The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 538: Fundamentals of Creation

”...” My mother carries me through the castle until we reach a large door that looks somewhat unsettling, but as soon as she opens it, I see an elegant room with real furniture, which makes me look down at myself.

I’m naked, smelling of blood and destruction, and I look like a wild animal that hasn’t bathed in ages—there’s no water here in the Abyss, so cleaning myself is only possible with magic.

”Your room is great, Mother. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen real furniture,” I say honestly. It’s been so long since I’ve seen actual furniture; Abyss culture is too primitive.

”Yes, it truly is one of the few places in the Abyss with real furniture, instead of chunks of stone, purple crystals, or some sort of power-formed furnishings,” she says, setting me down on the floor.

What catches my eye most in her room are the books. There’s a large bookshelf with so many defensive enchantments that even I find it impossible to break.

”What are all these books?” I ask curiously, wandering around her room, which is gigantic. I can barely reach the top of her bed, having to stretch my arms up if I want to touch it.

”They’re special items, just like the book I gave you before, the one that taught you Universal Laws. I brought you here because I have another gift for you,” she says, walking over to the books and taking one out, then coming back to hand it to me.

The book has a dark navy blue cover, with what look like fangs clamping shut around its edges. It gives me chills.

”This is?”

”[Fundamentals of Creation]. This is the book I’ll give you. It’s your reward for reaching here so quickly. I expected it to take longer, but you’ve surpassed my expectations,” she says, sitting down on the bed.

”What’s the difference between Universal Laws and this ’Fundamentals of Creation’ thing?” I’m curious about what this book can give me.

”Universal Laws are a set of rules that govern the universe and most living beings. They define how the universe functions. For example, one point in space cannot hold two solid existences simultaneously.”

”Which means a body occupying a space prevents anything else from occupying that space, and so on. But Universal Laws are ultimately just a rulebook, and they barely apply to goddesses.”

”The Fundamentals of Creation, however, are literally knowledge about creating universes, living beings, matter, souls, spirit, and even some divine knowledge.”

”Ohhh!! That sounds impressive! I was learning about souls, but I was still stuck on creating one from scratch. There was something very complex about it! My universe also has a serious problem with its expansion and its inhabitants, who are more like mini-avatars of me!” I say, shocked by what the book might contain.

”Exactly. When you start reading this book, you’ll receive the Fundamentals of Creation. With it, you’ll be able to use your existing abilities with much greater mastery and even create new things easily.”

”I’d say your creations, like your new element or the universe you made, are impressive not because of what they are, but because of how they were made. You created those two things without having the slightest idea of the Fundamentals of Creation.”

”That kind of makes you very wise despite your tender age,” she smiles as I hold the book.

”How dangerous is it for me to read this?” When I read the Universal Laws book, I got sick and could have died, because these books force all the knowledge directly into the reader’s mind.

”Very. The chances of you dying, even with your current strength, are high. In the past, reading this would have been certain death.”

”Is there a percentage?” I’d like a concrete number.

”30%.”

”Oh, that’s low.”

”30% chance of you surviving.”

”Ah... that’s lower than I expected...”

”Yes, but the chances will remain quite low even if you get stronger. Probably even at level 100 billion, it would still be a 50% chance.”

”What guarantees your survival isn’t just your strength, but your mental state, resilience, and above all, your ability to process and organize all that information in your brain.”

”Hmmm... I see... I think I can survive this. If it all depends on my mind, I understand the death would be a brain death, right? Getting stronger won’t change much.” Reading it now would be better, because the sooner I have this knowledge, the better.

”Yes, Pandora. It’s more like a brain death. However, it will also be a soul death, because you’re receiving knowledge of the Fundamentals of Creation. There’s so much in there that it will take you about three months to wake up.”

”Do you want to try? If so, I’ll take care of you while you sleep. I won’t leave this place for a single second,” she says something tempting, because in the Abyss, a safe place is rare. Staying unconscious for three months in the Abyss without defenses is a guaranteed death.

”I want to try. Anything that can make me more powerful, I’ll do despite the risks...”

”Great. Then, Pandora, I’ll give you one warning. If you see anyone during this knowledge acquisition, ignore them. Don’t answer any questions, and if they touch you, don’t retaliate.”

”?”

”The Fundamentals of Creation is knowledge coming directly from the Primordial Goddess. That means there’s a ’guardian.’ If you respond, react, or try to fight that guardian, it will erase you forever!”

