The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 585: What Forms the Abyss

”...” I stare at the sphere in my hands, dripping this transparent, viscous fluid that slides down my fingers. I’m still inside Baeh’Wa, and I’ve already found what I was looking for. Turned out to be easy, actually.

There was one last seal—what I was given was a super sphere, compressed with thousands of spheres inside. From what I could tell, they were souls. And using the fundamentals of creation, I was able to see all of them.

Seems like they’re the souls of all the saints and most of the demon kings that my mother keeps stored here. Incredibly, I even found Lilith’s soul. Unfortunately, this alone isn’t enough to revive her.

The soul is deteriorated. Unlike the demon kings’ souls, which are still intact, the souls of all the saints are so destroyed there’s nothing left, really.

Such a shame. I never thought I’d find Lilith again in this state. But what matters are the memories inside each sphere. Absorbing everything, I gained quite a lot of interesting things.

”Lilith... hope you enjoyed the gift,” I murmur, rubbing the sphere that’s warm to the touch. She reacts faintly, showing that the soul inside still has a slight degree of ’awareness’ of the space around it.

The sphere’s kinda big, but it was enough to generate some pleasure for me and for her, no problem. Interestingly, the sphere reacted strongly when I brought it close to me in a very ’intimate’ way, testing a stimulus I figured would be intense.

Proving that Lilith—soul version—remembers me and my body well. It really is a shame this sphere is completely useless and the soul is broken. Still, these are the remains of my friend, and I wish I could do more for her.

”Hey, Lilith. I know you probably can’t even understand me, but... I’m gonna put you away in a dark, shadowy place now, maybe for a long time, and I’ll probably forget you there. Okay?” I’ll keep her inside the shadows.

After all, Lilith is my friend, so she’s mine. Just like her body was mine and I devoured it, her soul is mine too. So logic says I should keep her with me.

”Lilith is my friend... so it’s only natural she’s mine. Her body already belonged to me—I took it for myself. Her soul... shouldn’t be left wandering around either. I’m just... taking care of it.” I release the sphere into my shadows, storing it away tenderly.

”As for the rest...” I look at the compressed sphere with all the remaining souls, after taking Lilith out—the only one I cared about.

’I already took the memories, so I don’t need them. Plus... I really wanna eat this...’ It’s a cluster of different souls. Must have a pretty unique taste. The thought makes me lick my lips.

”Ahhh...” I shove it into my mouth and start chewing, listening to the crunching sounds, devouring the various souls inside. I’ve taken everything useful from them, and I don’t care about these souls. They’ve already served whatever purpose they had; they’re just gathering dust here.

The flavor is intense. Kind of refreshing and cold, like putting an ice cube in your mouth. There’s also a bittersweet mix between something salty and something sweet. Then comes a faint warm taste before it turns ice-cold again when I swallow.

”...Now I just need to get out.” I wander through the darkness of Baeh’Wa’s body, thinking about the ’extra’ memories contained in the souls. Seems like my mother used the souls as pages.

Which is an interesting idea. Unlike a book that slowly decays and gradually loses readability, souls maintain information permanently. And even though souls deteriorate, the recordings within them stay intact.

Plus, there’s some really fascinating information about what the Abyss actually is! Unfortunately, the info was a mess, scattered across the souls! But I quickly organized it by category!

The first piece of information I organized was the parts about the Abyss. Anyway, the Abyss existed before the Goddesses even grew into power. It wasn’t directly created by any Goddess—it was already here.

I already knew the fact that the Abyss was generated by the Primordial Goddess’s power. To put it more directly, it’s her ’rotted’ power. Ironically, I discovered why the Abyss seems to extend infinitely in a concrete way.

Turns out, the density of the Abyss, generated by the Primordial Goddess’s power, causes the Abyss to ’sink’ against the universe’s own boundary, breaking that piece apart and scattering it outward.

It enters a kind of limbo, or a gap between this universe and what exists out there. This is also the reason why beings from outside the universe—like the Stars—managed to enter this universe.

