"If you survived that place, then you should know.”

Heavenly Balance looked at me with utter disbelief, like I should have known better.

"You should understand what would happen if something like that were released into the world.”

When she pointed directly at that ‘thing,’ I frowned slightly.

"Well, aren’t you confident? First off, she’s not even really an Outer God anymore. And even if she were, she’s not exactly the kind of existence you can point fingers at carelessly. You’d normally die instantly for offending one.”

"Once they have emerged, that no longer matters."

Heavenly Balance answered sharply while glaring at Nightchaser, who floated quietly atop the lake staring up at the moon.

"Do you understand how fragile and broken this world currently is? The world the creator made is collapsing in real time. To the point that it can’t endure the presence of even a single Outer God. If that thing were to rampage—then all your efforts would amount to nothing.

"If that’s the concern, then it’s fine. She’s no longer a divine existence anyway.”

At Heavenly Balance’s silent demand for explanation, I slowly began recounting what happened.

*t*t*

Back in the Abyssal Sea.

At first I misunderstood. I thought Nightchaser had given up on everything and intended to fight me to the death.

Well, I wasn’t entirely wrong, just slightly off the mark.

"Rather than continue existing as a god doomed to remain trapped forever within the Abyssal Sea, it’s better to abandon life as a god entirely.”

"...What?"

The one Nightchaser attacked wasn’t me.

—It was herself.

Watching her presence gradually fade before my eyes was honestly quite shocking. It looked disturbingly similar to what had happened to Mimicry.

But no one was devouring Nightchaser. Instead, the components that made up the god known as Nightchaser slowly dissolved into the sea and vanished.

-Creaaak, creak...

The world Nightchaser had created slowly began collapsing.

When I stared at her, silently asking what the hell she thought she was doing, Nightchaser answered with a resolute expression.

"Tell me this. Are you saying I cannot leave simply because I’m a god? That if I exist outside, the lives you cherish will die? Is that why you can’t let me go?”

"Well…yeah.”

"Then what if—I lose everything? What if I fall into mortality? What if I become a being incapable of exerting any influence over the world whatsoever? If I become less than human? Would you take me out then?”

"Nightchaser."

Her serious expression and the color slowly fading from her face.

Everything about her made it obvious she was sincere. So I answered sincerely as well.

"No matter what you do here, I can’t promise you anything for certain.”

"..."

"I’ll explain it more clearly. If you really throw away all your power and truly become weaker than a human, then yeah, I could take you with me.”

If she truly became that kind of being, it would just be adding one more human-like being to a world already overflowing with humans.

If she could bring herself to trust me.

"But I can’t promise you anything beyond my word.”

Even if she discarded her life as a god, all I could offer her in return was my promise.

There was absolutely no reason for me to go so far as to make a contract or sacred oath guaranteeing I’d take Nightchaser with me to accommodate her circumstances.

"There’s still time, so think about it carefully. If I change my mind, you’ll just end up trapped in this Abyssal Sea without even being a god anymore.”

And if she fell into that state, would she even last an hour before ending up like Mimicry?

Nightchaser immediately twisted her expression and glared at me.

"You seriously have a terrible personality, you know that?”

"...What?"

"When you told me to take my time and think about it, you had already decided that if I’d even pretend to hesitate for a moment, you were going to abandon me immediately, weren’t you? You’d assumed I still had ulterior motives.”

"..."

I couldn’t deny it.

Nightchaser sighed like she’d expected exactly that and continued strangling herself.

"Living forever is a blessing. At least it was before I became trapped in this Abyss. After that it just became a curse. The only reason I never ended things myself was because I still held hope that someday I could escape. The hope you just shattered.”

"Sorry…?”

The parts of her that my Tide Sense couldn’t fully distinguish continued shrinking.

Until they reached the point where they could physically touch my skin.

Standing right in front of me now, Nightchaser closed her eyes as if nothing mattered anymore.

