I obtained a passage connected to the real world.

In other words, I could escape this horrifying Abyssal Sea at any time.

[C-creation authority… How could you possibly…]

"Creation authority?”

Malo stared at the air bubble I had created, unable to hide his shock.

[To bring something that does not exist into existence through one’s own power. That is what it’s called. That is the domain of the divine. Not something a human can wield.]

"Really? It’s way easier than I expected."

[...]

Malo spoke as if I had become some kind of god, but that wasn’t the case at all.

'About the size of a fist.'

The small amount of seawater granted by the Outer God.

That was the only resource I could use outside of the testing space.

Whether that Outer God was real or fake aside, it seemed like the system first tested whether one could create life, and if they passed, it even provided the material needed to do so.

Thinking about it now, it was a surprisingly considerate setup. It seemed this Abyssal Sea, whatever it was, didn’t want anyone reaching the depths only to die meaninglessly.

As I held the air bubble, Malo hesitantly asked.

[So, are we going back now?]

"..."

This time, I was the one who stayed silent.

Honestly, I wanted to leave this place immediately. By now, I had probably fulfilled what Heavenly Balance intended.

But.

"It feels like a waste."

[What?]

"Can this alone really change the course of this battle?”

This ability to create life. Considering I could even create fragments of another world’s space, it seemed possible to create things beyond just life.

If all Outer Gods possessed abilities this absurd, it seemed quite strange to me that they couldn’t escape.

But when I thought about Great Void, this was nowhere near enough.

"Whatever I create with this ability, it won’t measure up to him.”

That guy was less like a butcher, tyrant, or terrorist and more like a farmer.

He could have destroyed the Empire long ago. The reason he didn’t was that there were still fruits left to harvest.

Even now, he was slowly suffocating the Empire and humanity, forcing wizards into situations where they would inevitably fall.

All to increase the number of Fallen he could devour.

If that was the case—how many worlds had he already devoured?

If everything in the Abyssal Sea consisted of gods that were defeated and exiled, then Great Void was something else entirely.

A being that never lost even once. A true, absolute singular God.

If so, there was no way this small amount of seawater could stand against him.

I clenched my fist, steeling my resolve.

"In the end, even if it is a special ability, its absolute quantity is severely lacking."

[No, you’ve already achieved something unimaginable for a human.]

Malo spoke firmly, as if trying to convince me.

[I was also created using that authority of creation. You seem to be misunderstanding something. Great Void isn’t a god.]

"Really? Seriously?”

[Of course. He’s nothing more than a human who became possessed by the world called Great Void. Of course his strength shouldn’t be underestimated, but he can never create anything nor reach the domain of the divine. In a sense, compared to him, you are…]

[... Great Void?]

At those words, the mid-layer, who had been silently listening in shock, suddenly reacted and cut in.

"Yeah, have you ever heard of Great Void?”

[Of course I have. I hear that name thousands of times a day. Screams filled with hatred travel far…]

"...What?”

I tilted my head in confusion, and the mid-layer muttered while looking downward.

[What do you think the Outer Gods below were defeated by to sink into the Abyssal Sea?]

"What beat them?”

[All of them were defeated by that world. Great Void. In an era when the boundaries between worlds were blurred, any world that tried to reach that pitch-black sky was punished accordingly. The high places were flattened, and the flatlands were plunged into darkness.]

"...So, he’s…"

[One of the strongest even among Outer Gods. I can’t understand how it’s still alive… Did your master fail to finish it off?]

[Watch your tongue.]

Malo snapped sharply at the mid-layer’s mocking tone.

[The Creator definitely defeated Great Void. What exists now is not that Outer God, but something like its apostle.]

[Then what exactly is this Great Void you’re speaking of now?]

[...]

Malo fell silent for a moment, glanced at me cautiously, and then sighed and rubbed its collar together.

[There’s no point in hiding it. Jern, you know that the Creator made the world you live in.]

"Yeah. Wizards are supposed to be descended from their blood, right?”

Those who could use the power of the Heavenly Realm are what we called wizards, so technically my body traced back to them as well. Though judging by their actions, I didn’t feel much respect for them.

