Chapter 732: Tsukuyomi Final Part

"...Pandora, I... I’m not lonely..." I deny it quickly. I don’t want her near me. She’s only become more and more terrifying — she was already terrifying back when she kidnapped me from my own universe.

But since then, that dreadful aura around her has only grown. And now there’s a whole bunch of them because of her avatars that are with each one, so it’s like being surrounded by monsters at the bottom of a pit, where trying to climb out would mean facing every single one of those monsters, which seem endless and invincible.

"Hmm... don’t you miss home? You ended up having to come with me and leave your world because you got pregnant. It was kind of a chaotic event in my life, but I’m not complaining — Eclipsya is wonderful."

"No... I don’t miss home. I really am fine." I don’t want to give her more ammunition to control every aspect of my life. What I feel is still one of the few things she has no control over.

"I see. I can’t force you to feel homesick, but you barely leave your room. Is your health okay?"

"I-It’s perfect. There’s nothing wrong with my health," I answer defensively.

"..." When I give a defensive answer, she smiles.

"Paranoia, constant caution, and fear... those are three things that corrode a brain to death, you know? And I don’t mean dying literally."

"..."

"If a person lives with those three constantly, it’s only a matter of time until their brain fails. A goddess is also bound by that — I can confirm it. After all, I spent quite some time in a problematic scenario. My mother too. And my dear daughter is also in a situation like that inside a seal. So I can confirm this with some real merit."

"How many years do you think you can survive hiding in this room, staring at things outside? Come on, Tsukuyomi — you’re a goddess, and a very intelligent one. There’s no ’hero’ to kill me in this world."

"There’s no white knight from fairy tales coming to pull you out of this ’prison’ that keeps you trapped through fear."

"Not when I’m the one who dictates every rule that every living being in this world plays by. And since I dictate the rules, I don’t want a white knight. In the story I’m building with this world, there are no heroes to ruin my fun," she says, completely arrogant. With me, she doesn’t keep up that stupid act.

"I don’t care about that..."

"Really? You seem to care quite a lot. I can see emotions, and you’re one of the few who knows that, so you know I see exactly what you feel."

"It must be terrible to watch evil win, right? It’s so unfair when the bad guys are never punished and always come out on top, protected by power, money, or whatever else," she says to me with sarcasm.

"W-What’s the point of living like this, Pandora? C-Can this even make you happy? Th-This world that’s like a little toy box to you — are you never going to grow up?"

"...Pandora already grew up, Tsukuyomi. That’s why she left this universe. Because you’re partially right, but wrong about the scale. This entire universe is my toy box, and ’I’ got tired of it, leaving only avatars to stay here in ’my’ place in the past."

"But me? The avatar me has a fixed personality. I don’t get bored. In fact, I love the control I have over every life form on this planet, especially the intelligent ones like you."

"It’s like playing chess with every atom of the universe as a piece. It’s unpredictable, it’s electrifying, and it’s fun."

"I will never stop being evil — it’s in my nature. You can’t ask a scorpion to never poison other insects when it’s in its nature to do so."

"So why do you think I would change anything when everything is perfect the way I want it? Only idiots fulfill their entire reason for living and end up sad about it. It’s true that the journey is often more rewarding than the success."

"But in this case, success defines everything. The path was full of death, and I walked through that path, and now I’m enjoying my rewards."

"And driving you insane is also part of the game, Tsukuyomi. Watching you so paranoid you can’t even leave your room puts a smile on my face. Breaking and dismantling your mind piece by piece is the best game I’ve had in recent years."

’I knew it... I... I knew it...’ She admits it. She’s never admitted it before, but I already knew. And I think that’s what she wanted. She’s right — the paranoia is driving me insane.

"W-Why me? I-I’ve never done you any harm. I’ve never tried anything against you that would justify you doing this to me..."

"There is no reason. That’s the point, Tsu-dear. There’s no reason, no purpose, no higher power. I do it simply because I can. Nobody asks why children burn ants with a magnifying glass. They have power and they’re exploring the power they have over weak beings."

"Expecting a reason for me to hurt you is stupidity. I don’t hate you. It’s just interesting to watch you go insane. Nothing more."

"And do you know why it’s fun? Because you know. You know exactly that this is harming your mental health, and you know that’s what I want, but you can’t leave. Hahaha."

"Do you know how funny it is to see you looking out the window, judging my existence while you’re too scared to even set foot on the street?" She stands up and comes toward me as I retreat, hitting the windowsill.

"S-Stay away... d-don’t come closer." When she gets too close, I end up slipping and falling out the window. I look at her with tears in my eyes until my body hits the ground.

And the ground breaks. I touch my face, realizing that for a moment I forgot I was a goddess and that a fall wouldn’t kill me. But the terror I have of Pandora was so immense that I felt small, as if I were a fragile human who couldn’t even survive that fall.

"..." I look up and see Pandora with a huge smile on her face. She turns and walks away while I touch my chest. My heart is beating so fast — an adrenaline rush I’ve never felt before.

I felt the fear of death from something that could never kill me. Pandora succeeded. She’s slowly breaking my mind, driving me insane to the point where even ordinary things don’t feel safe anymore.

I just stay on the ground crying, unable to stop or contain the fear and the dread that this monstrosity called Pandora causes me. I always thought what I feel is still one of the few things she has no control over, but do I really have control over what I feel when Pandora is capable of doing this to my mind?