I’d been so obsessed with the title First Mage that I had forgotten their true essence.

Could someone who seized every Outer God and sealed them inside their own body truly be human?

They could never have been human, and they never should have been.

It had already been certain that they were an Outer God—specifically the Outer God of the Abyssal Sea.

"No wonder nobody could’ve known, since there were no other wizards of the Abyssal Sea..."

I had thought I could use magic because I was a possessed human or something. But now that I thought about it, whether I was a possessed human or a beast, if I was a wizard, then once I fell into the Abyss, I should’ve lost the ability to use magic just the same.

Only then did the truth begin to reveal itself.

'Did they create magic using the authority of creation?'

If I used the authority of creation to create deep-sea creatures, then the Outer God of the Abyssal Sea had created an entirely new concept called magic.

The First Mage was, quite literally, the founder of magic itself.

And after that, they abandoned their identity as the Outer God of the Abyssal Sea.

[U-uuugh…]

"I somehow just knew that what you were trying to do was impossible.”

Wizards were those who inherited the blood of the First Mage and wielded their power.

In other words, they were the descendants of the Outer God of the Abyssal Sea. If one was not among them, escaping the Abyssal Sea was impossible from the very beginning.

—Because they couldn’t use magic.

The mana required to activate magic could be drawn infinitely from the water of the Abyssal Sea. It had been that way ever since I first learned magic.

Naturally. Because magic itself had originally been born within the Abyssal Sea.

"So this was magic all along…”

I let out a sigh as I created an air bubble.

Until now, I’d mistaken it for an innate ability of the Abyssal Sea itself. If it had truly been like that, Mimicry would’ve been able to create air bubbles the moment he obtained me, just like he copied pressure and currents.

Now that I thought about it, there had always been strange overlaps between magic and the Abyssal Sea. Things like the water of the Abyssal Sea acting as mana or my Abyssal abilities growing stronger as my star count increased.

All of it stemmed from the same reason.

Because magic was a concept born within the depths of the Abyssal Sea.

[R-release me…!]

As I drifted in thought, Mimicry was still thrashing around with all the strength he had left.

It was futile, though.

"Not happening."

[Uwaaargh…!]

I had been lucky.

If Mimicry hadn’t transformed into the Abyssal Sea, then even after discovering my identity, I probably would’ve struggled against him for a lot longer. But instead, he had been completely duped by the state of my very being that even I myself hadn’t fully understood and kindly handed me his own leash.

And the price for that mistake would be his life.

[You cannot kill me…!]

"That’s true."

-Crunch!

I clenched empty air and let out a mocking laugh.

There truly was no way to kill a god. Unless I intended to imprison Mimicry forever, it would eventually revive, filled with hatred for me, and wait for another opportunity.

But I could still do something that would make it wish for death.

[Wh-what are you doing…?]

"You wouldn’t mind if I took some of your uselessly giant body, right?”

[...No!!!]

Slowly, as if squeezing juice out of fruit…

I dismantled Mimicry’s Abyssal Sea, turning it into my own seawater.

I could feel the enormous mass that once seemed capable of covering the sky gradually shrinking.

And as its size diminished, Mimicry’s very presence weakened alongside it.

—While my own Abyssal Sea water increased.

[Do you truly believe a mere human can endure this?! My aeons of existence! The Outer Gods I devoured! Do you not know your place, you fool?!]

Mimicry snarled, desperately trying to stop me.

And he wasn’t speaking nonsense. Having devoured countless gods, Mimicry had grown into something monstrous. His sheer scale alone was abnormal. If I tried to consume all of it, there was a genuine possibility I’d be swallowed instead.

But now, I understood what I really was.

"You idiot. Where do you think you are right now?”

[...]

"This is the Abyssal Sea. A place that could swallow thousands, even tens of thousands of things like you and remain perfectly fine.”

And then, "I am the Outer God of the Abyssal Sea."

[Impossible...]

With half his body already consumed, Mimicry let out one final groan.

It wasn’t much of a last word. When the remaining half disappeared as well, the surrounding Abyssal Sea water slowly glowed jade-green and fell silent.

No matter where I looked, there wasn’t the slightest trace of life left in this Abyssal Sea.

A world completely mine.

'What the hell was that bastard’s deal anyway?’

I had defeated an Outer God.

And not just any god—but Mimicry, one of the truly powerful ones.

And yet, I still frowned over a mystery that remained unsolved.

To organize everything that I had found out so far—an Outer God resident to the Abyssal Sea had suddenly decided to create magic, then escaped outside, devoured all the Outer Gods, created a peaceful world, and then devoted themselves to preserving that peace.

