance that everyone in the world would end up as frowned corpses.

Naturally, to create that sky, I’d have to keep the Abyssal Sea suspended.

But even if Great Void ended up in my grasp, he’d resist with everything he had. And if I lost even a fraction of control in the process?

It would become a catastrophe. A great flood only spoken of in myths.

I wasn’t even sure if this plan was realistic to begin with, and compared to its scale, my current power was still pitifully small.

"I can’t believe this…”

While I was lost in those thoughts, Nightchaser stood beside me, trembling as she stared at me and the deep-sea world I had created.

"A-are you really the Outer God that just governs over deep-sea creatures? For something born just a month ago, this is unbelievable.”

"Maybe I’m just a bit of a prodigy.”

"...That’s not what I mean. An Outer God that governs candle flames and one that governs bonfires aren’t the same. Growth is proportional to the size of the domain an Outer God controls…”

As she said that, her expression, fixed on the deep sea, was filled with confusion and a hint of suspicion.

"This—this level of growth doesn’t make sense for an Outer God that only governs deep-sea creatures. Is that really all you are?”

I scratched my head and clicked my tongue.

Did I show too much? Not that I meant to. She just happened to see it.

The conversation was getting uncomfortable, so I changed the subject.

"Of course it is. More importantly, weren’t you going to bring someone? Why did you come alone?”

"Ah, right."

Nightchaser frowned, as if she had just remembered.

"I was going to surprise you a bit, but something felt off. The moment he saw me, he started going berserk and tried to attack me. Maybe he went insane after all that time.”

"Why would it surprise me if I saw him?”

"Well, because he’s your father.”

"?"

I blinked at the sudden absurd statement, but seeing that Nightchaser wasn’t trying to insult me or something, I frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"That Outer God created the deep-sea creatures. If you’re the Outer God of deep-sea creatures, then that thing would be your father. Am I wrong?”

"..."

She wasn’t wrong.

Logically speaking, it made sense. If I claimed to be the Outer God of deep-sea creatures, then there was nothing strange about it.

And yet, something inside my chest sank coldly.

I looked down at the seawater I had been idly manipulating, then turned my head away.

"What about that Outer God—what does he look like? Does he have octopus tentacles, by any chance?”

"No idea."

"Why not?"

"Because I don’t know. No one does. It was the very first Outer God to fall down here, so almost no one has seen his true form.”

"Then why don't you know? You said you’ve seen him. If you’ve seen him, you should know.”

"That fellow governs ‘Mimicry.’”

Nightchaser crossed her arms, answering as if it were a bother.

"He can imitate anything he consumed. Humans, animals, and even other Outer Gods. And it’s not just superficial mimicry. He becomes the exact same existence.”

"..."

"That’s on a completely different level from me, just copying appearances to lure things in. Anything that’s ever known what he looks like on the inside are a~ll inside his stomach already. So asking what he looks like is an impossible question.”

Mimicry.

The act of imitating.

And octopus.

Something in my mind started clicking into place. I swallowed dryly and spoke.

"That guy can mimic Outer Gods too?”

"If he can find and consume them? Sure. He kept going on about escaping the Abyssal Sea with that ability, but honestly, compared to my plan, it’s nothing. He spent all that time scouring every corner of this place and still didn’t find anything.”

"Is there any way he could find this place?”

"Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

Nightchaser spun around, her suspicion deepening as she stared at me.

"He doesn’t care about anything except escaping this place. He doesn’t give a damn what we’re doing here. He just tried talking to me once, thinking I might be useful, and that was it.”

"Nightchaser.”

I stepped closer, raised a finger, and conveyed my intent clearly so she could understand.

"Right now, both you and I are in serious danger. So answer me properly. Is there any way he can find this place?”

"...No."

Nightchaser replied, her expression turning slightly serious.

"No Outer God can reach my hidden domain that governs the surface. Not unless he planted some kind of anchor beforehand and I didn’t see anything like that.”

"..."

"I don’t know what you’re worried about, but you don’t need to be. This is my sanctuary…”

"It really is impressive.”

I stared at a flapping flying fish beside her.

That thing. It hadn’t been obeying my commands.

-Pop

"H-huh?”

When I crushed the fish with pressure, it didn’t dissolve back into seawater like it should have.

Instead, from inside its body, something like parasitic threads, like horsehair worms, began writhing out.

They slipped free of the water, trying to crawl somewhere, before being instantly crushed by the pressure and dying.

Nightchaser stared blankly at the scene, still not understanding what had just happened. So I summed it up in a single sentence.

"We’ve been found."

"Hmm, maybe?”