This ’breach’ opened by the Abyss meant the natural ’Barrier’ of the universe was no longer an obstacle. However, the breach itself is quite small. So it’s like a crack in a wall that keeps leaking black liquid.

The Abyss is that liquid, seeping into the cracks it made and leaking out. But what happens is that the limbo doesn’t obey any universal laws. The limbo has no time, no space, not even reality. It’s the absolute absence of everything that exists. Not even the concept of ’void’ exists in the limbo.

It’s the complete and utter lack of everything. Since the Primordial Goddess is an absolute being, the limbo doesn’t destroy her power. That’s why the Abyss can escape into the limbo, and also why the Abyss has such a confusing sense of time, and teleportation doesn’t work.

’How ironic... hahaha. Makes me wonder what the Stars looked like visually! Since it’s a crack, it’s as if they had to squeeze themselves until they became pulp just to pass through the tiny hole that existed.’

It’s actually really interesting because it means that, technically, an astronomically massive being could embrace the universe like a snow globe, just as a being could compress itself to try and slip through the crack without being consumed by the limbo or the Abyss.

Precisely because of this ’limit’ of his that acts as a barrier. Incredibly, I’m actually surprised some beings even manage to enter this universe. Even with this crack existing, it’s anything but stable.

If I tried to get through, I’d die to the limbo. So the Stars that survived a direct passage through the limbo are far more powerful than I ever imagined.

Or maybe they sacrificed their original power source to survive, since in this universe, the Stars are using Mana as their power source.

’I wonder if other universes have absolute deities like the Primordial Goddess...’ It’s kind of hard to conceive if this is real or not, because the Primordial Goddess is a tri-omni being—in this case, an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent being.

Besides, the Primordial Goddess is a being from outside this universe that she created. She probably lives in the limbo. And if she’s lived in the limbo for so long, it’s hard to say if she’s the strongest being in the limbo, or if she’s so strong that no other being wants to try and take her place there.

’If the Primordial Goddess lives inside the limbo and she possesses omnipresence without being limited to the universe she created, then she actually exists in all possible states of non-existence, being one with the limbo itself...’ It’s honestly a real headache.

It’s way too complex for my mind. Because in the limbo, existence simply doesn’t exist. Just as the very concept of ’not existing’ also doesn’t exist. Trying to understand this is so complicated it even gives me a headache.

It’s truly something only a mind like the Primordial Goddess’s can comprehend. All my mind can do is simplify the terms to try and create logic where logic doesn’t exist.

”I think it’s time to stop thinking about this... It’s interesting how the Abyss works, but I never plan on entering the limbo.” Leaving the universe is dangerous. Passing through the limbo is a death sentence.

I doubt the Primordial Goddess is the only being living in the limbo. I bet there are plenty of entities or deities out there that aren’t tied to any system like I am, using this universe’s power system to be strong.

’That reminds me... I still don’t have the answer...’ I don’t know if the Primordial Goddess wants me to replace her, or if I just misinterpreted things. Sometimes, when I remember my conversation with the Primordial Goddess, I wonder what it would be like to be omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.

To have absolute power, but remain distant from everything. Can I really achieve such power? If so, what would a fragile being like me have to do to become that powerful? The more I learn about the universe and existence, the more I realize how insignificant I sometimes seem.

And precisely because I seem insignificant, it feels impossible for me to become an omnipotent being. But fate is ironic. Who knows, maybe that is my future, right? It’s a chance. Might even be an infinitesimal chance, but maybe that possibility exists.

”Time to head back.” I’m not sure how many days I’ve spent inside Baeh’Wa, since I was busy organizing the memories I stole from the sealed souls. But my mother has probably returned by now.

”Omnipotence or not, it doesn’t matter!! I have goals and objectives that don’t depend on absolute power!! Besides, why would I even want that, right!? Hahaha!” Once I kill Elysia, I’ll be among the strongest beings in this universe. And it’s not like I’m going to leave the universe, so I don’t think I’ll ever need omnipotence.