The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 660: Elysia Part 2

"You’re doing well, Elysia," Mama praises me. It’s been about three months since I was born, and she’s started training me—teaching me magic, teaching me how to fight and hunt, even though I haven’t actually hunted anything yet.

It’s so hard. She’s very harsh and rigid, but whenever I manage to do something right, she praises me and is so sweet to me, so I try really hard.

"Thank you, Mama," I say as I clean my hands with a handkerchief. Living with Mama is still so uncomfortable, like something is deeply wrong.

And sometimes my head hurts a lot when she talks about certain things, as if I should remember something, but that something is broken. Still, she loves me, and I think that’s what matters.

"Now, daughter, I think it’s time for you to kill your first person, don’t you? Hehehe." She grabs me by the waist and lifts me up, carrying me until we reach a room where a man is strapped to a table with a gag.

"This is Lucius, Pope of a church—a little worm who hid himself well, but he only survived because my interest in going after him was zero. I decided to bring him here to be killed by you," Mama says as I look at the tall man with white hair and white eyes. He’s wearing a ceremonial papal robe and a necklace with a large golden cross.

"U-Urgh..." Something about him makes me feel extremely strange. I look at Mama, who gives me a smile.

"Is there a problem, Elysia? You must kill this man. Or can’t you?"

"I-I can, Mama..." Mama hands me a knife, and something about this whole situation gives me a headache.

"..." I approach the man on the table, but as soon as I do, the golden cross around his neck makes me remember something.

"..." I stare at this cross, which feels so familiar. Before doing anything else, I grab the cross and turn it over, looking at what’s behind it.

"Is there a problem, Elysia?" Mama Pandora asks in an amused tone as I drop the knife. My hands tremble while an unpleasant nausea settles in.

"I-I..."

"It seems you’ve remembered a few little things."

"...M-Mama, I... I don’t want to do this..."

"...What did you say?"

"...H-He... he’s my worshipper... I-I can’t..." Something tells me this. This man’s faith is directed at me for some reason.

"...I see."

"M-Mama?" My body starts moving on its own. I look at Mama’s dice, which glow in a black hue. When she moves her fingers, my body moves, grabbing the knife and starting to stab the man tied to the table.

I cry as I look at her forcing me to do this. He dies quickly from the immense number of stab wounds to his chest.

"..."

"Now eat, daughter. This is your first meal that you’ve earned with your own hands. You shouldn’t waste it."

"!!?" I look at her, alarmed.

"It’s your first hunt. I practically handed you this meal on a platter, and you were so incompetent that you couldn’t even kill on your own. So you won’t need me to force you to eat, right?"

"...B-But, Mama... he..."

"..." She gives me a stern look. I look at this dead body, and through tears, I start eating.

"That’s better, Elysia. And the next time you refuse to follow an order, I will break your legs," she says angrily, shoving my head against the blood.

"You’re already a child, Elysia, and in a little while you’ll become an adult. You’re a pure-blood Tenebris Abyssus, so in probably one year you’ll already be an adult."

"And do you know what happens when you become an adult? Your training will get even harder. Now finish eating that and go back to your room to read the books about my great deeds."

"...Mama... am I... am I the goddess of humans?" I look at her and ask, but the moment I do, her smile becomes so terrifying that I regret asking.

"Kyaaaa..." She grabs me by the neck and throws me against a wall with a very cold gesture. I fall to the floor, curling up.

"You took long enough to ask that question, even though you’ve had those memories for a month now. Hiding things from Mama is very ugly, Elysia."

"But I suppose it’s fine. I like that you try to hide things, even if it’s only out of fear. However, this false morality you tried to demonstrate irritates me."

"It’s truly arrogant for someone as weak as you to think she has the right to save someone’s life and go against my orders when you can’t even stop me."

"S-Sorry, M-Mama..."

"Don’t apologize, you stupid little devil. I don’t want apologies or weakness. I want you to do what you have to do." She comes to me, grabbing my hand.

"Even the Elysia of the past would have killed that man without hesitation, without caring if he was someone who worshipped her. So why are you trying to be even more moralistic than that whore?"

"S-Sorry..."

"Stop apologizing or I swear I’ll kill you. I don’t want to hear apologies. I want you to kill when you have to kill, take what you want to take, and destroy what you have to destroy."

"You must have some flashes of past memories linked to your palace, don’t you? I captured all your servants from the past, and I’m going to make you kill them one by one."

"N-No... M-Mama, please... I-I don’t want to."

"If you don’t want to, you should be strong enough to make me obey."

"Urgh..." She punches me in the stomach, making me curl up on the floor, but then she grabs my face and caresses it with a smile.

"Do you want to make Mama happy or Mama angry?" she asks, gently stroking my face.

"I-I want Mama happy..."

"Then sin. Commit acts that everyone else would judge as repulsive. You are not Elysia, the Goddess of Humans. You are Elysia Aegis Oblivion, my daughter."

"However, daughter, the reason I don’t kill you is because you’re my daughter, understand? So you only have two paths. Either become the daughter I want and receive all my love, or become a stupid copy of the old Elysia, and I will destroy even your soul. You no longer have reincarnation magic. You won’t come back to life again if you die."

"It means your fragile soul is in my hands, and I decide whether to break it or cultivate it. So decide, Elysia, but decide carefully... Now finish eating your meal—every last bit—and return to the training room. Soon you’ll evolve into the adolescent phase."

"And in the adolescent phase, I’ll let you hunt living things that try to run away or attack, and I won’t help you survive. Now, sweetie, enjoy this meal I’ve provided for you, because soon all your food will be something you have to hunt, my little sinner."

’S-Sin... I-I must sin for Mama Pandora...’ My instincts are on edge and my discomfort is high, but I don’t want Mama angry.