”I’ve read this book before, and I retaliated when I was touched. It wasn’t a very good situation because it started a fight. I almost died, because the guardian is level 1 trillion and will keep pursuing you until it’s over. 1 trillion is the average level of most avatars and conceptual guardians of the Primordial Goddess.”

”Okay! Thanks for the warning, Mother... Mother, since you’ll take care of me while I sleep, could you give me a bath and drain my milk? My breasts are sore...” Even in this giant form, I haven’t stopped producing milk.

I guess my body got used to it, and since I keep drinking my own milk, my body saw no need to stop. But because I grew giant, the production increased and it gets uncomfortable quickly.

”Alright, I’ll do that. Because I trust you’ll come back alive, Goddess of the Apocalypse,” she smiles at me as she picks me up and pulls me into her lap.

”You’re safe here with me, so you can take it easy. Take all the time you need.”

”...Mother, am I your favorite daughter?”

”Yes.”

”...Why do you despise my older sister so much? She seems really sad about it.”

”Because she failed me. She was born a failure, everything she set out to do for me went wrong, and she even ended up sealed. It’s shameful to have her as a daughter.”

”...” I stop talking. I don’t want to draw anger toward myself. I know there’s favoritism, and I’ll take advantage of it for as long as I can.

”You know, Mother, normally I’d want to chat and enjoy your presence, but I’m kind of in a hurry to get stronger, so I’ll start reading the book now, okay? We can have a real talk later,” I say, looking up.

’I wish I could see her face...’ These two huge spheres in front of me are really in the way.

”Yes, we can talk more later. This time, the ’journey’ will be less painful and more peaceful than the one from the first book I gave you. You may begin,” she says, carefully embracing me as I start to open the book.

...

...

...

I hold Pandora’s body. As soon as she opened the book, her body stopped moving completely. She lost consciousness very quickly. I wonder what this experience will be like for her.

”Fundamentals of Creation, huh... I wonder what you’d think of me giving this to such a young girl...” I think of my sister. Pandora found her, but I don’t know if I want to see her again.

After all, she’s just a reincarnation, not exactly my sister. She won’t remember me, and she might hate what I am. So it’s something I have to think about carefully, whether I want it in my current life or not.

”Haa...” I lie down on the bed with Pandora lying on top of me, the black spiral floating in place of her head spilling that sticky liquid between my breasts.

I briefly glance at the bookshelf. These books I’m giving as gifts to Pandora all belonged to my sister. She collected them, spouting some nonsense about them smelling good.

She was a strange girl with a terrible habit of hoarding things. She hoarded books, weapons, underwear, accessories, anything that had a ”scent” she liked—usually things that carried the scent of someone she liked.

These books teach things the Primordial Goddess used to create our universe, so of course she kept them with great interest. And when she died, I hid these books so only I could access them.

”I wonder what Pandora will want for her life...” She’s getting stronger. If nothing hinders her, she’ll soon be strong enough to help me with my desires. But once we kill other goddesses, what will Pandora do?

I’m not worried about Pandora trying to betray me. Pandora was made in a way that she wouldn’t do that. Besides, I doubt she’d want to make me one of her wives. She still has respect for me as a mother and wouldn’t try that.

But it’s still a fact that a powerful being like her won’t be able to just live among mortals again. For Delphina as a goddess, it’s already extremely difficult to live among mortals because the world feels like it’s made of a thin film of glass.

Imagine for Pandora, who is an instinctual monster. Living among normal people would be very hard, because everyone falls so far beneath her in category. But... I also don’t want Pandora to live in the Abyss.

This place is terrible, and I don’t want her to spend her time staying here. So perhaps Pandora’s best choice would be to live inside a universe she creates, where she can finely adjust the force she exerts on everything.

”Pandora, you smell like the Primordial Goddess...” I sense that scent on her, that magical density that seems to cling to the body. Pandora must have encountered the Primordial Goddess sometime recently.

’Mother... what do you want with Pandora?’ I feel somewhat... jealous. Pandora is my favorite daughter. Why does the Primordial Goddess seem interested in Pandora? I don’t understand.

Maybe Pandora has a grander destiny than I expected. Or maybe she’ll become too great a threat to be ignored. Regardless of the answer, I hug my daughter with love, because I adore Pandora.