The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 628: Decisions as a Mother

”...” I look at my daughters. Azazel stops talking, seeing I didn’t give her any positive attention, but I’m thinking about what I should say or do. Technically, they haven’t done anything wrong that warrants punishment.

They just failed, and failure isn’t something to punish in this case, because I’m the one to blame for setting my expectations too high.

’Punishing them now would be hypocrisy, but letting the situation stand would be a failure.’ The four of them timidly stay quiet where they are, waiting for me to say something.

”First, let’s start with the obvious. None of you will inherit the title of Demon King for now. Furthermore, the closest was Azazel, and the furthest was you, Aqua.” When I say that, Aqua lowers her head, biting her lips.

And Eclipsya looks disappointed too, not even being the closest. As for Azazel, she didn’t just fortify herself physically, magically, and mentally; she also did some ”services” for Grimm that earned her points, but it’s still not what I expected.

”Haa... daughters, I will be cutting off all financial and educational support for you.” When I say this, they all groan in frustration.

”But Mom... we need that.” Aqua speaks up, trying to assert her opinion.

”Do you know how I learned things in the past? Books? Teachers? No. I learned the basics from books and lessons, and the rest I created on my own.” It’s an undeniable truth. I learned the basics mainly from lessons given by Elena, Calypso, Freya, and Thalor.

However, the mastery and amplification of everything I learned and created was done primarily by me, through dangerous tests that sometimes threatened my life and the integrity of my body.

”I understand. Most of you don’t have enough regeneration or adaptation to risk your bodies’ integrity like I did, but it’s also true that you don’t have even 1% of the difficulties and worries I had.”

”So there’s no excuse. I gave you the best. I created an academy made exclusively to make you stronger and able to fend for yourselves. I financed everything you needed.”

”And what did I get in return for all my support? Mediocre and flawed results that make me question whether I should just expel you from the castle or lock you in dangerous dungeons.” When I speak like this, they all immediately look crestfallen.

”I didn’t expect you to be at the max level, or that you’d be invincible. However, all of you—not a single one here has even reached level 10,000... Azazel, your level is 6,423 / 70,000.”

”Eclipsya Level 5,421 / 60,000, Lycoris Level 3,295 / 90,000, and finally Aqua Level 5,291 / 100,000. Results that are pathetic in every sense.” I know their levels and how much they’ve grown.

”Do you know how old I am, daughters? I am five years old physically.” Even though I’m over 45,000 in mental age.

”You’re around three years old physically. At your age, I had already passed level 100,000. And worse yet, at one year old I was already around level 50,000. You, with three times the time, couldn’t even reach 10,000.” This was their failure.

It’s true that my level was already maxed out at 100,000 in the past, but with sealed status, so I didn’t have to gather experience to raise my level. However, unlocking my power was far more demanding and difficult than if I’d just had to earn experience.

Proof of that is that after my status was no longer sealed, leveling up became much easier. So they should already have way more levels.

”Are you not going to say anything? Where’s your defense?” I don’t want silence. I want them to at least try to defend themselves.

”...” They all just keep their heads down in unison.

”...Daughters, I love you. I love you very much. But I can also replace you. And from the moment my future children seem like a better option than you, that’s proof enough for me and for you.” When I say this, Lycoris and Azazel shed tears—they’re the most emotional in that sense.

”I want to have many children. They are a proof of love with the people I love, so I want to have at least one child with each person I love. But I also want an heir, someone to leave things like the title of Demon King to.”

”And you are currently not fit to be that successor. My love for you hasn’t changed, but I will no longer give you the benefits of an heir. If you want to get back on the podium I created for you, you’ll have to work for it and climb up on your own.” I remember the Dead Mana Forest, that hellish place.

I almost died the first time my master threw me in there. That place is dangerous, and the Mana there is so destructive and harmful. It’s perfect.

”I’m going to throw you into the Dead Mana Forest. The four of you must work together to survive and return home. If you can’t make it back within one month at most, I will expel you from the castle, and you will lose even the academic privilege you have, forcing you to return to the first year of the academy without any of the school support you’ve so heavily benefited from.”