[Originally, the Creator was meant to be eternal. But to create the real world, they sealed all hells within their own body. As a result, they lost their immortality. And fearing that the world they created would collapse after their death, they wished for a wizard who could one day reach their level to inherit their position.]

"And Great Void swallowed that whole."

That part I already knew.

[Actually, the order was reversed.]

"What do you mean by that?”

[The moment a wizard who reached the Heavenly Realm was born, Great Void devoured him.]

"...What?"

As I frowned, the mid-layer trembled in apparent shock.

[That’s even possible? What an insane thing to do.]

"I don’t get it. What exactly did it do?”

[...The Creator sealed all worlds within their own body, and thus their bloodline inherited the same duty. Falling refers to when a fragment of a world flowing within that blood is stimulated, causing a wizard’s world to change from the Heavenly Realm into something else. That is what Great Void was aiming for.]

Malo continued its explanation calmly.

[After being completely destroyed, with only its consciousness remaining, it waited for a single human to reach the Heavens…and in the end, it succeeded in its gamble. It devoured a wizard who had reached the Heavenly Realm.]

"Hm."

Hearing Malo’s explanation, I frowned.

I could only reach one conclusion from that.

Then that makes him invincible. How are we supposed to beat that?”

[As I’ve said, he’s still just a human eroded by the world called Great Void. If your current consciousness were placed into the body of a dog or a pig, do you think you could achieve the same things you do now?]

"Even taking that into account, he’s still basically a godlike being using the power of the Heavenly Realm, isn’t he?"

[That much is true...]

The mid-layer cut in, as if agreeing with me.

[From what you’ve described, that places him at a level equivalent to the Heavenly Realm, wielding the power of Great Void. He would be superior even to the original Great Void…]

[No, not to that extent. I’ve told you several times already, Hern. Your authority of creation holds value beyond that.]

Malo still refused to accept that Great Void was truly a godlike being, but even so, it was clear that Great Void stood on a level close to one.

In the end, my conclusion didn’t change.

"It’s still not enough."

[...]

Even if I gained divine authority, I couldn’t see any way to defeat him with just this power of creation alone.

I needed to understand how to use it at the very least. No matter how unique it was and something that Great Void himself couldn’t wield, right now it was nothing more than pearls cast before pigs.

[Then what are you planning to do?]

"I’ll go down. I want to see what kind of beings use this power and why they’re so strong."

The Abyssal Sea had tested whether I was qualified to descend deeper.

If I passed, doesn’t that mean I could enter?

Just as I was thinking that—

[I’m sorry, but I cannot allow that…]

"Huh?”

The mid-layer reacted in quite the unexpected way.

It suddenly stirred the surrounding seawater and began to constrict me.

Frowning, I popped the air bubble and adjusted the surrounding currents to defend myself.

"What’s with you all of a sudden? Didn’t you say you’d let me through if I passed the test?”

[I’ll be honest…I didn’t think you would pass.]

...That was being too honest.

[And you, in particular, are too dangerous to be allowed through.]

"Me? Why me?”

[You must have seen it. The abilities possessed by the lifeforms you created.]

I had seen it before, but the mid-layer wasn’t just a powerful opponent.

Fighting it here was like having the very terrain turn against you.

-Crack...

As it applied force, the surrounding space slowly began to distort.

"Tsk..."

[Life born in the Abyssal Sea had to adapt to survive. In that process, they absorbed the traits of everything they consumed… Of course, once the Outer Gods arrived, they were all driven to extinction.]

"Then what about the deep-sea creatures I saw on the way down? Were they ghosts or something?”

Stalling for time, I activated the authority of creation.

My own seawater began to slowly spread across the surroundings.

[Those are all things the fallen Outer Gods recreated using the same authority of creation as you.]

"...Why? Were they lonely with how quiet the Abyssal Sea was?”

[To obtain the Wizard of the Abyss.]

"??”

[You are not the only human who has fallen into the Abyssal Sea. Many have fallen, and the Outer Gods instinctively realized that those remnants were their only means of escape. So they created the deep-sea creatures.]

-Ruuuuuuumble...

The transparent layer covering the mid-layer rippled.

