Novel Full Chapter 590: A Gift for Competition
Chapter 590: A Gift for Competition
"...Pandora, why are you...so soft?" my sister asks while I’m sitting on her lap testing a few things. She strokes my skin gently, surprised by the pleasant softness.
"Texture Alteration," I answer her question disinterestedly. It’s been a while since I used this skill; it’s quite useful, but in combat, it’s lost almost all its utility.
"And what are you trying to do?" she asks, breathing heavily. It seems having me naked on her lap like this is quite exciting.
"I’m trying to bless my daughters. That way, I’ll be able to communicate with them briefly. Since I’m a level 25 billion goddess, I thought it would be possible to open a channel to them."
"T-That’s... cool." My sister hugs my waist. Even though her tail is pulling at her arm to make her stop, not even two days have passed, and my sister already seems on the verge.
"Big sis... please... don’t touch there," I say in a cute and "shy" tone as she touches my stomach.
"A-Ah, s-sorry... wait! Stop messing around!" I stifle a laugh when she apologizes automatically. It’s been fun treating her like this.
"Big sis, want to know what blessing I’ll give my daughters?"
"No!"
"...Big... sis..."
"Don’t look at me like that, Pandora." She closes her eyes when I look up so she can see mine.
’What an annoying older sister.’ I start to ignore her, focusing on trying to give my blessing to my daughters. Unfortunately, it’s too far away, and the Abyss interferes.
’If I use the Doom Element, I can open a hole between the Abyss, the universe, and reach the planet...’ I wonder what I can sacrifice to the Doom Element. Opening a fissure, even if it only needs to be microscopic, will still cost a lot.
’What could I sacrifice temporarily that would further increase my image of vulnerability to Azraelith?’ I’ll be here for five months, so I can sacrifice something for five months that I’ll get back when the punishment ends.
’Considering I’m safe...’
"Doom: I sacrifice my adult form, my aura, and 98% of my regeneration for the next five months, in exchange for a passage being forcibly created between the Abyss and the universe for the system." I sacrifice three relevant things.
The first is growth. I’ll be forcibly stuck in this form, only 150 centimeters tall, for the next five months. That means there’s no chance of me accidentally turning back into my alluring adult form.
By sacrificing my natural aura, I lost all the oppressive, bloodthirsty air around me, so now I seem fragile, harmless, and innocent. And by sacrificing my regeneration, wounds will stay on my body, forcing Azraelith to be careful with my apparent fragility.
"PANDORA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Azraelith screams at me when she realizes what I did. She has permission to use the Doom Element and knows this is irreversible. Even though I’m still powerful, that doesn’t matter to her mind, which sees me even more weakened.
’I’m so brilliant. I’m still as strong as ever, but visually and in presence, I’m as fragile as a defenseless baby, and later I’ll recover everything I lost.’ I look at my arm, which Azraelith squeezed very hard.
Without my aura to act as a partial shield, and without my enhanced regeneration, my arm immediately shows marks, and Azraelith’s fingernails leave a small scratch.
’2% regeneration... enough to heal me, but with a massive delay.’ Azraelith looks at the small scratch, realizing how serious the "weakness" is. On top of that, she can’t hit me now. Any time she hits me, she’ll injure me and leave obvious marks.
"You’re so stupid!! What kind of idiot sacrifices important things for an act?"
"An act is only truly convincing when you risk your life, big sis... so now, please, big sis, protect me." I turn around on her lap and hug her while I start blessing my daughters through the minuscule passage, which is like a thread.
"Big sis! Big sis, do you love me? You’re going to protect me, right? I’m so fragile." Obviously, I don’t need protection, but let’s see what Azraelith will choose: rationality or instinct.
"...I... will... protect... you." She speaks with a growl, as if trying to stop herself from saying that to me, which makes me smile sweetly at her. I give a little jump and kiss her lips.
"Thank you, big sis."
...
...
...
"Hey, are you three seeing this?" I ask Lycoris, Aqua, and Azazel. We’re having a brief study meeting, but suddenly a system screen appeared for me. It’s not the normal system, though. This one is red and black and has eyes in some places.
"Eclipsya, are you referring to a system screen that looks quite macabre? If so, it appeared for me too," Aqua says, staring at what seems to be nothing.