...Why?

Hd they suddenly discovered human compassion in this hellish place? No matter how I looked at it, their actions didn’t resemble those of an Outer God at all. As I tilted my head in confusion, I saw a crack forming in empty space.

'Ah, right.’

I immediately threw myself through the fissure.

Beyond the fractured wall, a peaceful world awaited me.

And standing within it was Nightchaser, staring at me in utter disbelief.

"..."

"..."

"...Y-you really defeated…him?”

"Well, about that..."

"—Outer God of the Abyssal Sea."

"...”

So she had been watching.

A brief silence passed.

Right up until Nightchaser pulled a spear from the water’s surface, her face overflowing with killing intent.

"You, why did you do this?”

"...What?"

The atmosphere was anything but normal, so I instinctively took a step back. Nightchaser looked like she was about to burst into tears as she immediately pointed her spear at me.

"What in the world is this?! What grudge do you have against me?! What did I ever do to you?! Why did you lock me in here for all those years?! Answer me! Right now!”

"Ah, so you didn’t hear everything.”

"That’s not an answer…!”

"Just wait a second.”

I casually unraveled her spear.

"Wha—..."

Nightchaser stared in shock as the weapons he had created came apart.

To her, that meant her domain had been effortlessly invaded.

Though, honestly, I was a little surprised too.

'So I can do stuff like this now.'

I still couldn’t clearly distinguish what I could and couldn’t do.

That interference had been closer to an unconscious reflex than a deliberate act.

Having just witnessed the overwhelming difference in power between us, Nightchaser could only glare at me helplessly.

"First off, sorry for deceiving you. But I’m really not the Outer God of the Abyssal Sea. Well, I am, but not the one that imprisoned you.”

"...Explain."

Her voice had become much quieter. So I explained everything from beginning to end.

At first Nightchaser listened skeptically, but when I started explaining magic, she frowned.

"Magic?”

"Something like this."

-Fwoosh!

I lit a small flame within the Abyssal Sea.

"What’s that? You just made fire."

"Hm…It’s closer to saying I ignited it.”

At that, Nightchaser’s eyes slowly widened.

"Wait, ignited?”

"Yeah? What’s the big deal?”

"Bring it here.”

Contrary to her words, she approached on her own. She examined the flame from every angle before covering her mouth.

"...The condensation of a world.”

"What?”

After remaining silent for a long while, Nightchaser finally sighed and nodded.

"I understand now. You and the Outer God of the Abyssal Sea are different entities. That First Mage must’ve been a seriously deranged lunatic.”

"Yeah. Glad you get it.”

"Then what about my escape? How does that work? That’s the only thing that matters to me.”

I scratched my head for a moment before realizing I couldn’t avoid answering under Nightchaser’s intense stare.

"You can’t leave."

"...Why?"

"Because the only beings capable of escaping the depths are those who can use both the authority of creation and magic.”

In other words, an Outer God mage.

But magic could never be obtained unless one inherited the blood of the Outer God of the Abyssal Sea.

Which meant that unless a wizard who had reached the bottom realized what they truly were—

"There’s no escaping the Abyssal Sea.”

No matter what method they devised, it was doomed to fail.

The Abyssal Sea was a prison of unparalleled cruelty that categorically denied escape.

"..."

Nightchaser stared blankly into empty space before slowly turning back toward me.

"B-but if it’s you, you could let me out, couldn’t you?”

"I thought about that too, but no.”

"...Why?"

"There’s only one reason I came all the way down here. To kill Great Void.”

To gain the method and power necessary to kill him.

And honestly, I’d already succeeded. Even if I left right now, I’d accomplished far more than I originally intended.

"He’s trying to destroy the world I live in. I have to stop that. But if I let you out—then I’d have two enemies instead of one.”

Every surface of water would become hell.

People would fall into wells and drown. They would choke to death while trying to drink water.

"Even if it happened because you were deceived, I’m still grateful for your help. But I can’t let you out.”

If not for Nightchaser, Mimicry might have caught me long ago and torn me apart.

I owed her my life for that, so I would gladly grant her almost any request—

But no matter how indebted I felt, I could never release a predator like her onto the real world.

"I’m sorry."

"...I want to see moonlight.”

"What?"

Just as I was turning away, Nightchaser spoke in a hollow voice.

"Before I fell into this Abyss, I was hanging above the sea. And the last thing I saw was a crescent moon. It was beautiful. I still can’t forget it.”

So that was why her world had been a sea at night.

"I want to see it again so badly. No matter what I have to do…”

Nightchaser slowly walked toward me.

"Haah..."

So it was going to end like this after all.

