All deep-sea creatures knew how to handle the Abyssal Sea.

They could manipulate pressure and current—and some even used Tide Sense to sense their surroundings.

In a way, it was only natural. In this dark, crushing ocean, without such abilities, survival would be impossible.

I, too, gained those abilities after becoming a resident of the Abyssal Sea.

And because of that, I could understand, at least to some extent.

Just how insignificant I was before that thing.

"You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me…What the hell did you do??”

I glared at Agnes as I saw countless legs pouring out endlessly from unfathomable depths.

There was no doubt about it. They definitely had done something. Judging by that shaken expression, it didn’t seem like they had intended this outcome either.

But instead, they snapped back at me.

"Isn’t this what you wanted? You deceived me into fighting an Outer God.”

"I didn’t want this—wait, what? Outer God?”

"Yes. A god from another world. An Outer God.”

Agnes slowly raised a hand, staring down below.

"I’ll say this again. If you don’t want to die, cooperate. If we don’t bring that thing down, neither of us is leaving this place.”

"..."

At least that much sounded true.

Right now, returning to reality wasn’t even an option.

Normally, to return from the Abyssal Sea, one would need to reverse a fragment of the real world that one previously secured and expand it, but I hadn’t brought anything like that.

"Alright, fine, but…is that even possible?”

Letting out a sigh, I looked at the massive, pale suction cup in front of me.

The Outer God’s suction cup—something that would normally resemble that of an octopus, was so enormous it looked more like a mountain. If one didn’t have Tide Sense one wouldn’t even realize it was a suction cup.

At that scale, running was meaningless. No matter where I fled, I’d still be in the palm of its hand.

Agnes nodded and drew the sword from their back.

"I won’t explain this twice. That thing is one of the former rulers that once slept within your world.”

"...Former rulers?”

"Yes. It means this is the form you will ultimately reach.”

"?"

What the hell did that mean?

I tilted my head, but Agnes simply looked at me with emotionless eyes before turning away again.

"You’ll understand.”

"So, you’re saying that is one of the Fallen of the Abyssal Sea that came before me? Then why does it look like that…?"

Mid-sentence, I realized what they meant and frowned.

"...To survive?”

"If you can even call that a living being.”

In other words—

The Abyssal Sea would pull the Fallen even deeper.

To adapt, they needed to consume more, use more, and incorporate more.

Enduring, withstanding, surviving under ever-increasing pressure…

So did that mean that they all become things like that in the end?

As I stared at the massive leg with a stunned expression, Agnes scoffed in disbelief.

"If one falls that far, they can no longer interfere with the real world. Not even the smallest crack can be left open.” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"...How do you even know that?”

"What matters now are two things. That you deceived me, and that the small crack that Outer God so desperately wanted is you.”

Agnes closed their eyes and let the sword fall.

"—As long as I can cut it."

The blade began to tremble as if resonating, then in an instant stretched far beyond what the eye could follow.

Even when its tip extended beyond the range of my Tide Sense, Agnes swung it effortlessly through the resistance of the currents.

-Slice!

[Uuuuuugh...]

A limb thicker than a mountain was severed as if it were nothing.

As I wondered how they could even wield something that heavy, they suddenly threw the sword toward me.

"What am I supposed to do with this?”

"Cut down every leg that comes up. While I find a way out.”

Grabbing the hilt with suspicion, I was startled by the immense weight despite being in the Abyssal Sea and nearly dropped it before hastily catching it with pressure.

It wasn't just length that had increased. The weight had as well.

"You want me to cut it with this?”

"10 minutes. Hold out for that long. No matter what. If those legs close in on us, everything‘s over.”

Having said that, Agnes immediately shut their eyes and began concentrating on something.

Watching them, I briefly considered using them as bait and escaping, but in the end, I had no other choice but to help, so I gripped the sword with pressure.

"Tsk..."

Even with pressure, the blade was incredibly difficult to control.

Still, I couldn't give up. Gritting my teeth, I raised the blade diagonally and began cutting down the legs one by one.

-...Slice.

"Hah, haah…”

For now, the legs couldn’t resist, and thanks to the sheer weight of the blade, even just bringing it into contact with them was enough to sever them.

The problem started after that.

"Are you fucking kidding me—”

The moment something squirmed at the severed ends, countless new limbs, each about the size of a wrist, began to regenerate.

