Having realized that the answer he had chased for half his life was nothing but an illusion, Mimicry looked rather hollow.

"...In that case."

It was only a brief moment though.

Soon, the creature, still wearing my form, looked this way again, its gaze unreadable, and spoke.

"I suppose I'll have to adopt a different method.”

"...A different what?”

"I will dismantle you.”

There was no rise or fall in its voice, showing not a shred of anger.

Even though it was clearly my voice, it sent chills down my spine.

"If I divide you into thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of pieces and ensure each of them remains under my control—I might be able to part the sea.”

"..."

The way he instantly abandoned a plan he had likely built over centuries and moved to a new one once again reminded me how far removed this being was from anything human.

Well, I hadn’t expected a miracle where he just despaired and killed himself.

"Do whatever you want. But do you want me to tell you an easier way?”

"...?"

-Crunch. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

As I raised a finger and formed a droplet of water, he frowned.

He realized immediately that this wasn’t just an ordinary droplet.

"What are you trying to do…”

"The same thing you are.”

The moment I gained the authority of creation, I became able to recreate the air of the real world. In other words, I could return at any time.

But if, instead of air, I created something else—

For example, the Abyssal Sea beyond the mid-layer that blocked the Outer Gods way.

If I tore open a passage to that place—

"So, what do you think?”

"...!”

Mimicry’s eyes trembled as it saw the other space formed beyond the expanding droplet.

It was a small but unmistakable passage. A path leading out of the depths. And for an Outer God like Mimicry, there was no way he couldn’t recognize that.

He stared between me and the space beyond the droplet, unable to believe it, then asked,

"What did you do?”

From that reaction, I became certain.

—Outer Gods couldn’t create passages.

Of course. If they could, they would have escaped long ago.

I don’t fully understand it yet, but creating a passage seemed to be an ability unique to wizards of the Abyssal Sea, like Nightchaser’s control over surfaces, or Mimicry’s ability to replicate.

Opening a path alone might not seem like much…

But that wasn’t the case for Mimicry.

"Tell me.”

He grew visibly impatient, demanding an answer.

If he could just immediately replicate it after seeing it, that would have been a problem, but knowing how to do something and being able to do it are two different things.

I snorted and gave the obvious answer.

"If you were me, would you tell me? that’s a ridiculous thing to ask.”

"...Fine. It doesn’t matter."

Mimicry smirked and clenched his fist.

"Now that I know it’s possible, it’s only a matter of time. Did you think my ability only copies appearance?”

"Of course not."

Eventually, Mimicry would steal even my unique ability.

Now that I’d revealed the method, its escape was only a matter of time.

Which meant the solution was simple.

"That is, if you survive long enough to get there.”

"..."

This time, Mimicry didn’t laugh at me. Instead, he became wary.

It didn’t really matter. I wasn’t the one who was going to deal with it.

-Riiip, crackle…

"They’re coming.”

I slowly stepped back from the passage and let them pour in.

Mimicry was so powerful he didn’t bother hiding himself in the sea.

He even left the scent of my blood he had consumed.

Enough for even the mid-layer deep-sea creatures to detect.

[A-aah, ah!!!!]

[Ghk, grrgh...!!]

Countless deep-sea creatures began forcing their way through the passage.

Driven purely by instinct to kill the mage of the Abyssal Sea.

However, the Abyssal Sea mage they were chasing wasn’t me, who was hiding in the currents, but the one mimicking me.

Seeing the swarm rushing in, Mimicry frowned and raised his hand.

"...If this is your answer to killing a god, then you are truly pathetic.”

[Gek, greek?]

The creatures froze all at once, like they’d been bound by invisible strings.

"Who do you think created these things?”

-Crunch!

As Mimicry clenched his hand, the deep-sea creatures were crushed into pulp, as if it were only natural.

Mimicry looked at me with disdain, as if he hadn’t even exerted effort.

"What’s next? More of them?”

"No, stronger ones.”

The moment Mimicry frowned—

-Crunch!

His body bent at a 90-degree angle.

"...?"

His spine folded instantly, which would have killed the real me, but it stood back up, staring at whatever had just done that.

-Clack, clack.

The rhythmic clicking still sent chills down my spine.

Mimicry slowly spoke.

"I don’t recall creating something like that.”

"Of course you don’t. Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused me?”

If you had to choose the most terrifying burden in the Abyssal Sea, it surely wouldn’t be pressure, the temperature, or suffocation.

It would be those monsters.

Creatures that drifted through the empty Abyssal Sea with only one command to capture me, devouring each other and evolving endlessly.

Over hundreds of years, they evolved beyond even their creator’s knowledge, and now, they were sinking their teeth into that very creator’s throat.

"..."

