Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

I haven’t stayed in the Inner World manifestation for long before.

Naturally, it took a little time to realize what this was.

‘The movement comes first.’

For three seconds, one second, or even less than that.

An illusion of Lump, an action made of bubbles, attacked me first.

Then, following that exact trajectory, the real attack was created.

‘…Why?’

I didn’t intend this. It’s a phenomenon I hadn’t even imagined.

First, I began analyzing. I dodged Lump’s sword by a paper-thin margin a few times and gathered information.

“Tsk.”

As I watched Lump getting irritated for repeatedly missing a solid hit by just a sheet’s width, I realized the difference between this phenomenon and Current sense.

With Current sense, predicting the opponent’s attack ultimately involves sensing their movements through the flow before reacting.

It’s about seeing the muscle movements and the trajectory of the sword, and then choosing the most reasonable next action. That’s what Current sense is.

However, the drawback is that it’s so fast that my current might not reach it, or it can be blocked by something only first-rate knights possess.

But it’s different in the Inner World manifestation.

Here, the entire space is filled with an extremely dense current.

When I use Current sense in this space, the focus shifts from sensing the opponent to sensing the sea.

Even if I can’t catch Lump with the current, it doesn’t matter.

When he threw a punch underwater, for a brief moment just before the punch is thrown, tiny bubbles form in front of the punch. Tiny, minuscule bubbles less than 1mm in size.

However, in the case of first-rate knights, those bubbles are much larger and longer.

This was the true identity of the bubbles.

When Current sense is manifested inside the Inner World, it allows me to see the movements individuals make that affect the world. That appears in the visible form of bubbles.

Being able to see that now, when it comes to evasion, I’m probably close to invincible.

Thinking that, I dodged all the sword paths with movements close to acrobatics.

“What the hell…”

In the end, it was Lump who gave up.

He raised his sword with a dissatisfied hum.

“I wanted to bring you back with all your limbs intact, but this is your doing.”

The next moment.

The world turned white. Or so I thought.

When I came to, I was surrounded by bubbles all over my body, top, bottom, left, and right.

I gritted my teeth and realized. In the end, I’m not invincible. I can’t dodge the attacks of an opponent who is much faster and stronger than me.

Lump was going for the finish.

“…Remove.”

0.1 seconds, or even less than that. I had to give something up.

I made a quick decision.

-Crack!

“…!”

I used Remove: to cut off the pain and abandoned my right arm.

Perhaps because I hadn’t practiced recently, I couldn’t completely block the pain and my vision spun.

Gritting my teeth, I clutched my broken right arm and backed away. To prepare for a follow-up attack.

“You’re not in your right mind.”

But Lump didn’t attack again.

Instead, he looked at me with eyes that literally saw a crazy bastard.

“You broke your bone just to escape the trajectory?”

“If I broke a leg, I wouldn’t be able to move.”

“…That’s a correct judgment. It’s a reasonable decision.”

“…?”

Lump, who had stopped attacking, gave a small nod.

What’s with this bastard all of a sudden? I thought, and while I was forcibly holding my broken arm together with the current, he continued speaking.

“Fast and precise. Any other knight would’ve made the same decision.”

“What do you want me to do with that?”

“But if you’re the original, aren’t you just a little over ten years old?”

“…Yeah.”

“Huh.”

Lump sighed in disbelief.

“What kind of hell did you live through?”

“What?”

“No ten-year-old in the world would break their own arm just because there’s no way out of a sword path. Even if they did, they couldn’t reach that conclusion in such a short moment. To make that kind of decision, you need several experiences. For example, knowing from experience that having your arm cut off is more painful than having it broken.”

“…”

This brazen bastard wouldn’t suddenly feel sympathy for an enemy, nor would he show mercy just because I’m a child. I tilted my head, wondering what the hell he was trying to say, when he pointed his sword at me.

“To be honest, seeing that judgment just now, I realize I can’t handle you with my own power. If it were Decay, maybe he could freeze you and take you back, but I don’t know how to do that. I’ve just realized that breaking your will and taking you with me won’t work either.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m going to kill you.”

I was appalled.

By the intelligence of Lump.

