The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 583: Light Enigma

"...Looks like a puzzle lock..." I’m sitting on the bed, looking at the book. The magical seal on it seems to be more of a puzzle than just a simple stamp, and since it’s not just a seal, I can sense there are trap spells woven into it.

"If the seal was made based on Baeh’Wa..." I stare at the book, then begin to unlock the first part. From the magical signature, I know what to do. Using biological alteration, I make my face featureless and generate multiple eyes, closing some, opening others, and leaving a few half-lidded.

In the same rhythm as the book—something Baeh’Wa could achieve with her body—I press the book almost flush against my face. The eyes on the book start to move, copying the motion of my own eyes.

Tick

"Done..." I pull my face away from the book, reverting my features back to normal. It’s strange, making such intense alterations.

The next seal is simpler. It works through magic; by rotating some magical mechanisms inside, I can do it easily. I’m almost disappointed by how easy it’s being. I was expecting a challenge.

"Mom, you made this way too easy," I murmur with a small, arrogant smirk, moving on to the third lock.

"...Seriously?" I look at what’s written beneath the lock. It’s simply the height of absurdity.

"You’ve gotta be kidding me?! This is literally impossible!!!" It says the lock can only be opened with the blood of an "innocent," which, according to the book, refers to someone who has never taken a life.

Which is impossible in the Abyss! We all kill things down here!! There’s no way to survive without killing.

"...No... There’s no way Baeh’Wa is alive without having killed something, right?" It’s impossible! Baeh’Wa must be absurdly old since she was used as the base for my body and Azraelith’s project.

In all that time, it’s impossible she hasn’t taken a single life. After all, in the Abyss, it’s kill or be killed.

"Baeh’Wa..." I use Shadow Sculpture to move Baeh’Wa from wherever she was to my room. She appears confused until she sees me, then lowers her head.

"Hey, Baeh’Wa, have you killed a lot in your life?"

"I-I’ve... n-never... k-killed..."

"Liar. Then how did you survive? You need to eat, to fight to defend yourself! It’s literally impossible for you to have never killed anything in your miserable life, even if you are shy," I say, starting to read the colors of her emotions.

"I-I’m a scavenger-type monster... s-so I ate the corpses I found... I-I’d climb on top of them and dissolve them... a-and besides, I’m weak, so I don’t really fight, I j-just flee underground when I’m attacked..."

’Is that... true?!’ I stare incredulously at this girl who actually told the truth. And worse, she really did manage to survive without ever killing anything. It’s almost a shock to my system, since we lead such opposite lives considering how many lives I constantly take.

"How did you raise your level if you’ve never killed!!"

"I-I have a passive skill I was born with, i-it lets me steal 3% of the level of everything I d-devour... a-and also, I n-need very little food to survive for a long time..."

I look at her as if seeing the most absurd thing imaginable, a freak of nature! She’s like a slug in terms of natural survival!! It seems almost irrational to think that something could survive in the Abyss without killing.

’Looks like surprising beings still exist around here...’ With such survival capabilities, it’s no wonder my mother chose her as an inspiration for some aspects of my body.

"Since you’ve never killed anyone, I want your blood. Drip it right here," I say, holding out the book to her, where there’s a small hole to put it in. Although, something about this feels off.

Why would my mother make a lock that only Baeh’Wa could open? First, the eyes—many would fail that lock because you need to have more than thirty eyes on your face, something Baeh’Wa can do since her liquid body is very malleable.

The second lock is just a magical seal, but Baeh’Wa, who’s skilled in magic, should be able to handle it. And this third lock is something literally only she can open here in the Abyss.

I doubt there’s another rarity like her who’s never killed anyone and is strong. Of course, I guess you could use the blood of newborns, but finding a newborn monster that hasn’t killed yet would take a while and be inconvenient.

"H-Here it is..." She places her hand over the hole, and a black liquid drips inside, producing a soft click.

"Now, sit over there in the corner. I don’t want you getting in my way, but I also don’t want you to leave. I might still need you." I gesture to her while staring at the next lock.

