Chapter 161
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: ???? Layer - Abyss (1)
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I didn't lose consciousness.
Once the loading finished, my floating awareness settled back into place.
I could feel my feet touching the ground.
But it was pitch black.
Absolute darkness, without a single speck of light.
This was different from a void space filled with the element of darkness through perception.
It was simply darkness.
The depths of the Abyss were known as the grave of mages.
Mana was extremely scarce here.
Fortunately, the drop point was a good one.
There didn't seem to be any active monsters around.
I needed to get things under control before they stirred back to life.
First, I went around gathering the scattered goblins and party members.
My condition wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either.
As an avatar, I hadn't used the Goddess's main powers. I'd avoided any usage that might leave aftereffects.
To achieve that, I hadn't handed control over to her.
In fact, aside from stat doping, I hadn't utilized much else.
After creating light with magic and wandering a bit, I found there were a lot of survivors.
The Goddess must have truly poured everything she had into it.
"Glory to Chaos!"
Goblins who spotted me from all over stiffened up in salute.
She'd saved their lives, but all the ships had turned into ship-shaped wreckage.
We'd been dumped into the Abyss not through the official route like [Exile], but via this bullshit artificial Sudden Death method.
This many survivors was practically a miracle. Since it was the work of a god, it probably was one.
I could imagine the weary Goddess slumped over her throne, but there was no way to check.
This was presumed to be a four-digit layer of the Abyss, which was basically a full divine realm of the Abyss itself.
In the divine realm of a greater god, lesser gods who were Exiles couldn't exert influence.
Not the Goddess, nor the God of Nature.
No connections remained.
It was like entering a remote area out of radio range.
Most Exiles would be in deep trouble in that case. Priests especially, and setups heavily reliant on faith were common.
The deep Abyss was a place where you couldn't freeload—you needed real skill.
But of course, our party had never sucked up divine power like that, so it didn't matter to us.
Reuniting with the party members wasn't hard.
The Goddess must have tried to drop us as close as possible. They were all nearby, either unconscious or scouting the area.
I hoped the Abyss God wouldn't get pissed at this overreach by a lesser deity.
In the midst of that, I spotted the Skull Hunter.
I was at a loss for words.
"Why are you undead?"
[That's how it turned out...]
After hearing the story, I took a moment for reflection.
No matter how chaotic things were, I hadn't paid enough attention to my party members' well-being.
Of course, I didn't show it.
That's what a leader is.
Always perfect.
The kind who could say, "I knew you'd pull through," even if they'd been scared shitless inside.
I couldn't afford to break.
Considering we'd been caught in Sudden Death, the survival count was surprisingly high.
The most vital asset, Arcana, was wandering nearby, so I picked her up.
She prayed first.
The Goddess probably couldn't respond, hear, or even harvest faith, but Arcana's devotion was genuine.
Then she approached me, knelt, and bowed her head.
A colonel goblin with three star candies pinned to him was with her.
He was the highest-ranking survivor found so far, introducing himself as the chief of staff of the 32nd Federal Fleet.
He was trembling, of course.
Everyone else was legendary in their own right.
It was plenty intimidating for a mere colonel.
On my orders, we quickly reorganized the command structure for the surviving troops.
Meanwhile, Arcana tried summoning her dragon but failed. The connection was severed.
"It must have gotten sucked in too. We'll have to search for it here. If it comes into view, I can take control again."
[Understood.]
Even if more had survived than expected, the troop count was only around 300—not a large force. With many wounded, the effective number was even smaller.
United under faith, though, they processed tasks at an insanely fast pace.
In the process, the Federation survivors—who'd been swept into this unprecedented catastrophe—weren't demoralized; they were shedding tears of inspire.
"In all my life, I never dreamed I'd set foot in the [Abyss] and live...!"
"Mother! I've achieved the dream you couldn't!"
The Girl narrowed her eyes and slyly edged away from the goblins.
Then she stuck close to me and whispered.
"Those guys scare me."
"They scare me too."
No need to tell her the truth. The Chaos Throne did have beef with the [Abyss], after all.
But that wasn't the point right now anyway.
I'd fallen into the Abyss—not alone with just my party.
I had plenty of troops to serve as limbs.
Enough to build a foundation for survival.
Day 2.
The deep layers of the [Abyss] were dark.
Naturally, there wasn't a shred of light, even if you scrubbed your eyes looking.
Magic like [Darkvision] that pierced darkness was useless here.
This darkness wasn't ordinary—it was living darkness.