Worse, unlike the massive limbs, these could sense us.

They rushed in all at once. I swept them away with pressure while desperately cutting down more and more legs—but with every cut, the number of enemies increased, and there was no way to stop all the other limbs rising endlessly from the depths.

Even doing everything I could, it didn’t take long for my Tide Sense to relay a hopeless reality.

Layer upon layer of limbs were forming into a massive dome around us.

No matter how fast we tried to escape now, it would take barely a minute for the worst kind of prison to be complete.

"At least a gap—”

Even if new limbs would fill it, it was better than nothing.

As I desperately carved out even the slightest opening, Agnes opened their eyes and let out a small sigh.

"Just barely made it in time. Take it.”

Agnes grabbed my head.

There was no other option. Forced to accept their touch, I suddenly realized I hadn’t asked the most important question.

"Wait, how are we supposed to get out of here?”

"Reconstruction. Break it, then assemble it again.”

"?"

That was not a world you could just gloss over. Before I could demand an explanation…

-Crack!

Everything turned white.

*t*t*

And then, quite literally, it was reconstructed.

"...Cough! Peh, peh!”

How much time had passed?

Spitting out the blood pooled in my mouth, I barely regained consciousness.

The surroundings were still the Abyssal Sea.

Dark, silent. The ordinary Abyssal Sea, where nothing lived.

There was only one thing that wasn’t ordinary—

"Listen. We’ll be found again soon.”

Agnes, reduced to nothing but a floating head.

After looking around and confirming the octopus wasn’t nearby, I clenched my teeth, grabbed them by the hair, and barked.

"We’ve got time now, right? Explain what the hell you just did.”

"In the process of trying to turn you into my vessel, the Outer God discovered us.”

"What the hell is an Outer God?”

"The former ruler of your world.”

"I heard that part. Are things like that living in every world? Do all Fallen become Outer Gods and remain in their worlds after death?”

"That’s impossible. Mere humans cannot become gods. Absolutely not. I explained it hastily earlier, but there’s no way someone like you could become such a being.”

"I don’t want to become one either, you lunatic. Just answer the question.”

For once, Agnes hesitated slightly before speaking.

"Outer Gods can only exist in the original world.”

"Original?"

"There are only three original worlds. The sky, land, and sea. Three worlds that have existed since the beginning and will remain until the end of eternity. I never imagined you possessed one. It’s not something a mere human could ever own.”

"Are you talking about the Three Calamities?”

"I don’t know what those are.”

Whether they knew or not, it was obvious that what Agnes called the original worlds referred to the Three Calamities.

It seemed that those who possessed them, if they survived long enough, would eventually become the kind of monsters Agnes called Outer Gods.

"I’ll say it again. There’s no chance of you becoming an Outer God. At best, you’d end up like one of those jellyfish drifting around.”

"I told you, I don’t need that…”

They kept insisting on something I had no interest in becoming. Grabbing their hair, I shook their head back and forth, then froze as I caught something I absolutely couldn’t ignore.

"...Hey, what did you just say?”

"I said you’d end up like one of those jellyfish.”

"..."

"We haven't bought nearly enough time yet. Outer Gods instinctively seek to return to the world they were born in. And since all the original worlds have already been destroyed, there are no Outer Gods born from the Abyssal Sea itself. Soon, those Outer Gods will inevitably find you, tear open your stomach, and cross over into the real world.”

I clenched my teeth. There was a lot I wanted to ask, but this was the most important thing right now.

"If they use me to cross over into the real world, what happens then?”

"Hell will unfold. Everything you love will be crushed under pressure, and everything you don’t will suffer the same fate. My kin, my ambitions, all of it. Neither you nor I want that.”

As Agnes spoke, a body began to slowly regenerate from their neck.

In an instant, they were whole again. Slinging their sword back over their shoulder, they extended a hand.

"Let’s cooperate. I must get you out of here. Our interests align.”

"And why should I trust you?”

"Do I need to rip out my heart?”

"..."

I stared at that clean hand for a moment, then reluctantly grabbed it.

Right now, I had no other options. And this person seemed to know far too much.

"So what do I need to do?”

"Devour me.”

"?”

"Right now.”

I abandoned the idea of cooperation.

Dying seemed like the better option.