’This is actually... getting interesting.’ I continue slowly working through the book’s numerous locks, each one more ridiculous than the last, becoming increasingly specific. Hours pass as I work to open the book.

Until finally, I reach the very last lock. There were over thirty-four seals in total, and out of those thirty-four, I needed Baeh’Wa for twenty-one of them, proving that without her, opening this book is impossible.

"Baeh’Wa, look, we’re on the last one. And it’s a question," I say, showing the book to Baeh’Wa, who’s sitting on the bed with me.

"W-What do you need me to do?"

"I’ll read the question... Hmmm... Baeh’Wa, how deeply can something penetrate your body?"

"..." She makes an embarrassed face at the question.

"A-A few kilometers, i-in a kind of spherical sense? L-Like a lake..." When she answers, I smile, tossing the now-unlocked book to her. From analyzing all the questions, I found what I was looking for. The book isn’t what matters; what truly matters is Baeh’Wa and something hidden inside her.

"Baeh’Wa, lie down on the bed! Also, you can keep the book; I’m not interested in it anymore." I have to say, I’m surprised. Initially, I thought the book’s tests were boring, but it turns out the real puzzle of the book was never about unlocking it. It was about piecing together the answers to each question the book asked. And the book gave eleven different questions.

’What did Mommy hide inside Baeh’Wa?’ My mother sent Baeh’Wa to serve me. I’m sure she knew I’d find the book eventually and try to unlock it! So this is like a treasure hunt designed by her.

And it’s pretty stimulating. I really needed something to entertain me a bit. I don’t even care that much about what I’ll find; the attempt alone is already great, though I’d love it if it were something that made me more powerful.

"R-Ready..." Baeh’Wa shyly lies down on the bed, belly up.

"Perfect. Now stay nice and still on this bed waiting. I’m going in."

"G-Going in?"

"Obviously. There’s something inside you I want to find. It’s easier if I search directly. Besides, you won’t be able to digest me." From what I gathered during the questions, her body is incapable of devouring me.

There’s no way it could get through my Mana armor to try and dissolve my body. That’s why she eats corpses. Dead bodies can’t defend themselves from being dissolved. It’s literally one of the only things she could eat, since any living monster could prevent her body from dissolving them.

"W-Whatever you ask will be done... P-Pandora." She closes her eyes with a shyness that’s always amusing for a strong monster.

"If I find what I’m looking for, I’ll make you something really tasty." I climb on top of her, stepping gently onto her soft, squishy belly. My foot slowly begins to sink, entering inside.

"And remember, don’t move from this position for any reason. Stay still right there, waiting for me to come back," I tell her seriously. If she moves, she’ll probably mess up my sense of direction.

"If I get stuck inside you, I’ll blow your body apart to get out." Literally, using the Element of Doom, I’ll do it.

"I-I’ll stay perfectly still!!"

"That’s right." I give a little wave as my whole body sinks inward, my head and arm being the last to enter her body. The sensation is like sinking into a dense liquid.

It’s hard to breathe properly, and the viscosity is kind of sticky, but I ignore it and start swimming.

’There are three main possibilities for what could be hidden in here...’ Of course, it could be anything, but my mother wouldn’t hide just anything. Besides, it needs to be something Baeh’Wa’s body, over billions of years, hasn’t been able to dissolve.

So I deduce it could be either a Special Grade Weapon like Violet, a piece of a goddess’s corpse, or perhaps an entire corpse of a goddess, and finally, it could be a really important artifact or book.

Besides those three options, it could be anything else. The problem with searching blindly is that I don’t know what’s here. There must be some clue from the book’s seals that weren’t questions.

"The first seal involved eyes, and many of the seals involved modifications of body parts... ugh... look at the things I do to get stronger..." I start swimming randomly, using Mana to try and detect things.

But unfortunately, this black goo prevents Mana from spreading properly. Plus, I can’t smell anything, hear any sounds, or even see a thing. This goo is a very powerful insulator.

’All for power... there’s gotta be something good! My mother wouldn’t put me through this for nothing, right?’ I encourage myself to keep going, thinking about the good things that might be inside my temporary servant.