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 mont 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 thod.”
"...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 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 to tell you an easier way?”
"...?"
-Crunch.
As I raised a finger and ford a droplet of water, he frowned.
He realized imdiately that this wasn’t just an ordinary droplet.
"What are you trying to do…”
"The sa thing you are.”
The mont I gained the authority of creation, I beca able to recreate the air of the real world. In other words, I could return at any ti.
But if, instead of air, I created sothing 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 ford 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 and the space beyond the droplet, unable to believe it, then asked,
"What did you do?”
From that reaction, I beca 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 seed 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 .”
He grew visibly impatient, demanding an answer.
If he could just imdiately replicate it after seeing it, that would have been a problem, but knowing how to do sothing and being able to do it are two different things.
I snorted and gave the obvious answer.
"If you were , would you tell ? 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 ti. 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 thod, its escape was only a matter of ti.
Which ant the solution was simple.
"That is, if you survive long enough to get there.”
"..."
This ti, Mimicry didn’t laugh at . Instead, he beca 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 consud.
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 , who was hiding in the currents, but the one mimicking .
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 with disdain, as if he hadn’t even exerted effort.
"What’s next? More of them?”
"No, stronger ones.”
The mont Mimicry frowned—
-Crunch!
His body bent at a 90-degree angle.
"...?"
His spine folded instantly, which would have killed the real , 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 sothing like that.”
"Of course you don’t. Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused ?”
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 , 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 next, it frowned, noticing that his right arm had frozen.
Deep-sea creatures, who seed to be afflicted by cataract, had ford a single swarm and were staring at the frozen tentacle.
After a brief pause, Mimicry muttered,
"Absolute Frost…?”
"Looks like your creations…ate sothing other than .”
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 so 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 mont, they looked at 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 aningful strike on an Outer God.
Enraged, Mimicry launched sharp tentacles at , 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 and more like the grotesque creature imitating it was.
"I'm starting to get annoyed. Do you really think these little tricks an anything?”
"They do though. You got hurt, right?”
If sothing bled, it could be killed.
If you repeated it once, 10 tis, dozens of tis, it ant 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 troubleso. 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 sothing that cannot be captured alive. In other words, you are no longer useful to .”
"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 imdiately 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 beco sothing else. The problem was I didn’t know what, because I didn’t know all the worlds it had consud.
Sothing transparent? Threads? Darkness? Sothing else?
"...No."
Sothing was off.
Whatever he had beco, it should be detectable.
If he were simply too powerful, I would at least be able to feel an absence of sothing.
But right now, he had completely vanished.
As I stayed tense and searching, sothing 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 sowhere.
...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 .
I realized it the mont 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 sothing 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 beco the Abyssal Sea itself.
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