[Deep-sea creatures absorb the traits of what they consume. If countless such creatures roam the sea, eventually they will devour those who have fallen into the Abyssal Sea and inherit their traits. Then they will be eaten by stronger ones and eaten again and again. When that process repeats enough times, something will fall from the upper layers down to the depths, carrying the full power of a Wizard of the Abyss.]

"...What?”

So—

The Outer Gods wanted the remains of Fallen mages to escape the Abyssal Sea.

But since those remains could never reach them, they revived beings that could descend, spreading them throughout the world so that something would eventually carry that power all the way down.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

[However, they failed to understand just how powerful a weapon it was to rule over things within the Abyssal Sea. A deep-sea creature that consumed a Wizard of the Abyss gained the ability to never die. And in the process of such undying creatures devouring everything else, eventually all deep-sea creatures came to possess that ability…]

"Wait, so the pressure and currents … all of that as well?”

[Yes...]

"..."

In other words, deep-sea creatures were unintentionally created carriers. They devoured the corpses of previous Abyssal mages, who had fallen and died, and acted as living delivery systems, passing that power along to the Outer Gods.

No wonder they reacted so violently to my presence. They had clearly been designed, at the level of instinct, to hunt Abyssal mages.

[The method worked far better than expected. The Outer Gods gradually learned how to dominate the Abyssal Sea, to the point that it became necessary to stop them.]

"...So that’s why you were created.”

Only then did I understand what the transparent floor, the mid-layer, was for.

To prevent deep-sea creatures from reaching the deepest layer.

In other words, to stop the Outer Gods from further absorbing the Abyssal Sea’s power.

[It was a response that came far too late.]

The mid-layer answered in a hollow tone.

[Even before I was born, they had already acquired more than enough power. Even now, if they’re willing to accept a small loss, they can extend their influence all the way to the surface. Something that would have been unimaginable before.]

"...”

[What happens to your world is unfortunate, but in this situation, I cannot allow you to go to them. Even the abilities delivered through deep-sea creatures have made them that powerful. If you, the original source, were to fall into their hands, the Abyssal Sea itself would no longer be able to sustain itself…]

The mid-layer was, in every sense, a guardian of the Abyssal Sea.

And it was absolutely certain of that role.

It had no intention of letting me pass.

Under the steadily increasing pressure, I clenched my teeth and lowered my head. It felt like my bones were bending.

[Jern! Go back to the real world right now!]

"...I’m fine.”

I forced a smile in response to Malo’s urgent warning.

[I don’t know where your confidence comes from, but it you think I would fear the bimb you’ve mixed into me, you’re mistaken. To prevent you from going, I’m willing to accept a certain level of loss…]

"Sorry to interrupt, but—you’re a bit too late.”

[...What?]

The mid-layer actually hesitated for a moment.

If it truly wanted to oppose me, it should have stopped me from ever passing the test in the first place.

From the moment I came out, or more precisely, from the moment I gained control over my own seawater, certain aspects of the Abyssal Sea no longer affected me as burdens.

[...Hmm.]

Still pressing down on me with pressure, the mid-layer seemed to realize something and let out a low sound.

The surrounding pressure was starting to break apart and dissipate.

The seawater it used to crush me was being mixed with my own.

At the same time, the pressure around me gradually eased.

"There’s not much I understand, but this part I figured out immediately.”

The natural pressure of the Abyssal Sea was still overwhelmingly oppressive to me.

But if it was pressure created by another being’s ability, then I could interfere with it using my own seawater.

"That kind of thing doesn’t work on me anymore.”

Feeling much lighter, I looked straight at it.

"And that’s all you’ve got, right?”

[...]

Unlike the other Outer Gods, this one was composed entirely of seawater. The moment he Abyssal Sea’s abilities stopped working on me, it could no longer truly oppose me. Of course, I couldn’t defeat it either.

If neither of us could harm the other, then I could just go down.

Though, considering the amount of mercy it had shown me, I did feel a bit reluctant to just force my way through.

"Well, you don’t have to worry too much. I’ll try to disguise myself as much as possible, and if the Outer Gods notice I’m an Abyssal mage and come after me, I’ll just run.”

