The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 145: Enemies

I easily traverse long distances, going all the way to the strongest monster on the path to the center. If I eliminate all the powerful monsters, I can claim the Mana Dead Forest as my own.

The first powerful monster I encounter on the way to the center seems like some kind of dinosaur, but its armor is like rock and magma. I can even see the bright lines in the middle of the skin that resemble volcanic rock.

The monster appears to be sleeping and didn’t notice my approach, as I can now hide even better than before.

This monster seems to be quite powerful and has a high amount of mana. But it’s not quite what I expected.

I approach it, and it doesn’t even wake up. It seems to be in a deep sleep, so it must have a lot of confidence in its strength to sleep so exposed.

’I’ll test my shadows on it... and there’s also that black sludge that sometimes drips from my body.’ That liquid is related to my true form.

So I want to delve deeper into what it means to be a monster, and there is no better teacher than a monster.

I create hundreds of shadow insects and have them invade the ”dinosaur’s” body. I don’t do the process slowly, so it’s painful, and the monster soon wakes up and attacks me.

I easily dodge and continue the process. The monster is strong but slow, so it can’t even touch me since I’m fast and agile.

I make the insects start to spread throughout its body. I want to understand the anatomy of a monster deeply and in what ways it resembles my own anatomy.

I know we are different monsters, but we are both still monsters, so there must be something in which we are similar.

And in the end, after a few minutes of dodging, what the insects managed to find in common between me and the monster was the mana path. My mana path and the monster’s are similar to a certain extent.

’How different are my mana path and a human’s?’ Normally, you can’t see someone’s mana path unless you have a skill that allows it.

But from what I can understand, the difference between my mana path and a human’s is that mine is much more complex and extends in a way that is not as close to my anatomy.

To be more precise, my mana path does not have a fixed form. For now, it is in the same shape as my body, but I feel that it can easily change its form.

’So the principle behind my true form is connected to my mana path.’

”I don’t need you anymore... devour him,” I command the insects, which soon begin to devour the monster from the inside.

However, the monster managed to eliminate the insects inside it by heating its body to a level that killed the insects.

The ”dinosaur” advances towards me in a headbutt attack. I hold the blow, which has more force than I thought, and I’m slowly being pushed back.

I move my tail to pierce the monster’s throat, but it’s too hot, and my tail burns when it gets close, so I’m forced to pull it away.

My hands also burn. It seems that the entire body emits heat equivalent to magma, so its appearance is not just aesthetic.

I jump up on it and jump away as it stops going in a straight line.

’My feet burned just from touching it... it makes sense that the insects died.’ They are not very strong shadows, so they couldn’t withstand that temperature.

I wonder what this monster tastes like.

The monster charges at me again, emitting so much heat that the ground under its feet melts.

I charge at it equally, and when its head collides with my hands, the ground around us trembles and cracks.

I start pushing it back with sheer brute force, not caring if my hands are burning and slowly melting.

Soon, I know I will adapt to this heat, so I will win this monster’s game.

I start gaining the advantage, pushing it back. The monster realizes it can’t beat me in brute force and starts using magic, and soon magma starts falling from the sky like rain.

”Hrgg.” I hold back a painful groan as drops of magma fall on my body. I feel like my skin is melting under the magma.

I press my nails hard into the rocky armor of this monster, continuing to squeeze while I hear cracking sounds. I ignore the pain of the magma dripping on me as I squeeze with all my might.

My hands start to create so much pressure on the monster’s head that it begins to crack and break easily audibly and visibly.

The monster increases the magic, practically creating a magma storm, but at this point, it hardly hurts, and I can practically say it’s useless my body has adapted to the high temperature of the magma.

I start putting force to twist its head. The monster notices this and exerts the opposite force.

We both put force to see who will win. I use a bit of mana to reform my tail, and while it’s distracted trying to compete with my form, I prepare myself.

With a push, I twist its head all the way and quickly decapitate it with my tail.

Its head alone is bigger than my body. I throw the head aside and start molding the shadows into various spikes that begin to shred the body. I’m not sure if it can reassemble itself since it seems to be made of what appears to be magma, so I want to ensure its end.

I take a piece and taste it.

”Hmm, it’s delicious.” I start eating more and more of this ”meat” of the monster. It has a slightly spicy but also smooth taste, and the flesh under the magma crust is soft and tender.

I thought it would be bad, but it’s very good.

While eating, I also notice that this monster was protecting eggs.

”...This place doesn’t need anything more than me commanding it.” I give the eggs as a meal to the little girl hiding in my shadow.

”I have to give her a name... I’ll think about that later.” After eating, I go after the next monster.

I go to the next monster and so on, until 10 days have passed since I was thrown into this forest.

I must say I was disappointed. Most of the powerful monsters are just stupid beasts that try to compete with me in brute force, and when it goes wrong, they switch to magic.

At least some of them were delicious and had unique flavors.

”I wonder what the next one will be,” I wonder as I walk through a stone forest, the ground a dull gray stone, while there are various stone trees.

”!!!” I feel danger and quickly move my head slightly, dodging a golden arrow that emits such a light, refined, and small concentration of sacred mana that it was almost imperceptible.

I look in the direction the attack came from, only to see a shower of these arrows.

I dodge them all for a few seconds, soon noticing the ground covered with so many of these arrows.

”But what...” When I was about to ask about these arrows, I received a blow so strong that I was thrown against dozens of trees. I protect myself by putting my arms in front of me in an X shape when I feel the danger.

Soon, a barrage of punches occurs, so strong and fast that I easily feel the pain as the impact is distributed throughout my body.

I see that the one attacking me is a fighter.

She has red hair and a tanned skin, with well-defined muscles and a sharp gaze that stands out among her red eyes.

She wears some kind of obsidian-colored bra-like armor. She jumps back, distancing herself, and soon I feel something approaching and defend with my tail.

A sword almost hit me. I look back and see the one who almost impaled me with a wide sword.

A young man in silver armor, with blue hair and black eyes, wielding a golden sword with blue details.

After missing, he moves away while a large magic circle appears under me. I prepare to jump away, but I’m prevented by several rapid arrow shots that I’m forced to defend against.

Soon the magic circle activates, and a large column of flames appears, burning my body. Along with the flames, a sacred element was added, giving the flames a yellowish tone that is really hurting me.

Using my enhanced vision, I can see an archer and a mage even though I’m in the middle of the fire.

The archer is a blonde with blue eyes, seeming to be an elf due to his ears. He’s wearing a strange green outfit and has a bow made of some kind of strange wood with a golden-ish color.

Next to the archer is a black-haired, purple-eyed mage with a pale complexion and obvious dark circles. She wears a black witch’s uniform and holds a wooden staff with a red gem floating at the tip.

I also notice through the mana two other presences a girl dressed as a priestess, her white robe with some golden crosses, and a large white and black armored man with a huge shield bearing a golden cross symbol, who seems to be watching my movements.

’Enemies? Why the focus on me? Can I win?’ I feel they are all strong, and I think I’m in trouble.

The mage soon activates a strange barrier throughout the area. I feel there is spatial interference, which means teleportation is useless here.

’...I’ll need to transform... even if I have to give up my self-control.’ They seem too strong for my current self, so my focus in this fight will be trying to reach my monster form, even if it costs me dearly. In the end, my life is worth more than a moment of loss of control.