“Really? I had no idea. You were trying to kill me? Thanks for the heads-up. How kind of you.”

“Until just now, I was holding back a bit to take you alive. For me, the best solution was to bring you back and uncover the truth. But if that’s not possible, I’ll have to kill you. That’s a much easier task than capturing you alive.”

I could tell that this threat from Lump wasn’t just bluffing.

If he repeated that earlier attack a few more times and forced me to give up, then I would die.

“But you have another option.”

Lump extended his other hand, the one not holding the sword.

As if offering a handshake.

“Join us.”

“Just so you know, I already turned down that same offer from your comrade who said it first.”

It was a suggestion not even worth considering. But Lump seemed genuinely intent on persuading me.

“I know. But look, during the process of you falling into the Abyss, how much did your master torture you?”

“?

“To that wizard’s eyes, you’re not a disciple, just an experimental subject. At least we treat each other as comrades. It’s nothing much. Just choose the lesser evil over the worst.”

Lump had a big misunderstanding.

He thought that during the process of me falling into the Abyss, Dersia had done something to me.

From a rational perspective, it’s understandable. No one would think the Great World would manifest all of a sudden without any trigger.

“Hmm…”

It’s a misconception I can use.

I let out a contemplative hum, pretending to think, and then glared at him with a question.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“What is it?”

“You stole Wihwa’s ability last time and controlled Elysia, right?”

“Elysia? You mean that little brat I borrowed briefly last time?”

“Yeah. Can you do it again?”

“…I don’t know why you’re asking that, but no, I can’t. If I borrow the body of a Fallen, I also take on their burden. Wihwa’s burden is too dangerous for me. I used it a bit just for fun, but it’s too risky now.”

“I see.”

I let out a sigh of relief inwardly.

Judging from his pulse, it didn’t seem like a lie. And now that I knew the possibility I had feared most didn’t exist.

There was nothing more to hesitate about.

I raised my middle finger.

“Then go to hell. I’d rather die than go with you.”

“…Looks like I misjudged you. You still don’t understand the situation?”

“No, I see it clearly.”

I smirked as I scanned him from head to toe.

“You were fighting with the goal of capturing me, then suddenly switched to killing me, and now you’re trying to persuade me. Anyone can see it.”

“See what?”

“You’re having trouble breathing, aren’t you?”

“…Huh.”

Lump showed a smile.

It was a smile with a slight tremble at the corners of his lips. He looked genuinely amused, though.

As I slowly stepped back and readied my stance, I continued speaking.

“The seawater keeps catching on your body, making it hard to move properly, and you’re feeling the pressure too. Your vision is dark enough that you can’t see me clearly anymore, and sometimes, strange monsters swim through that darkness.”

“You sure live in a fucking miserable place. At least the Ocean is bright.”

“Thanks for the high praise. As a tenant who lived here first, let me advise you – you can’t endure.”

I calmly stated the truth.

Even Dersia said so. She didn’t think she could last very long in the Abyss either.

This isn’t a place where some Crimson Circle executive can survive.

“Are you telling me to surrender? I’ll give those words right back to you. If you want to live, surrender. If you’ve reached that point, I’ve won.”

“…Do you know how Fallen of the Great World fight?”

Lump suddenly brought up something random with a sly grin.

“They meet, manifest the Inner World, and then do nothing.”

“What?”

“They both just stand still. There’s no need to do anything else. Each side’s burden is their greatest weapon. Eventually, one of them can’t endure the other’s world and collapses… and that’s how the victor is decided. It’s a boring fight that takes six to twelve hours, if you’re lucky…”

Lump raised his trembling hand.

“Only five minutes, or less, must have passed. You’re right. I can’t hold out any longer. Do you know what that means?”

Suddenly, an uneasy feeling crept over me.

Lump continued slowly.

“Your world defies common sense, you bastard. How can I beat this? I gave it my all.”

Then he raised his sword and pointed it at his own neck.

“You’ve won, kid. I can neither kill you nor take you alive. All I can do is report back.”

“…”

I hadn’t expected this.

That battle maniac, that insane bastard, now cleanly admitting defeat and taking a step back?