"If you’re sorry, then take responsibility.”

"...What even is this?”

She had truly transformed from a god into a human.

No, calling it suicide would've been more accurate. For a god to abandon divinity was a far greater loss than a human simply returning to nothingness.

Was her desire to leave truly so overwhelming that she’d willingly accepted that loss? That thought was quickly buried beneath sheer bewilderment.

"Why do you still look like that?”

Even after becoming human, Nightchaser was still imitating Linmel’s appearance.

She opened her eyes and tilted her head like she couldn’t understand the complaint.

"Because I show people what they most want to see. I figured this appearance might influence your decision.”

A painfully practical answer.

"So, what are you going to do? Decide before I die a second time.”

"..."

That appearance had absolutely no influence on my decision.

None whatsoever.

*t*t*

"And that’s how things ended up like this. She’s basically just a powerless god inhabiting a human body now. In other words, she’s human.”

I shrugged while pointing at Nightchaser floating atop the water.

After hearing the whole story, Heavenly Balance answered without the slightest hesitation.

"Then throw her away immediately.”

"Why?”

"Because she’s useless. What exactly do you plan to do by dragging something like that around?”

"I am useful, though?”

While listening sullenly, Nightchaser lightly drifted toward the lakeshore.

"From what I heard from him, this entire world is being targeted by Great Void, right?”

"That’s right."

"And this world is basically a floating garden created by that being known as the ‘Outer God of the Abyssal Sea,’ with not a single Outer God left to keep Great Void in check?”

"...Right."

"Then it’s over. Completely over. There’s no struggling your way out of this one.”

Nightchaser let out a cynical laugh while keeping her lower body submerged in the lake.

"Why do you think Great Void kept throwing us all into the Abyssal Sea? Because controlling the sky wasn’t enough. He wanted the earth too. And now there isn’t a single Outer God left on this land? Meanwhile, he resurrected inside the body of the ruler of the world. The enemies are gone, and he became even stronger. So what exactly are you planning to do about that?”

"My thoughts exactly."

Heavenly Balance calmly accepted Nightchaser’s sarcasm.

"If there hadn't been exactly one being among all those who know the truth who still refused to give up, then even I would have abandoned hope.”

As she said that, Heavenly Balance looked at me.

Nightchaser pouted for a moment before sighing.

"Then that just makes me even more useful. Not to brag, but Great Void didn’t catch me and threw me into the Abyssal Sea. I got swallowed by the Abyssal Sea while wandering the sea. Wanna know the reason? Because I knew how to hide.”

“You still fail to understand your position. You are a mere human now.”

"Oh, look at the wooden doll talk! You should stop pretending to be human too.”

"..."

"And besides, I’m not completely human, anyway. If that guy lends me just a tiiiiny bit of his authority of creation, I feel like I might be able to use some power again……?”

I looked at Heavenly Balance and nodded.

"Yeah, I was wrong. I’ll just dump her somewhere after all.”

"Of course, even aside from that, I do know how to hide from Great Void.”

Nightchaser hurriedly continued.

"There’s always been only one way to hide from Great Void. Don’t stand on the ground.”

"The ground?”

"Yeah. That thing’s true nature is that.”

Nightchaser pointed toward the sky.

"He can see everything from up there. And Great Void can go anywhere he can see. So in practice, there’s almost no way to hide.”

"...I see."

No wonder his near-teleportation-like ability always felt absurdly overpowered.

As I frowned, Nightchaser clicked her tongue and wagged a finger at me.

"That's why you simply avoid standing on the earth. For example, if you stay deep underground or inside a lake like this. That’s how you can avoid his surveillance.”

"Alright. That sounds doable.”

I nodded before scratching my head.

"But what about after that?”

"..."

I could hide no problem.

I had become the Outer God of the Abyssal Sea. I even had a plan to defeat Great Void.

And after absorbing Mimicry, my power had reached the heavens.