”M-Mom—” Before any of them can speak, I teleport them to that dangerous place, leaving them at the mercy of their own efforts to survive.

”Being a mother is so complicated...” I can’t fight against maternal instinct. They’re still my daughters. But I also can’t fight against biology. I’m still a monster, and no monster wants weak offspring that disappoint in what they should be best at.

”...I’m so sad.” For a moment, I feel incredibly sad, but it lasts only a second before I flash a smile.

”Time to see my beloved wives!” I clap my hands, dissolving the subspace and emerging in my realm. I’m excited to see my cute and adorable wives!! I can’t wait to kiss every single one of them.

...

...

...

”M-Mom—” Before we can say anything, we’re teleported. We start falling from very high up as I look at Lycoris.

”Lycoris!!”

”A-Aqua!!” She looks at me nervously as the ground starts getting closer. There are several rocks with dangerous spikes down below.

”I’ll help you!” She grabs me by the arms and starts flying, stopping me in mid-air while Azazel also creates wings of blood and grabs Eclipsya. The four of us are flying above the forest, but before we can calm down, a notification appears on a red screen.

[Teleportation and Flight Disabled by the Goddess of the Apocalypse] As soon as the notification says that, Azazel’s wings dissolve into drops of blood, and Lycoris’s wings become rigid and locked, ceasing to beat. We all start falling again.

Before any of us gets hurt, I fire a large jet of water at the ground, and Eclipsya freezes it, creating a sort of ice slide. We start sliding down it until we reach the ice platform on the ground.

”Guys—” Before Azazel can say anything, she coughs up blood. We all start coughing up blood as well, and I feel the Mana in this place consuming mine and damaging my body.

”U-Ugrh!!” I feel my heart starting to stop beating as blood begins to drip from my eyes. I don’t know what to do. I just feel this strange Mana beginning to course through my body.

’A-Am I going to die?’ I fall to my knees on the ground, a mixture of tears and blood dripping onto the floor. But before I lose consciousness, Lycoris lifts my head and kisses me forcibly.

She spits the mixture of saliva and blood into my mouth, which initially seems strange until I remember that she can heal people with fluids from her body and elemental Mana. I drink her blood, feeling the pain reduce a little.

”...” She kept forcing me to drink her blood while I tried to stabilize the damage in my body. I hum weakly into the kiss to help heal her too, using my ability.

We embrace to use each other’s Mana. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that Azazel has already managed to heal herself from the problem, showing why she has the best regeneration and high magical control.

Since she’s already fine, she’s helping Eclipsya stabilize her Mana. With that, we’ve guaranteed our survival through the start of this challenge.

Lycoris separates her lips from mine as I stop murmuring the song. My body is still full of pain, and more than 90% of my Mana is gone.

”Lycoris, do you have any Mana left?” I ask, breathless, as I wipe the blood from my lips.

”No, almost all my Mana was destroyed...” she murmurs, letting go of me and trying to stand, but she staggers and falls to the ground.

”Azazel... do you have any magic left?”

”Yeah, about 40%... but Eclipsya is at 0% magic, so she won’t be able to help.” She answers me, finishing healing Eclipsya, who is lying on the ground, gasping. It seems Azazel and I are the best off physically.

”Y-You got really strong,” I say to Azazel. I didn’t expect her to handle this the best.

”It’s thanks to Mama Grimm’s training... we should get out of here. This place reeks intensely of blood. It’s going to attract monsters because there’s blood from the four of us here, and none of us are ready to fight.” She speaks rationally, grabbing Eclipsya and throwing her over her shoulder.

I stand up, grabbing Lycoris and throwing her over my shoulder too. She’s a bit dizzy, so I’m careful.

”I’ll... follow you... I’m too tired to lead...” I say to her. She nods and starts walking in some direction. I figure she can sense if something dangerous is nearby, so I follow right behind her, ready to start surviving.