I immediately formed an air bubble in my left hand, showing confidence.

"Even if I can’t fight them, I’m confident I can escape. I’ve done it a few times already.”

[...There’s no way for me to stop you.]

After thinking for a long while, the mid-layer finally spoke.

Its tone was mixed with resignation and a trace of despair.

[What do you think the Outer Gods are…?]

"I just think they’re a bunch of fucked-up lunatics."

Every single one I’d met had tried to kill me, so I didn’t exactly have fond memories.

The mid-layer nodded as if it agreed, then added,

[Then have you ever considered what kind of place the deepest layer is, where hundreds, no, tens of thousands of such beings exist?]

"...No."

[Then start imagining it now.]

As if accepting defeat, the mid-layer melted away, slowly being absorbed into the ground.

[The place is worse than hell. Always one step worse than you imagine.]

“...”

[Please don’t overestimate yourself.]

For some reason, the warning carried a hint of self-deprecation.

*t*t*

[You’re really going?]

"Yeah. At least until I figured out what Great Void really is, I’m not going back. If nothing else, these are the things that lost to him, so they should at least know his weakness.”

After the mid-layer left behind these ominous words and disappeared, I could officially enter the deepest layer, with nothing left to stop me, so I immediately began descending.

'Let’s see just how horrible this place really is.'

Of course, I hadn’t forgotten the mid-layer’s warning.

It was supposed to be a place worthy of being called hell. What I was curious about was just how terrible a palace had to be for something that knew the Abyssal Sea to call it worse than hell.

Could it be an ocean made of lava or something—?

With that pointless thought in mind, I kept diving for a long time.

Soon, I realized the path to the deepest layer was far longer than I expected.

10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour…

Endlessly descending, enduring increasingly intense pressure, I was starting to think this might not be possible when suddenly, I felt something with a completely different texture.

"What—”

In the darkness, I slammed face-first into it—

And suddenly, something filled my eyes, nose, and mouth.

"Peh, peh!”

A bitter taste. Fine grains, the strong smell of soil.

Anyone would recognize it instantly as dirt. I frantically brushed it off my face.

When I came to my senses—I saw that the clumps of dirt were falling downward.

The ground.

And not underwater, either.

"?"

In the middle of the Abyssal Sea?

As I gathered myself, I realized that a strong light was shining down from above.

Squinting from the blinding light, I felt around my surroundings and only then realized that, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, I was standing on solid ground.

And just as naturally, there were trees rooted in that ground.

Turning my head, I saw a gently flowing stream and flowers that gave off a soft fragrance, pleasant enough to want indoors.

After splashing my face with water for a moment, I stared blankly up at the sky and muttered.

"Where is this?”

—The deepest layer.

The only thing proving that I had been in the pitch-black Abyssal Sea just moments ago was my robe, still soaked and dripping with water.

But that wasn’t the only surprising thing.

"...!"

As I absentmindedly extended my Tide Sense, I began to sense something approaching.

It was enormous. That was the only piece of information I could get.

It wasn’t uncommon for high-ranking Knights to evade my Tide Sense entirely.

But for my Tide Sense, now dozens, hundreds of times stronger than before entering this Abyssal Sea, to fail to gather any information at all. That was clearly abnormal.

Its speed was overwhelming. It closed the distance in an instant, entering my field of vision. I immediately formed a pressure blade at full power and turned toward it.

'Hiding would be for the best, but—'

In theory, someone using the authority of creation shouldn’t appear human.

But if, by some chance, I’d already been discovered, I’d have to launch the fastest attack I could manage and escape immediately.

It was a shame I only had about a fist-sized amount of seawater to work with. But nothing was more important than my life.

With that in mind, I turned, and what came into view was—

"Wow, it’s been a long time since something new showed up here.”

"...?"

A blonde girl in a white dress.

She looked so frail, as if even a gust of wind might give her a cold, let alone survive the Abyssal Sea.

But as far as I knew, she was a genuine prodigy with enough raw strength to tear apart most Knights with ease.

"Heya. And congratulations. You’re screwed too now. You’ll never get out.”

—Linmel smiled mischievously.