An obsession is called an obsession because it never disappears. And after festering for centuries—even more so.

Without a word, I raised a finger.

-Ruuuuumble...

The deep layer trembled. As though it had been waiting for its master to return.

It declared its intent to crush any living being beneath its infinite weight.

"No matter the cost, I will see it again.”

Determination filled Nightchaser.

For the first time, I witness the final resolve of an Outer God.

*t*t*

I opened my eyes.

A brilliant full moon hung overhead.

"...Tsk."

Suppressing the discomfort in my chest, I slowly rose and looked around. I saw trees.

They were organic lifeforms I had never once seen in the Abyssal Sea. As I tried to stand, I staggered and quickly caught my balance.

I wasn’t used to walking on land anymore. Which probably meant I had spent that long down in the Abyssal Sea.

As I slowly adjusted to gravity and looked around, no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find the lake I had fallen into.

I spread my Tide Sense.

-Crack—

"Ah, wait—”

By the time I realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

From beneath the forest floor, freezing water began to surge wildly. It flowed and flowed, slowly swallowing the entire forest.

-Craaaaaack…

Trees that must have stood for centuries began sinking beneath the rising waters in an instant. By the time I hurriedly restrained my power, a gigantic lake hundreds of meters across had already formed in the middle of the first, where not a single stream had existed before.

Since it was made of seawater, maybe calling it a small sea would’ve been more accurate.

'...How the hell am I supposed to control this?’

Before, all I had to do was use my Tide Sense to observe my surroundings.

But this time was different. The moment I used Tide Sense, every place it touched transformed into the Abyssal Sea itself.

If you thought about it, this was Mimicry’s fault as well. After devouring him whole, I felt like a person who had walked for all their life, suddenly thrust into the cockpit of a fighter jet.

The slightest hint of intention caused my power to spiral violently out of control.

As I floated atop te lake trying to figure out how to restore the surroundings…

"So you finally reached it.”

At the opposite shore stood Heavenly Balance, holding a torch.

She glanced uneasily at the lake before looking back at me.

"Though it seems you did more than merely reach it.”

"You knew, didn’t you?”

I immediately approached her, grinding my teeth.

I’d lost count of how many times I’d considered killing her while trapped in the Abyssal Sea.

"You know all wizards were Outer Gods of the Abyssal Sea! That’s why you sent me down to the deep layer, wasn’t it?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

"Calm yourself first. And restore your shape.”

"...?"

Heavenly Balance pointed toward my feet.

They had melted into liquid.

"What the—”

Startled, I hurriedly pulled them back together, and proper feet reformed.

Watching me panic, Heavenly Balance blinked several times in disbelief.

"This is beyond merely realizing you were a fragment of an Outer God. You actually became an Outer God! As a human…?”

"Answer me first. Why didn’t you tell me?”

"Because if you knew, then they would know as well.”

Despite her obvious shock, Heavenly Balance forced the words out.

"Do you think they would fail to notice you trying to hide the blood of the Abyss within you? They did not know because you did not know.”

"..."

It wasn’t completely unreasonable.

If I’d known from the start, I probably would have been exposed or killed during the fight with Mimicry. Maybe the mid-layer would’ve stopped me before I ever descended further. That didn’t make me any less pissed off, though.

"More importantly, did you truly become an Outer God?”

"Hm, I guess you could say I got absurdly lucky…”

"That may not be entirely fortunate.”

Heavenly Balance frowned and shook her head.

"This world was hostile toward gods from the very moment it was created. Of course, things might be different if you possessed proper foundational knowledge. But you don’t even have that, do you?”

"Nope."

"If you don’t learn how to control that power, Great Void may discover you before you even realize it yourself. To be honest, this has gone so far beyond anything imaginable that even I’m at a loss. For now, wouldn’t it be wiser to return to the Abyssal Sea and hide yourself there?”

"You want me to go back there after finally escaping?”

I’d rather die.

And besides, it wasn’t like I had no alternatives.

"I’ll just ask my senior for details."

"Senior?"

Heavenly Balance titled her head.

Then, slowly, horror spread across her face.

"Y-you don’t mean, from that hell—”

"Anyway, introductions should come first. Say hello.”

I sighed and pointed my thumb toward the lake.

A familiar face cautiously peeked up from the water.

"Strictly speaking, I'm not really an Outer God anymore, so relax…you can relax, right?”

Nightchaser gave a curt nod as though she wasn't entirely pleased doing so.

At the greeting, Heavenly Balance ignored Nightchaser entirely and glared straight at me instead.

"Put it back where you found it. Immediately.”

...She was talking like I’d brought home a stray dog.