The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 579: Weapon Training

”...Hmmmm!” I stretch out with a groan, a few faint bite marks are scattered across my body, gifts from my beloved older sister while we were in the training area.

’How cute, she was feeling needy.’ My tail regenerates completely as I lean all the way back, my tail stretching fully upward, my body forming a kind of tilted T-shape.

Slap.

”!!!”

”Older sister!! Don’t slap my ass while I’m stretching!!” I tell her. She’s been getting pretty damn cheeky with me lately, though I get it. I’m hot as hell and my ass looks very slap-worthy.

”Don’t worry so much. So, shall we have our weapon duel?” She says, referring to my request for us to fight with just fists or weapons. I want to test if I’m still sharp with weapons, or if I’ve lost my touch after fighting with my fists so much here in the Abyss.

Now that I have a divine weapon, I should go back to fighting with weapons, because they’re better than fists, and I need a weapon to use Violet. Most of Violet’s skills only work if she’s already manifested in the environment.

”Of course, sis!” I won’t use my true form, because with it, fighting with fists is better. So, I’ll fight normally, even though I’ll have to practice using general weapons with my true form later.

”Now, older sister, stay in that spot over there. Let’s start the fight a hundred meters apart from each other! No using skills, magic, or anything like that! Just weapons and fists!” I tell her, waving my hand as she puts some distance between us.

”I’m a powerful martial artist, Pandora. Don’t cry if I embarrass you.” She says with that arrogance that makes me smile.

”We’ll see about that!!! I’ll start!” She nods her head as I begin the count, taking a deep breath while my heart races a little from the adrenaline of a fight.

”3...2...1...Go!” I stomp the ground hard, shattering it and lifting a block of the castle’s stone. I immediately kick it with all my strength, but using my tail, I latch onto the stone that’s launched like a projectile at Azraelith.

She reacts as I thought, punching the stone, shattering it. But I’m already clinging to it, I spin completely upward, landing behind Azraelith. My divine weapon, extending from my dress, takes the form of a thrusting blade, and I pierce deep into Azraelith’s back.

Her tail tries to strike me, but I abandon the weapon, which disperses, and dodge her blow.

”!!!”

’So fast.’ She spins around and appears right in front of me almost instantly. I barely dodge a punch by bending my body completely backward, pressing my tail against the ground as a brace while I spin upward, landing a kick on her chin.

But she uses the position to violently punch my back, shattering my spine instantly and sending me crashing to the ground. Since magic was banned, we also added the rule that our regeneration must be slowed down.

This way, we avoid dragging the fight out unnecessarily and create a risky situation where we wouldn’t have regeneration, since you can’t always rely on it. It doesn’t grant immortality and it’s costly.

”U-Urgh...” I let out a pained groan, lying on the ground. Almost all my vertebrae have turned to dust. In the end, she can use the power of a level 70 billion being, of course she’d be better than me.

’Damn her pain amplification passive...’ I look up at Azraelith, who’s watching me arrogantly, seeing me immobilized on the ground. Even with my flexibility, moving without support is hard.

”What did you do to me?” My voice comes out a bit strange because of the damage.

”Martial arts. Our bodies are powerful, so the best way to deal with them is to destroy them from within. Vibrations reverberated through your body, striking flesh and moving through the bone structure, shattering it.”

”It’s the same principle as an explosion in a locked room, only it’s like it happened inside you. That breaks bones and damages internal organs without much external injury.” She explains as I get up, regenerated.

”Did you really have to break my spine?”

”Yes.”

”Alright then, older sister. It’s 0-1 for you.” I didn’t expect to win them all.

”Let’s go again.” I put some distance between us and create a large bastard sword. Azraelith gets into a stance with her fists, and then we charge.

’If fighting sneakily doesn’t work, I’ll try going head-on.’ She moves her fist for a punch, and I swing the sword in an arc, putting all my strength into it. But unlike I expected, when the blade hits her fist, it vibrates so violently that it completely shatters my fingers and the sword goes flying.

”Unh? Ahhh!” She takes advantage of the opening and punches me in the face.

”S-Sis, I already had... ugghhr!” She punches me in the stomach, making me kneel as I spit out blood.

