TL/ED – Miso

The bomb had possessed destructive power beyond my expectations, but the task I needed to carry out remained unchanged.

[…Aa- aa- aa- aa- aa-…]

Ignoring the screams that continued to echo, I checked the flow of the Current. By rough estimate, every Current within a range far exceeding several thousand meters was within my grasp.

‘Is this really all I can manage for now…’

Regardless of the sheer scale, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

In theory, I could reach every Current within the range of my Current Sense.

And the range of my Current Sense within the Deep Sea was far beyond a mere few thousand meters. However, since I had never seized and twisted such a vast area all at once before, there was a limit to how much I could gather and move at one time.

Even just that limit would be enough. I clenched my fist, and I felt it take hold.

[J-Jern. What are you…]

I focused.

I compressed that enormous Current. Carved it. Divided it. Stitched specific sections together with Water Pressure.

‘I can’t issue every command at once.’

If I moved this massive volume recklessly, without any structure or order, I would die before Elysia could even pull me out.

I had to create a precise point of impact. Until the moment I delivered the shock to that Barnacle, I needed to endure only as much Burden as I could bear.

And I wouldn’t get a second chance.

If I tried to form something too complex, I might fail to deliver a proper impact and blow it entirely.

That was why I chose the most familiar shape.

“…Done.”

I opened my hand.

At the same time, the result opened as well, a hand.

Fingers, the back of the hand, veins and all, rendered in perfect detail… a hand made of nothing but seawater.

To the naked eye, nothing had changed. But the Current was unmistakably tracing the shape of a hand under my command.

And I wasn’t the only one who sensed it.

[??]

[…????]

The Deep Sea Creatures that had been lurking nearby recoiled in terror at the sudden appearance of a colossal hand, as large as a mountain, materializing in the Deep Sea.

A few of the braver ones charged in and tried to bite it. But in the end, it was just a massive body of water woven from the Deep Sea’s pressure and Currents. There was nothing to strike.

I carefully lifted one finger of that enormous hand and lightly swept it through the space between myself and the Barnacle.

-BOOM!

[Ugh, it’s already come to its senses!]

That alone sent a tremendous surge of Current rushing in.

Mallo flapped wildly in the enormous wave, and Elysia squeezed her eyes shut and held onto me even tighter to keep from being torn away.

I felt the pressure squeezing my head, and at the same time, a throbbing ache in my finger.

“…?”

Wondering what that was, I moved the Deep Sea hand’s finger, and each time I did, the same finger on my real hand throbbed in response.

I had modeled it after my own hand, sure, but I hadn’t expected the sensation to sync up as well.

I had deliberately chosen to control the construct by moving my own fingers, mirroring its movements so I could operate this enormous apparatus intuitively… and perhaps that was why. It truly felt as if I had plunged my own hand into the depths of the Deep Sea and was moving it directly.

“If you want to get technical, it’s not seawater, it’s a sea-hand.” [TL: Jern is making a pun; 海水 (seawater) and 海手 (sea-hand) are homophones in Korean/Sino-Korean, both read as “haesu.”]

[…What are you going on about?]

“Nothing.”

I slowly drew my hand in, pressing the tip of my thumb firmly against the nail of my index finger.

In that pose, the stance for what’s commonly called a flick to the forehead, I waited for Elysia’s signal.

“24, 23…”

[….]

With the escape drawing near, the creature, having barely regained consciousness, sprouted countless eyes from its body. There were so many more than before that no part of it remained visible beneath them.

Those countless eyes rolled around sluggishly, and then, all at once, every single one of them locked onto my position.

As expected, with that many barnacles in its possession, it could find me even if Elysia blurred its connection to the Deep Sea.

That was fine. Whatever it tried to do, I had the means to hold out for the remaining dozen or so seconds. I steeled myself to endure whatever came…

Then I watched, stunned, as the creature’s tentacles swam in exactly the opposite direction.

“What?”

[Hm, is it just running away?]

…No.

If its opponent had come prepared with something, the smart move was to simply avoid it.

After taking a preemptive strike, the disadvantage was clear.

It only grew stronger with time.

The creature was fully aware of all those facts.

“5, 4, 3…”

Because it possessed intelligence, it could choose evasion.

Intelligence.

That was the one ability a Deep Sea Creature should never have.

“At least there’s one good thing about this.”

[?]

More than anything, it was a relief.

The fact that I could deal with that thing right now.

The Old Monsters dwelling at the very bottom of this Deep Sea were more than enough when it came to creatures with intelligence.

“…1!”

The instant Elysia’s signal dropped, I flicked the coiled finger.

-…CRACK!!!

[…!?…!??!]

A murky, milk-white fluid oozed out.

The Barnacle, once as massive as a mountain, was compressed in an instant, as if crushed by a colossal iron ball.

The eyes writhing and frantically scanning the surroundings gave some small hint of the Barnacle’s panic, but…

[Gi… urk…]

The shattered fragments began clinging to the mucus one by one, trying to reform their original shape. It had started regenerating almost simultaneously with being destroyed.

A method of recovery that no other Deep Sea Creature possessed, one that only that Barnacle had equipped itself with.

But there was also a reason the other Deep Sea Creatures had evolved without such recovery mechanisms.

In this ocean, there existed a predator that did not forgive comebacks.

-CRUNCH…!

