༺ Escaping from the Abyss ༻
“Ahh, how I’ve missed this feeling. It’s been so long since I stood here to deliver a lecture.”
This marked my first lesson ever since Tyr’s rampage. Waking from my brief reverie, I tapped the chalkboard with a piece of chalk, signaling the start of class.
The Regressor, whom I had displaced from the teacher’s desk, appeared gruff and stiff for some reason.
“90 days? How is that possible?”
“Now, now, let’s not be too hasty.”
It was my turn to work for once. I ignited the tip of my chalk stick with an alchemical light and tapped the board again.
Initially, I had intended to keep the method of escaping the abyss, which I had discerned from Lieutenant General Ebon, a closely guarded secret. But given that my strength alone was insufficient to break out, I decided to specially reveal it.
Taking out a paper pack I had prepared, I began addressing the others.
“Everyone. While you’ve all been enjoying yourselves in the abyss, I underwent countless trials in search of a means to escape this place.”
I had doggedly pressed the golem to apply for supplies, even engaging in psychological warfare, and meticulously scrutinized every incoming cargo. Though the passing days might have appeared peaceful, I had been persistently laboring beneath it all. Then at last… well, I just found out from Ebon’s memories.
… All my previous efforts felt meaningless, but I hoped they had still been worth something.
“After disassembling each and every shipment from the Military State, I’ve made a staggering discovery. It is none other than…”
While speaking, I sprinkled the contents of the paper pack. With a soft rustle, fine particles of something that didn’t belong there rolled onto the floor.
The Regressor tilted her head quizzically.
“Dirt?”
“That’s right. It’s dirt!”
With my arms outstretched, I exclaimed as if unearthing a revelation.
“Every single item dropped down here from the Military State, even the parachutes! Whether it was carried on hand, or squeezed into tiny crevices! Everything contained soil from the surface!”
This was the result of my meticulous investigation until now. The work I did while the others were simply playing around.
“Ordinarily, not a speck of earth or dust falls in this place cursed by Mother Earth. Otherwise, there couldn’t be any land collapsed around such a massive hole. Even if you were to toss a grain of sand into the abyss, it would stick to the walls on its own and eventually return to the embrace of Mother Earth… But! That’s precisely why this dirt can become a catalyst!”
The Regressor, possessing some magical knowledge, quickly grasped my meaning.
“A catalyst?”
“Yes! The abyss is an expanse of endlessly falling land. But where in the world would infinite space exist? The earth is round, so if the descent were infinite, it would have to emerge on the opposite side! Yet, we don’t. Because!”
I drew two straight lines across the chalkboard. To convey the notion of infinite length, I drew a cut in the middle and then sketched Tantalus before placing a large question mark.
“In this abyss, both coordinates and space itself lose significance! Here, everyone becomes lost souls falling eternally into the abyss!”
“…But if space itself lacks meaning, then to reach what’s within, you’d actually have to…”
The Regressor murmured to herself, beginning to understand. I nodded emphatically and added a big asterisk beside Tantalus.
“Indeed. In the pitch-black ocean of night, a lighthouse beacon becomes the goal, the guidepost, and the coordinates. Tantalus has become the guiding post of the abyss. How?”
From this point on, my knowledge became a fusion of personal speculation and insights gleaned from Ebon’s memories. I shouted it all out in front of my audience.
“Because when constructing Tantalus, it was blessed by a priest of Mother Earth! Yes, this entire land!”
“…I’m surprised they consented to such an endeavor. I’m pretty sure the abyss is an absolutely forbidden realm for the priests of Mother Earth.”
Yes, I also thought the same. The Regressor deserved some credit for unveiling this truth. Because, no matter how I considered it, the mysterious woman dwelling in her memories had to be a priestess of Mother Earth.
“Even if the entire land is made of concrete, its essence still originates from the earth. They shaped the land and erected structures using concrete made from blessed sand and gravel. However, regardless of its earthly origin, this concrete remains a man-made construction at the end of the day. Tantalus has managed to straddle the delicate equilibrium between the boundary of Mother Earth’s embodiment and human structure.”
It was the only expanse within an infinite void, a prison fashioned in the paradox of something that shouldn’t exist, yet did.
“There is only one requirement to reach this place. A catalyst to pinpoint this location… dirt. So long as you fall with this catalyst attached, you’ll naturally arrive here, like rainwater finding its way to the sea.”
The bracelet that led Finlay here, the supply crates—everything had contained earth. Even Nabi had some dirt on her. She merely didn’t need the likes of a parachute; being the Cat King guaranteed a safe landing.
Anyway. I had grasped the principle, and all that remained was to apply this knowledge.
“Now, here’s the issue… We needed dirt to reach Tantalus below the abyss. So, if we want to go back up to the surface, what should we use as the catalyst?”
The undying was the first to raise a hand, but as with the ebb and flow of water, distinction persisted even among immortals. I pointed first to Tyr, who had slightly raised her parasol.
“Yes, Tyr!”
“…It is.”
After a brief hesitation, Tyr frowned with deep aversion before answering.
“The light of the sun, no doubt.”
“Ohh, that’s correct! You truly live up to being the Nightmare of Sanctum, the Challenger of Heaven! How erudite!”
She got it right in one go. What a shame.
“Oh! Was it not a branch? It points toward the sky!”
｢It wasn’t Chun-aeng? Maybe it can’t act as a catalyst because it’s a dimension itself…?｣
I sorely regretted not hearing their wrong answers. Despite my inclination to give them a late piece of my mind, I decided it wasn’t worth the trouble.
