Chapter 522: Empty

“[Looks like it’s over for you…]” Pandora finally manages to move freely. I don’t know what she did, how she did it, or what exactly happened for her to be able to move. And since I don’t know this so-called [Doom] magic, I have no idea how to fight it.

“P-Please Pandora!! Let’s talk!! I’ll do anything! I’ll be your servant!! Your slave! I’ll give you however many of my future children you want to eat!” I say desperately—I still don’t want to die! But with a few more levels and maybe I could have captured Azraelith.

“[Funny, Mnemosyne… your name is really shitty, you know that? But let’s be honest, I don’t need a slave. All I need are your screams of pain.]” Her hand grabs me.

“[[Enslavement Magic]].” She uses some kind of magic on me, and I see a mark appearing on my soul.

“W-What are you doing?!”

“[Enslaving you. It’s easier to make sure you can’t escape.]” She grabs one of my arms and pulls, tearing it right off. I let out a horrible scream—it hurts so much, an unbearable pain. That’s weird because I have immense pain resistance.

“[I’m very good at causing pain. So I want to make you suffer a little. By the way, your tentacles gave me four interesting traits, just like I gained a new passive and active. I’ll tell you what I got from you as a bonus.]

18=Extreme Resilience – Grants a will of steel to endure as long as necessary, increasing your patience.

21=Cellular Replication – Ability to regenerate more quickly through advanced Cellular Replication and Reconstruction.

29=Solid Resistance – Can solidify specific parts of your body’s organic matter.

30=Partial Physical Nullification – Ability to resist physical blows and redistribute the impact throughout the body, ignoring almost all damage from the strike.

31=Bio-Programmed Parasitism – Ability to infect others’ brains with pieces of your own body, which act as brainwashing parasites.

32=Spiritual Evolution – Greater understanding of the soul, spirit, and mind.

“[Interesting, don’t you think? It’s thanks to Spiritual Evolution, my great patience, my regeneration, and my knowledge of universal laws that I can now heal the damage to my mana pathway that I had.]

“[In that sense, you were useful to me.]” She takes my torn-off arm and places it against her stomach, and the mouth there begins to chew and swallow with a disgusting grinding sound. I still can’t regenerate.

“A-Are you really going to kill me? I can be so useful!!”

“[I don’t need help. I need you dead. I’m disgusted by tentacle monsters—they’re repulsive.]”

“GHAAAHHHHHHH!!” She plunges her fingernails into my stomach, tears out my organs, and stuffs them into her mouth, all while that enormous eye stares at me.

“[Painful… seems painful. Amplifying pain is quite useful, don’t you think? I wanted to kill you slowly, but I’m not that patient now that I’ve gotten my prize…]”

“Y-You freak!! Y-You’re just like your sister!! I-I should have killed you!!” I say, filled with pure hatred for Echidna’s daughters.

“[Yes, you should have killed me. You’re already the second one to regret letting me live. But now there won’t be anyone else with that regret, because I won’t let anyone else use my body like I’m some whore.]”

“KYAAAAAAAHHH!!” She squeezes and tears off a large part of my body, leaving only my head and a piece of my torso dangling in space—the lack of Time in the environment preventing me from falling.

“[…..]” She chews and devours. I have a passive that should make it so when someone devours my body, the pieces should move inside them and infect them. But when my pieces enter Pandora’s mouth, they are erased as if they never existed.

“[What do you think of my appearance? I’m beautiful, aren’t I? I didn’t expect this to be my true form, but I think it’s magnificent. It’s perfect. I’ve never felt so strong before, and the magic consumption is minimal.]” She boasts, but the distorted tone of her voice holds no real interest.

“Y-You’re hideous!! Y-You damn whore!! I should have cut off your head and left your body alive to use just that!!”

“[Hmmm… hideous? How interesting. So I, the goddess who’s killing you now, am hideous? Well, I believe that might be true. I am hideous to inferior beings like you.]”

“W-Why don’t you just kill me already! I don’t need to hear you talk!!”

“[That’s precisely why I haven’t killed you yet. Because talking too much is irritating, just like you used to talk too much with me.]

“[I’m just… savoring the moment… My real mother must have noticed me by now. I wonder if she’ll come to see me, or if I should go to her. You know, don’t you?]

“[That’s what I want from you. Tell me how I can find Echidna.]”

“As if I would—AHGAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!” I feel a lancinating pain in my head, as if thousands of worms were devouring my brain.