Like the darkness I'd conjured against Sharkma on the 12th floor.
Submerge in it fully, and you'd die.
Mental suffocation, you could call it.
Sensory stimulation was essential. Even goblin-like demihumans, no matter how developed their other senses, couldn't beat vision.
Light was a must.
The mages worked hard for it.
Parts scavenged from ship wreckage helped too.
Magic engines had all shut down, but some mana batteries were intact.
Hooked to surviving lights, they pushed back the dark.
The goblins who'd endured the first day on faith alone cheered at the faint glow.
The mages' lights flickered sporadically. With no ambient mana, they didn't recover.
Only body mana and batteries.
Light was used sparingly.
Out of 300 troops, 100 were wounded.
Half didn't last a day.
I was swamped. As high priest, I handled makeshift funerals; as leader, minor commands too.
Goblins were soldiers with basic survival know-how, but this was the Abyss.
I had to direct everything personally.
And amid that, conduct recon.
Even the vampire's bats lost connection at a distance here.
Had to hoof it on foot.
Took the Girl along to cover any surprises.
The Abyss was harsh for life.
But not exactly welcoming to inorganic matter either.
The monsters here were true horrors.
Existences of bizarre form, origin unknown.
The silver lining: they had minimal behavioral patterns.
This deep, few Sudden Death collapses reached.
Only valuables sank this far; monsters fed on them to survive.
So, recently flooded with new stuff, they hadn't awakened from dormancy yet.
Sure enough, a still-sleeping monster appeared.
The Girl covered her eyes and turned away.
Then, acrobatically, vomited silently.
I told her it was okay to make noise.
She didn't hesitate to wretch loudly.
"Ugh. I hate those things so much."
"They're stealthy—no presence. Too late to cover your eyes. Sorry."
"Still... I like being alone with you like this."
With eyes shut, she said that. I stroked her head while examining the shape ahead.
Abominations—Aboms for short—had no fixed form.
Not amorphous like slimes, but arbitrarily grotesque.
This one: a massive ball studded with dozens of human limbs.
Intestines exposed, writhing.
"Lucky. We didn't go too deep."
"Is that weak?"
"Around level 3000? Dragon-equivalent. But no intelligence, no magic—way easier to fight."
"...That's not deep?"
"This is the entrance to four-digit layers. Early 1000s at best. Abyss goes to 9999."
"Huh...? So we'll have to go there too...?"
"Yep. It's one of the [Main Dungeons]."
The Girl paled.
"All monsters here like that?"
"Well..."
By game terms, she was a companion unfit for the [Abyss].
But reality offered ways to overcome.
Worst case, leave her behind.
Explaining that, she shook her head vigorously.
"I-I'm going. Anyway, I'm going."
"You don't have to conquer every trial."
"But you do, Uncle."
"Me?"
Still blindfolded by her hands, she gripped my waist with both arms.
Then, in a strangely accusatory tone.
"Exiles say that's how it is, so I didn't pry... but I'm curious. Can I ask?"
Thinking about it, she was always obedient.
Her overwhelming strength made others follow suit naturally.
First run, so questions galore, but she'd held back.
I said ask away. Figured it'd be about names or something.
It wasn't.
"Why clear the Labyrinth?"
"...Hm?"
"Y'know. Other Exiles aren't half as capable as you—yet they flaunt ranker status, living lavish in kingdoms."
"True. Veterans who fail or quit self-rank that way."
I could answer that.
But she pressed first.
"I know other challengers too. Leveling up, growing stronger, meaningless deaths, game-like world. Perfect for numbing. That's why they stay challengers."
Achievement. Yeah. Most challengers aimed for strength itself or the honor of outpacing others.
Or the riches from tough clears, even without full clear.
That was my planned answer.
She went further.
"Doesn't seem like what you want, Uncle. You're purely after the clear. For others, the scraps matter more."
Eyes still shut, she asked.
A bit hesitant this time.
"Why go that far?"
Why ask here? I had a hunch. No one watching us now.
No God of Nature peeping creepily.
No cackling Goddess.
I gave...
The answer I'd given before.
"'Cause I'm a gamer."
Need more reason?
The game I cleared picking my nose became reality—and suddenly impossible.
I've always lived games seriously.
She blanked, then grimaced.
"You're actually insane. Too serious for your own good."
"Always serious. Can't survive the Labyrinth sane."
"Guess I gotta go nuts too?"
Dunno—seemed she didn't need effort for that.
Saying so, she punched me for the first time in ages.