Mimicry raised his limbs, now turned into tentacles, and lashed out at the surrounding deep-sea creatures.

With just that, more than half of them vanished. Even the one that had bent Mimicry’s spine was torn apart like paper.

It didn't matter. Their number was practically infinite.

As Mimicry tried to swing at me next, it frowned, noticing that his right arm had frozen.

Deep-sea creatures, who seemed to be afflicted by cataract, had formed a single swarm and were staring at the frozen tentacle.

After a brief pause, Mimicry muttered,

"Absolute Frost…?”

"Looks like your creations…ate something other than me.”

The deep-sea creatures here were ones that had absorbed remnants of a certain enemy I had defeated.

They could use those abilities.

There weren’t many yet, but the ones flooding through the passage had already reached tens of thousands.

Even if only a fraction could use Absolute Forst, that was still a terrifying number.

[...]

The deep-sea creatures didn’t stop at immobilizing him.

A swarm hunting a single target—no, they were acting like a single organism.Without communication, they read the currents and divided roles perfectly, hunting the giant called Mimicry.

When some died intercepting his attacks, others exploited the openings and kept attacking.

"Pathetic insects…”

-Crunch!

Mimicry crushed them with tentacles sprouting from all over his body, seeming annoyed.

Their coordination was impressive, but against their own creator, their overall firepower was lacking.

From here on, it was my turn.

'Move.'

I subtly shifted the current, sending a signal.

[...]

[...]

For a brief moment, they looked at me in surprise.

It wasn’t for long. Then, as if reading my intent, they split apart perfectly.

Mimicry saw the opening as well and hurled his tentacles forward, but—

-Zzzt!

"...You."

I was just a bit faster.

A blade of pressure sliced across Mimicry’s face. Even when his spine was bent earlier, it hadn’t been hurt, but now, a faint cut appeared.

It was quite pathetic to call it a wound, but it was my first meaningful strike on an Outer God.

Enraged, Mimicry launched sharp tentacles at me, but the deep-sea creatures had already closed their ranks again, forming a living wall.

With no gain, Mimicry withdrew and silently touched his wound.

Now, with tentacles sprouting from his entire body, he looked less like me and more like the grotesque creature imitating me it was.

"I'm starting to get annoyed. Do you really think these little tricks mean anything?”

"They do though. You got hurt, right?”

If something bled, it could be killed.

If you repeated it once, 10 times, dozens of times, it meant it could be brought down.

As I steadied the pressure to prepare a follow-up strike, Mimicry slowly titled its head.

"...I see. You’re troublesome. Annoying even. If I could capture you alive, you’d be of great use, but the losses required would be too great.”

His body began to swell.

Sensing an inexplicable unease, I instinctively stepped back.

"I’ll admit it. You are something that cannot be captured alive. In other words, you are no longer useful to me.”

"What are you trying to—?”

-Boom!

With a sound like a bursting balloon, Mimicry’s swollen body exploded.

[??]

[?]

With Mimicry suddenly gone, the deep-sea creatures lost their prey and began searching aimlessly.

I immediately spread my Tide Sense, scanning the surroundings, but found nothing.

'Where did he go?’

There was no way he died like that.

He had definitely become something else. The problem was I didn’t know what, because I didn’t know all the worlds it had consumed.

Something transparent? Threads? Darkness? Something else?

"...No."

Something was off.

Whatever he had become, it should be detectable.

If he were simply too powerful, I would at least be able to feel an absence of something.

But right now, he had completely vanished.

As I stayed tense and searching, something changed.

-Pop!

"?"

A distant deep-sea creature was crushed.

I stared blankly at the flattened body…

-...Crunch!

-Crack, crunch!

One by one, they began to be crushed in sequence.

My Tide Sense still hadn’t detected anything. Only that they were being crushed by an invisible, suddenly intensified pressure.

In other words, it was using the power of the Abyssal Sea from somewhere.

...But where?

-Crunch...

[Geegh…]

It took less than 5 minutes for the last creature to be crushed.

With Mimicry’s copied body gone, no more creatures were entering. In the silent Abyssal Sea, I sharpened my senses and waited.

"-Ugh?!"

The pressure reached me.

I realized it the moment my throat tightened.

This—wasn’t pressure applied through the Abyssal Sea’s power.

"K-kgh…”

It wasn’t evenly distributed.

It wasn’t surrounding my body. It felt more like something invisible was choking my neck.

There was clear killing intent, but no visible flow of pressure.

"So that’s what you are..."

Clutching my throat, I grit my teeth as I grasped the truth.

Mimicry wasn’t using the Abyssal Sea’s powers.

'I didn’t know it could imitate not just life, but the world itself…'

—It had simply become the Abyssal Sea itself.