“[Did you like my element? Doom… it’s magnificent, don’t you think? The element of the final judgment. Since our strength levels were close, I didn’t need to pay too high a price to use it.]

“[It was fun to see how destructive it can be, even though it’s painful. My fingers and leg hurt, and I can’t see properly since I’m blind in one eye. I also can’t gain energy by devouring you… limiting.]

“[I think we’re done here. I’m no longer interested in you. You don’t need to answer my questions. I’ll find my mother on my own. Playing with your food is tedious.]” She grabs my head and starts moving it toward the mouth on her stomach. I begin to cry, terrified of death.

“H-Hey, seriously, can’t we make a deal!! I still have so much to achieve!!

“[I used Doom before our fight. Do you know what I asked of the element? I asked that everything I devour within the time frame of a battle would have its existence permanently erased from the past, present, and future without affecting the flow of time.]”

“!!!”

“[It means… that when I devour you, you’ll cease to exist forever, even in the past—as if you were never even born—while the universe won’t be affected, as if your existence never made any difference. Terrifying, isn’t it? The fear of nonexistence is something many living creatures have, because it’s worse than death.]”

“W-WAIT!!! NO!!! STOP!!! STOOOP!! I’LL DO ANYTHING!!!” She places my head against her stomach, her tongue grabbing me and pulling me into that mouth full of sharp teeth.

“PANDORAAAAAAA—”

CRASH, CRACK

…

…

…

“[Seems like it’s over…]” I slowly begin to fly forward, leaving this zone where time has ceased to exist.

“[So frivolous… but still… so fun…]” If it were my past self, I would have let that tentacle whore live and made her into a useful slave. But I’m no longer that Pandora from the past.

“[Arak’Tess… it’s your turn~]” I say in a singsong tone as I start to guide myself to find that spider girl. It’s her turn to be devoured by me.

“[My true form… is so strange…]” I like this current form. It’s full of power, but it’s strange. I “see” everything from all angles, as if everything in the area were filled with eyes that are mine.

The mouth on my stomach is also strange, like something alien to me. And my four arms—they all have strange joints and movement, as if there are no bones.

Besides, the lack of a head on my body is unsettling. All I have is a neck, and above it, a floating black spiral dripping this black goo, and this black goo drips down inside the neck, going somewhere.

“[Ugly, right?… I don’t think I’m ugly…]” I don’t think I’m ugly now. My body still has a beautiful silhouette, my breasts are still large and full of milk that will come out if I squeeze them.

Also, considering the standard for monstrous appearances in the Abyss, I’d say I’m quite beautiful. And this form has the advantage of not being as draining or as immense as the other one.

That giant black sludge form was too draining and uncontrollable, making it hard to maintain control. But this current one—I have 100% control, and I don’t need to leave it unless I want to.

“[I think… I’ll stay like this…]” I’m not going to transform back. Why would I? This current appearance is imposing, full of power, with an aura that literally distorts gravity.

“[Yes, this appearance is perfect… I’m finally worthy of the title Goddess of the Apocalypse that I bear…]”

“[Yes… I am… perfect…]” I feel empty. I’ve never felt so empty before. When I got my revenge on the heroes, I felt pure euphoria. When I grew stronger in the past, I was excited. And when I first transformed before, I was proud.

“[Is this the price for sacrificing any last shred of humanity? This… emptiness?…]” I know that must be it. I sacrificed to the Doom element anything that still connected me to humanity.

“[I’ve never regretted anything in my life until now… but this… makes me uncomfortable…]” Is this what it means to be a powerful divine entity? It’s not as fun or pleasant as I expected.

“[Hmmm… I guess this means any ethics I might have had are gone?…]” I have thoughts of devouring my daughters. I think about it to test myself, and I feel nothing about it—no reluctance, no hesitation.

I also think about devouring all those I love, but the same thing happens. I still love them, but if I were to devour them, I wouldn’t feel remorse—whereas in the past, I would never do that.

“[I see… it seems… I’ve finally become a complete monster…]” It’s really strange. Love exists. Interest and pleasure exist too, but everything no longer has a limiting filter holding me back.

“[So this is what it means to be truly (Pandora)… truly disappointing, above all… unpleasant…]” I think I liked having the other Pandoras. They were like comfortable crutches.

With Tiny Pandora handling feelings like survival, fear, shame, and cowardice; with Monster Pandora handling anger, hatred, and hunger; and with Yandere Pandora handling lust, vanity, pride, and a complete lack of ethics.

But now I handle everything—all the weight of these feelings—alone. And it’s not so pleasant.

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