"It appeared for me too, little sis Eclipsya!" Azazel says, raising a hand exaggeratedly to get attention.
"I see it too, but it’s empty?" Lycoris says while I see mine is also completely empty.
"Oh, something’s happening!" Azazel calls everyone’s attention as I stare at the screen. A question appears along with a bunch of options that are just [Yes] written along with the question.
[Do you wish to accept the Blessing of Pandora, the Goddess of Apocalypse?]
A pretty direct question. Even though no one in this room would choose a [No], it’s not even an option, because out of the thirty options scattered chaotically across the screen, all of them are just [Yes].
I click Yes to see what will happen, and everyone else seems to do the same. Soon, the screen shows Mama Pandora’s face.
"[Hello? Can you hear me? It’s Mama!! The signal is terrible, and I’m not sure if you can understand me.]" She speaks through the screen. Her voice is slightly distorted, but it’s understandable.
"[Look, let me make three things clear. First, I can’t see you or hear you, so just listen!! Second, this will last five minutes at most, probably less. And third, I miss you, daughters! I hope you like the present.]" She gives a sweet smile as I look at my sisters.
"Mama Pandora looks younger, or is it just me?" I ask everyone, and they agree.
"[Daughters, it’s still going to be a while before I come back home!! I would love to know how much you’ve grown and how much progress you’ve made, but I wouldn’t be me if I were all sappy or sentimental, so I’m proposing a fun challenge!]"
"[The blessing I sent is an extension that you just entered. When I come back home, there’s a 70% chance I’ll give one of you the title of Demon King!!]"
"[I will choose the daughter who delivers the results I deem most satisfactory. I won’t judge just deeds or achievements; I will judge every act, action, and things you’ve done both in secret and in public!]"
"[So, daughters, I hope you make me very proud, and may the best of you win and earn the title!! Of course, I’m not giving you my kingdom! This kingdom is mine; I’m only giving the title.]"
"[But every conquest starts with the first steps. The one who wins the title will already have the foundation to build her own kingdom in the future. I would love to be able to make all of you queens.]"
"[But not everyone achieves great things or has the right mindset for governance, so I will only choose one of you. The others, if you want to become queens of something, you’ll have to fight hard to achieve it on your own.]"
"[Oh, and no favoritism. I might not give the title to anyone. It all depends on whether one of you achieves what I expect from you, so try your hardest, daughters.]"
"[Currently, there’s a war with the elves going on, isn’t there? Maybe you should try going? I don’t know, your choice... seems like my time is... up.]" Her voice becomes even more distorted.
"[I love you so much, daughters!! See you-]" The connection cuts, and the red and black screen starts to distort and crack at the edges. Some message appears, but the screen becomes so broken I can’t read it before it completely shatters and vanishes.
"..." We all look at each other, understanding the possibilities, the chances, and the merits. I look at Aqua, who looks back at me, and she has a greedy look in her eyes.
"Naturally, I will win the title, so you three can start preparing for your new queen now!" Aqua says arrogantly, standing up and tossing her notebook aside.
’A queen... if I were a queen, I could have Azazel all to myself much more easily without Grimm bothering me...’ I need this. The benefits are too great.
"Don’t be so arrogant, Aqua. This position already has an owner, and it’s not you." I stand up and approach her.
"Oh, really? We’ll see." She steps forward boldly until Lycoris steps in front of her and Azazel steps in front of me.
"No fighting, you two. We’re busy studying! How do you expect to win titles if you can’t even maintain respect during our pre-planned group study session! Y-You promised no fighting..." Lycoris says with a growl at us both.
"That’s exactly what Lycoris said!" Azazel agrees with her. I give Aqua a dangerous look. Lycoris and Azazel practically have no chance of getting this title, and neither of them shows any interest anyway.
My only competition is Aqua, and Aqua seems to think the same as me.
"It was just a little joke, sisters. We weren’t going to fight," Aqua says, her eyes not leaving mine in a threatening tone.
"Right... Aqua and I weren’t going to fight," I say with a fake smile, returning to my spot.
"..." We all go back to our places, but the atmosphere in the room has become terrible after this news. Even though we’re all happy about Mama Pandora’s message, the competition takes up too much space and creates a climate of tension and rivalry.