But it stopped there.

"For now, my plan is to cover this world with the Abyssal Sea.”

"You mean you’re going to destroy it so the enemy can’t have it?”

"Listen to the end. Even if I somehow get a chance to beat Great Void head-on, he still governs the sky. With that cheap teleportation authority of his, he can escape anytime he wants.”

"...True."

"So I’m going to flood the world with the Abyssal Sea, then suspend the space beneath it and pull the sky into my grasp.”

"Hah."

After hearing my explanation, Heavenly Balance frowned.

"That is…an incredibly brutal method. When exactly did you come up with something like that?”

"It just popped into my head while taking lessons from the outer Gods down below, more or less. So, how does it sound?”

"I’m not even sure what kind of reaction you expect from me…”

Heavenly Balance titled her head with her arms crossed.

"It’s such an overwhelmingly divine way of thinking that I hardly know what to say. From drowning the entire world in the Abyssal Sea to dragging the Heavens down beneath it. You may want to ask that former god over there instead.”

Receiving the look directed at her, Nightchaser frowned as though even she found it difficult to answer.

"What exactly do you think gods are? There’s never been a single god in history who tried something this insane.”

"So it’s impossible?”

"In the past, yes. But now that there aren’t any gods left upon the earth, and Great Void remains suspended in the heavens. So practically speaking, he’s the only god left…which means it might actually be possible. Still, even after absorbing Mimicry, it’d be impossible for you to drown the entire world without leaving even the slightest gap. And if you’re trying to keep all the people living down there alive while doing it, that’s…”

Nightchaser sighed before continuing.

"But considering the situation, no, actually, only because of the situation, it barely reaches the level of theoretically feasible. At the very least, I can guarantee one thing. Great Void would never, ever predict a method like this.”

"So even by the standards of an Outer God, this is considered bizarre.”

Hearing that, Heavenly Balance actually smiled with amusement.

"...Perhaps this might not be such a bad idea after all.”

"I’m telling you, though. Right now, all of this is still a pipe dream.”

Nightchaser looked back at me.

"You need to become at least 10 times larger, and you’ll have to learn how to properly wield an Outer God’s authority too. Your fine control already seems basically complete, but controlling massive-scale authority with precision is an entirely different matter.”

"Can you help me?”

"If I say no, are you going to throw me back into the Abyssal Sea?”

"I might let you out on weekends occasionally.”

"That wasn’t a joke, was it? You’re genuinely terrifying, you know?”

Completely horrified, Nightchaser sank into the lake in a spray of bubbles.

Of course, I felt just as appalled myself.

"So the direction’s decided, and in the end I have to go back underwater again..."

Whether I was the Outer God of the Abyssal Sea or not, it felt like my entire body was about to develop a full-on rash just thinking about it.

And digging underground right away wouldn’t work, since Nightchaser wouldn’t be able to follow.

I should probably at least report back to Dercia. As I was thinking that, a sudden thought occurred to me.

I’d spend far longer inside the Abyssal Sea than expected, so wouldn’t everyone be worried by now?

"Come to think of it, how many days have passed? About a week?”

"What are you talking about?”

Heavenly Balance titled her head.

"A week? So you entered without knowing—Ah, right. I never told you. I just assumed you’d die there.”

"What? What didn’t I know?”

"The place you entered wasn’t the Abyssal Sea itself but a domain where gods are imprisoned. And places like that are…well, let’s say time tends to pass a little faster…”

Trailing off, Heavenly Balance pointed toward the water’s surface.

"It’ll be faster if you see for yourself.”

No way.

Feeling a terrible sense of foreboding, I looked into the mirror formed by the moonlight on the water.

And there, staring back was…

"...Nightchaser, stop with the pranks.”

"? What pranks?”

"This has to be a joke. You. Hurry up and tell me this is a joke.”

"I’m asking what you’re talking about.”

A man I had never seen before.