“Yes. It’s the sun! If dirt is the lighthouse within the abyss, the lighthouse of the sky is the sun. We can only escape the abyss by ascending with sunlight!”
I enthusiastically applauded Tyr for the correct answer. She waited for my clapping to subside before calmly making an inquiry.
“However, sunlight does not reach the abyss, as per my knowledge. How can we receive sunlight and ascend?”
I used to think the same; however, I had discovered Tantalus’ weakness.
Tantalus was surprisingly bright. Bright day lights and dim night lights illuminated the prison in turns, as if mimicking the sky. Our eyes naturally opened in the daytime, growing accustomed to the brightness.
This was why I didn’t realize until I caught sight of Ebon anxiously gazing at the sky. The distant upper reaches of the abyss weren’t always dark.
“It’s not that sunlight never reaches down here. It does sometimes. We just don’t notice it.”
The golem had previously instructed me to dissuade Tyr from flying up the abyss, stating that the timing wasn’t right, and also that “going up that way was impossible”.
However, if the abyss were an inescapable space regardless of any effort, that warning was considerably puzzling. Whether she tried to escape or not, the vampire wouldn’t have achieved her goal even if left alone. There was no reason to intervene.
But this mystery was unraveled with Ebon’s arrival. The lieutenant general had waited on the rooftop for the “right moment” to escape to the surface. In essence, this indicated that a gateway to escape would open at a specific time.
Perhaps that was why the golem had tried to obstruct the vampire, worried that this being, who neither ate nor drank and hardly felt boredom, would continue ascending… until the gate opened and the sunlight touched her.
The golem had wanted me to stop Tyr out of fear that she might escape by brute force.
“It’s the time when the midday sun is directly overhead. That moment when, no matter how deep a place is, the infinite spread of light will inevitably reach.”
With all the puzzle pieces in place, I finished my statement confidently.
“That moment is exactly 3 months from now. 3 months later, at noon, during the instant when the sun briefly passes over the abyss. That single moment will be the only chance to escape.”
It was an amazing discovery, yet the response was smaller than I’d anticipated.
Well, they were hearing this right after the Regressor declared the possibility of escape after 9 months. Reducing that period to a third didn’t create much impact.
“Amazing, Hu. You have unraveled even the secret of the abyss?”
Only Tyr, who had been interested in the explanation itself, showed pure delight.
In any case, knowing that we could escape in 90 days was also encouraging. Having understood the structure of the abyss, we could escape at any time even if we missed the next opportunity. There was no need to rely entirely on that “priestess” who might or might not come.
If I were alone, defying gravity to ascend would have been an impossibility, but it was surely achievable with Tyr and the Regressor…
“Huh? She has a point.”
At that moment, the Regressor started questioning me as if she had an epiphany.
“How’d you know? Did you pry it out of the lieutenant general?”
To be exact, I had read the lieutenant general’s thoughts. Ebon was aware of when the “gate” would open, but he didn’t grasp the exact mechanism. He just knew that he could ascend when sunlight shone.
Then again, a general only needed to know a password; mastering the principles of cryptography wasn’t necessary.
I had simply gathered the information possessed by these Military State officers and pieced it together into a conclusion. But as it was a bother to explain, I merely gave a casual nod.
“That’s correc—”
“That is most likely not right! When my fist landed, he was nearly dead! He could not utter even a word!”
The undying answered before me, and the Regressor’s expression grew increasingly suspicious. Gaping, I shot a glare at the undying.
So clueless! Why’d he think I asked him to cover his ears back then?!
The undying went round-eyed upon seeing my expression.
｢Should I not have mentioned this? Really now, the man has so many secrets. Very well. I shall make up something.｣
I inwardly implored the undying to do me a favor. Any more suspicion and I’d be in trouble. It was best if I was remembered as no more than an enigmatic figure encountered briefly while passing through the abyss. This was why I wanted to escape as soon as possible.
“Well then? What did he do against someone who couldn’t even speak?”
The undying took a moment when the Regressor asked, then raised a thumbs up and answered loudly.
“The teacher mostly muttered something to himself! Though I cannot say for certain as I was covering my ears! Most likely, he found the secret about the abyss by himself, then confirmed it with the lieutenant general!”
｢There, I did it! This must make the teacher seem even more amazing!｣
…You made me more suspicious! Tell her I extracted information from the general. That’s closer to the truth!
“He found out how to escape the abyss… by himself? Well, isn’t that impressive.”
The Regressor commented in a quiet, nonchalant manner, yet her senses were fully focused on me.
“But I understand. You must be no officer, that’s for sure.”
“Haha, you’re right. I’m just a labor—”
“A mere laborer can’t kill a colonel or deflect Chun-aeng. Everyone knows you’re not an ordinary laborer. I wonder how much longer you intend to hide it.”
It felt like the Regressor was carefully probing me. She didn’t seem particularly expectant, but her tone did hold some hope of hearing an answer.
“You really aren’t going reveal yourself?”
｢If only you could provide me with… assurance. If I could just be able to judge… whether to trust you or not…｣
It seemed that my presence was far too unsettling for the terminally suspicious Regressor. The turmoil between the desire to believe and deep-seated doubt churned with her, leaving her at a loss.
But there was no helping it. Since I survived, I needed to start preparing for the me of the next life cycle. And for that, I undoubtedly had to overcome this situation somehow.
I heaved a sigh before speaking.
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