Nightchaser titled her head, her expression turning uneasy.

"But why? What would he even want by finding me…?”

I was already certain of the mimic Outer God’s identity.

That massive octopus limb that had chased me relentlessly, day after day, ever since I fell into the Abyssal Sea.

I had managed to hide thanks to Nightchaser’s domain, but eventually, time had run out.

"—Get ready."

Before long the surface began to tremble.

Even I, who had only just become an Outer God, could tell something was wrong.

This wasn't a tremor of terrain, but the world itself shaking.

I could feel it through all my senses, that something from another world was trying to force its way into this one.

"...!"

Nightchaser sensed it too, her face turning deathly pale.

"That crazy bastard…! What the hell is he doing?! Is he trying to collapse this palace?! Do you have any idea how long it would take to rebuild a world under that kind of pressure?!”

"What exactly is he trying to do?”

"He’s smashing apart every other Outer God’s world just to find me.”

"Oh..."

That was actually kind of working in my favor.

While I was briefly thrown off, since tormenting the other Outer Gods wasn’t exactly a loss for me, Nightchaser glared into the air, positively furious.

"The worlds we built are only holding together because they act as walls for each other! If he keeps this up, we’ll have to start all over again!”

"Start what over?”

"Dying, reviving, dying, reviving, over and over again. All just to rebuild the walls every few hours. It took us a hundred years just to create our worlds in the first place. We can’t do that again…!”

So that was how this place was constructed.

If things continued like this, I’d die too.

And unlike them, I wouldn’t come back.

'...No. I can just run.’

There was no reason for me to fight that being.

The situation was messy, sure, but objectively speaking, running was still the safer option, right?

I slowly formed an air bubble in my palm and looked at Nightchaser one last time.

"I finally managed to form a plan. I can’t let it collapse like this…!”

Of course, her face and expression were all fake.

But she looked desperate. So desperate that even fake sweat beaded on her forehead.

Curious, I asked,

"Nightchaser, I know this isn’t the time, but answer me one thing.”

"This really isn’t the time, but fine. What is it?”

"What’s your plan?”

"...Hah, now you want to hear it?”

She looked at me like I said something ridiculous but still explained.

Gods don’t actually talk. They transmit thoughts and intent directly.

Because of that, I understood her entire escape plan instantly.

"Hmm..."

I took about 10 seconds to review the plan she so confidently presented.

The conclusion came immediately.

'...It’s cruel beyond belief.'

Not the plan.

The truly monstrous, horrifyingly cruel thing was the Abyssal Sea itself.

It was obvious. This plan would never succeed.

Nothing about it was technically wrong. It’s just that even the Outer Gods didn’t understand.

They didn’t understand just how deep this Abyssal Sea really was.

They had never lived in the Abyssal Sea. That’s why they couldn’t even begin to grasp it.

"Damn it…!”

-Crack, crack!

I watched Nightchaser desperately trying to hold this fracturing void together and made my decision.

There wasn’t time to think it through.

"Let him in.”

"What? Are you insane?”

"Think about it properly. What will happen if you don’t let it in?”

I calmly explained to the stunned Nightchaser.

"He’ll destroy every other world out there. And after that? We start over. Another hundred years in purgatory. Your plan gets pushed back even further. You really want that?”

"Then what do you want me to do? Just let him walk right in? It’s obvious he wants to rip both of us apart!”

"Then we stop him.”

"...What?"

Nightchaser frowned, snapping back.

"Do you even know what that guy is? He’s the Outer God of Mimicry!”

"You just told me. What about it?”

"Great Void threw that one into the Abyssal Sea first because he was the most dangerous. And when he couldn‘t escape, Great Void realized how perfect this place was as a prison, so he started throwing all the other Outer Gods down here too. And now that you’ve expanded your world a bit, you're feeling confident? You seriously think the two of us can handle something like that?”

"Looks like it.”

"..."

Thinking about it, this had been a long and bitter feud.

Even back in the upper layers, Mimicry had been obsessively trying to find me.

He forced his way upward through the mid-layer, released deep-sea creatures, and tried everything just to get to me.

Now I finally understood why. Because it was that kind of Outer God.

Either way, it felt like it was time to put an end to this unpleasant connection.

"Just open a gap. I’ll handle the rest somehow.”

This was the perfect moment.

A completely absurd situation, where I was forming a joint front with another Outer God.

Nightchaser, who had been staring at me blankly, asked me, suspicion filling her expression.

"What kind of Outer God are you exactly?”

I shrugged, hiding the air bubble in my hand.

"I’ll tell you when this is over."

Of course, if things went south, or looked like I was going to die, I fully intended to book it.