At this rate, he’d just end up handing over information about my ability and nothing more.

“But next time we meet, I’ll come prepared. I’m looking forward to a rematch-”

As he said that, Lump suddenly widened his eyes.

“…Hm?”

No choice.

Time to throw out some bait.

As I deactivated the Inner World, I collapsed onto the ground and vomited blood, making sure the dazed bastard could see me as he was disoriented from the sudden release.

“Guh… Kgh… Ah…”

“?”

The bastard looked puzzled for a moment, then furrowed his brow.

“Don’t tell me… you lost to your own world?”

“…Blegh.”

I didn’t answer and vomited blood again.

It wasn’t an act. I crushed my own organs with water pressure as I shut off the Inner World manifestation myself.

That bastard is a Crimson Circle executive who’s killed and tortured countless people.

If I faked pain, he’d notice immediately.

In other words, genuine pain is something he can clearly distinguish.

Whether my prediction was right or not, the confused expression on Lump’s face gradually turned uncomfortable.

“…No way, it ends like this? That’s hard to accept.”

“Ghh… haa…”

“Tch… What a letdown.”

Shaking his head, the bastard let out a hollow sigh and walked toward me.

“It would’ve been unbearably painful being crushed by your own world. But you were holding on with sheer willpower? You really are something.”

He didn’t doubt it.

He couldn’t.

Even if I were faking it, letting Lump get close enough to touch me would mean my defeat.

No one would ever think someone would fake it to lose on purpose.

“Let’s see… Decay can take care of himself, so I’ll just take this guy and leave…”

-Tap.

“Hm?”

As Lump grabbed the back of my neck and began pondering something, I grabbed his grotesque shoulder.

Taking advantage of his momentary confusion, I murmured in a crawling voice.

“This, world is….”

“Tch, you’re about to die.”

He must’ve thought it was the nonsense of a dying man, because he didn’t pay it any mind.

And with that, I smeared my blood onto his shoulder.

Until now, all the blood spilled during the fight had remained within my Water Barrier. So the deep sea creatures hadn’t detected it.

But if blood was smeared outside the Water Barrier, I knew exactly what would happen.

I whispered in his ear.

“This world is the deep sea.”

“-!”

The Inner World unfolded.

In that brief moment, Lump reached the fact that I had faked the pain.

At the same time, his hand blade headed toward my head.

The world turned pure white. Just before his burden intensified, Lump delivered the strongest and most powerful attack he can muster.

At this range, there was no dodging it. At long range, maybe I could have.

Feeling the inescapable end, I clenched my eyes shut.

By my perception, it didn’t even take 0.02 seconds for the hand to reach my head.

-Tok.

I felt the sensation of contact.

Rather than a strike, it was like a weight gently pressing down. Feeling that, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

“…What is this-”

Lump, whose right and left arms had been torn off from the shoulder, was aghast.

0.01 seconds.

Within that time, twin-headed eels arrived and severed Lump’s arms as if slicing them off.

They did nothing else. Lump’s blood began to spread through the deep sea.

Now armless, Lump was clearly panicked. It seemed like this was his first time encountering the danger known as deep sea creatures.

“Wait, what is this…!”

Bubbles began to rise from the corners of Lump’s mouth as he tried to speak.

Fortunately, the burden had overlapped.

He was suffocating. No knight can stay conscious without breathing.

This was my victory.

“Kh-”

Realizing the situation, the bastard clenched his teeth and attempted suicide.

He tried to bite off his own tongue.

I’d heard that cutting one’s tongue to die isn’t that easy. But seeing those sharp teeth, it seemed that kind of common sense didn’t apply to him.

“I’ll never let you have…!”

I used water pressure to stop him, feeling pain in my abdomen as though it were being crushed.

“Guh…!”

Lump continued trying to kill himself no matter what.

And I used all my strength to stop him.

I could feel my Water Barrier gradually weakening.

“…!”

Bite force versus water pressure.

The struggle of strength went on for quite a while.

And together with the Water Barrier that came out to right in front of my eyes-

“…Urgh.”

I barely let out a sigh of relief while watching Lump slowly sinking to the floor.