”Aaahhh!” She delivers an upward kick, throwing me backward as I crash to the ground.

”You lost.”

”...Such a cheap shot...” I mutter, tasting the coppery blood in my mouth, along with a faint taste of calcium. I move my hand to my jaw, relocating it.

”0-2 now, Pandora. Do better than that. Don’t underestimate your older sister so much. I was rusty. Being trapped for so long weakened me, both in power and ability, but now I’m recovering. Your training is helping me get back into action!”

”Tsk...” I get up, spitting out the blood and looking at her fists.

”...” She looks completely ready.

”Again!” I charge at her as she charges in another assault. I watch analytically, seeing the immense tension in her fist and how her strike literally pulverizes the nearby atmosphere, creating a kind of vacuum centimeters from her fist.

”...” I close my eyes as my divine weapon transforms into gauntlets. I barely dodge Azraelith’s fist, and then, with the side of my arm, I gently tap the side of her arm, shifting her center of mass. With a twist and both hands, I strike the side of her arm with my palm, maintaining a counter-balance with my other hand on her elbow.

This way, I use her own strength to tear her arm off. But I was so focused on one arm that she kicks me, completely piercing through my stomach and breaking my spine again.

She spins her leg and uses the momentum to throw me backward as I fall motionless to the ground, understanding a bit better. Her punches spread from the point of contact, using the body as a conductor.

So when her kick landed on my spine, the entire impact followed the skeleton as a conductor of kinetic energy, spreading damage not just to the contact area and surrounding area, but to 100% of the body’s skeleton.

”Older sister, that’s such a violent technique...” I say, feeling this terrible pain. If she were using magic, literally my entire skeleton would turn to dust and fragments from the impact.

And a body without a skeleton can’t support itself. It’s literally a perfect technique for dealing with beings with high regeneration, because it will temporarily incapacitate them. Plus, complex structures take longer to regenerate. Having bones shattered down to dust is worse than losing a limb for regeneration.

”Now I’m going to switch my fighting style, Pandora.”

”!!?”

”You think I don’t know? Pandora, you’re already learning. You tore my arm off. After another try or two, you’d know how to react!! I won’t give you any room to adapt to me.”

’Well, look at the audacity!’ I guess that’s the problem with fighting someone of the same race. She knows that in a short amount of time in a confrontation, I’ll adjust to her fighting style, just as she’ll adjust to mine. So I’m forced to change styles too.

”Fine...” She and I decide to continue the fight. So obviously, I won’t be able to count on just adjusting to her style.

...

...

...

”Is it over, Pandora?” I ask Pandora, who’s lying on the ground after intense hours of training, with all the bones in her limbs broken, and her spine broken again. She’s staring at me with tears of pain from the pain amplification my passives provide.

”Fuck...” She’s completely wrecked as I smile at her curse.

”0-1575. You really don’t stand a chance against me.” At her level of 25 billion, she doesn’t even have a chance to beat me. She seems slow, weak, and her attacks, though unpredictable, are easily defendable without magic.

’Despite that, if she were using magic, she might have taken me down a few times... and her adaptation is monstrous...’ That definitely makes her a dangerous opponent, because with magic, her versatility would increase.

Plus, Pandora only takes 3 to 5 fights to adapt to my fighting style, while I take 20 to 30 fights to adapt to hers, showing how inferior my adaptation is.

”Can I use magic?” She asks, but I won’t let her use magic. If she starts using magic, I’ll be at a disadvantage because I’m less versatile.

”No, that would defeat the purpose of training with weapons. Besides, a magic fight could quickly get serious and turn into a fight to the death. With physical fights, at worst we’ll just break each other’s bodies.”

”...” She gets up, blood dripping to the floor, and creates a short sword.

”Alright... haaa... I’m exhausted, but let’s continue. Fighting without magic is so strange, but it’s good. You react well.”

”Thanks for the compliment.” I say, seeing the look in her eyes burning with hatred for not being able to adapt, since I know thousands of different martial arts styles. Every 2 to 3 of her defeats, I completely switch fighting styles. But either way, the purpose is being fulfilled; we’re both improving each other.