[Ah, urk…]

The larger a being was, the more Water Pressure it had to bear. Its already shattered shell, far from returning to its original form, was only being crushed further and further.

As I watched the mountain gradually shrink, I felt the Burden approaching.

The cost of breaking a mountain was coming back to my hands.

However.

I closed my eyes and opened them, and this place was no longer the Deep Sea.

It was some terrace whose nature I couldn’t identify. In place of the monstrous Barnacle, a setting sun hung before my eyes.

“Phew…”

It had actually worked.

Elysia’s ability served as a kind of debt forgiveness, allowing me to use the Deep Sea’s powers to my heart’s content and then escape the Burden.

There was a penalty in that using it meant I had no choice but to leave the Deep Sea, but…

I turned my gaze to Elysia, who was still cradled in my arms.

“Elysia, thank…”

“Zzz…”

It wasn’t the best timing for gratitude.

Elysia was fast asleep. Her face was lined with an exhaustion I had never seen while she was awake, which told me she had deliberately hidden how tired she was so I wouldn’t notice.

What a trooper.

I carefully carried her inside, laid her on a nearby bed, then came back out and settled in.

Before Elysia even woke, I gritted my teeth as I felt the Deep Sea’s cold, clinging embrace wrap around my body once more.

The second gate.

[Hmm, doesn’t seem like there’s anything left.]

“Yeah.”

Fortunately, returning to the Deep Sea didn’t mean the leftover Burden came crashing down on me.

So I really just had to dodge that one moment.

The Deep Sea I had re-entered was littered with fragments of the Barnacle’s shell. Normally, when a Deep Sea Creature died, it left behind a Fish Pill, but this one had left nothing of the sort.

Maybe it was because the thing was so unusual. I tilted my head, puzzled, and was about to head back when…

[Th-there! Over there!]

Mallo hurriedly grabbed me and pointed somewhere.

“What’s there?”

[True Blood! It left behind True Blood when it died!]

“What…?”

I looked again, and sure enough, a few handfuls of something resembling blood remained.

I hadn’t noticed because the fluid looked so similar to the Deep Sea itself. I slowly scraped it together with the Current, and Mallo muttered excitedly.

[Not a single drop was lost. Thank goodness.]

“What is this? The blood just stays behind without being consumed?”

[True Blood is called that as a formality, but it isn’t actually blood. It’s closer to the Creator’s will. Put it in a bottle or some container for now.]

“You’re not going to absorb it?”

[Not yet. I haven’t even fully digested the True Blood from the Sacred Soil. Once I’ve digested it all, the things I’ll be capable of will be on an entirely different level…]

While Mallo rambled on, I poured the blood into a water bottle I had been carrying around, then returned to reality.

Seen in the real world, the blood in the bottle looked like nothing more than ordinary blood.

A dark, reddish liquid. And only about half the bottle at that.

A monster of that magnitude had been born from this much blood.

…My curiosity was piqued.

[At least now I can pay my respects to the soul of a fallen comrade…]

“Hmm, so Mallo, you’re saying you don’t need the True Blood right away?”

[That’s right. But… what are you doing?]

I had opened the bottle and was sniffing it, which seemed to make Mallo uneasy.

“I was thinking about drinking it. Why?”

[…Have you lost your mind?]

“What’s the problem? This stuff grants wishes, doesn’t it?”

The Deep Sea Creatures’ wish had been to find me.

And so, the Barnacle, having been exposed to True Blood, gained eyes that could detect me.

The Holy Relics had wished to protect the world. And so, they became tools to stand against the Crimson Circle that would one day come, and they safeguarded the world.

It seemed like nothing more than a cure-all that simply grants the desires of whatever it touches. Above all, the abilities of Elysia and Sharmia, who were True Blood Bearers, were things even I found extraordinary.

“I feel like I could gain at least one means of escaping the Deep Sea. What do you think?”

[…Jern.]

Mallo’s tone grew more serious than I had expected.

[If that is what you wish, then do so.]

“Hm?”

[If you truly wish to escape the Deep Sea, then drink the True Blood. If you do, you may indeed be able to escape through that alone. You might even accomplish something beyond that.]

“Uh, really?”

[Yes. But, before that, look at me.]

Mallo rustled its collar, making its presence known.

[Do I look like a normal human being to you?]

“…”

[True Blood is not some almighty elixir that grants everything. No, it’s closer to a double-edged sword that turns every wish into despair. I do not regret drinking the True Blood. But not every Holy Relic shares my conviction.]

I closed the bottle of True Blood and let out a sigh.

“I figured as much. Unless it’s the absolute worst-case scenario, it does seem like a bad idea to actually drink this.”

I could end up becoming a monster.

I had no intention of pouring something like that into my body. All I wanted was to escape the Deep Sea through normal means.

[A wise choice.]

Mallo, as if to console me, soon brought up something else.

[Still, there are other ways to use it. For example, you could have a being that shares the same goal as you drink it, like the Creator did…]

“…Oh.”

[Of course, finding such a being would be extremely rare… Jern?]

“I think I know someone like that.”

[…No, even if such a person exists, you shouldn’t actually make them drink it. Not if they don’t want to…]

“They’d want to.”

[Even if it means becoming a monster?]

“They’re already a monster.”

[Who in the world are you talking about?]

I shrugged at the bewildered Mallo and answered.

“My master.”

[?]