Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Prologue: Bottom of the Abyss
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[Oh dear]
The deepest abyss of the world.
Within it, a shadow surged.
Ferocious packs of wolves rampaging wildly, snakes spewing black flames, greedily glinting twin eyes, and more.
In the blink of an eye, thousands of shapes writhed in the darkness before a beautiful woman appeared in their place.
Jet-black hair, jet-black skin, not a single thread upon her body, her graceful curves fully revealed.
Like the forbidden fruit, like sweet poison—a beautiful harbinger of doom that one knows will plunge them into destruction worse than death upon the slightest taste, yet cannot help but reach for anyway.
It's been ages since I last took proper form... Who's this guest in this pitch-black abyss?
But it's not like I hate it!
Cackling merrily, she tilted her head up slightly to gaze at a single soul drifting down languidly from the heavens.
This abyss was a place where distinctions like up, down, left, and right had long lost all meaning.
She was the abyss itself, after all, so the order here was always reshaped by her very perception.
Come hither, won't you? O pitiable yet great soul. How did you slip into this abyss, evading the touch of Styx, rejecting the bonds of Thanatos, and returning to the embrace of this night mother?
Like a hetaira seducing a man, or a mother calling to her little child.
The Abyss called out to the tiny soul, but it simply hovered silently in the void, unmoving.
Oh my? What a sturdy soul you are. How intriguing.
In an instant, a massive eye loomed before the soul as the Abyss whispered.
No blessings from Olympus, not even a mark from the three crones.
A being unbound by this world's fate. An existence that was never meant to be here in the first place.
Thus...
...all the more intriguing and fun.
Another present, past, and future—a world that even the Abyss could only glimpse like a fleeting dream.
A soul that crossed over from a realm entangled endlessly like mirror images, yet reflecting only illusions of one another, never touching.
Goodness, Chaos preserve us. You crossed that kind of world twice?
As the Abyss scoured every inch of the soul, it flickered like a candle flame—whether from shock or not.
Goodness, goodness, goodness...
This will be so much fun.
Spectating countless worlds from the outside wasn't bad, but even that had grown tiresome, always as a mere third-party observer.
Zeus and that kid's heroes strutting around endlessly were already getting on my nerves...
One like this could turn his little pageant upside down in the most entertaining way.
Now, great yet tiny soul. I shall bless you.
-Woooong!!
Huh? But you can't cross Styx, you know. You're not a soul of this world, and you have no gold for the ferryman either. Do you fancy strolling the banks of the Chiron for a few centuries?
-Wooong!
What? Death? Annihilation? Hehehe!
The Abyss shook with booming laughter at the adorable soul's cheeky defiance.
Child, there's much you don't know—no, you couldn't know! I am the Abyss, and I am death and annihilation itself.
Those eyes gleamed with mirth as they surged endlessly, myriad powers flashing within.
You cannot cross the River Styx, nor stand before that stuffy tribunal's judgment seat. Thus, your death and annihilation belong solely to me.
But I have no intention of granting you peace.
-Mwah!
As the Abyss's lips pressed against the tiny soul in benediction, it convulsed, a portion of its power sucked into the soul.
Even the greatest hero's soul would shatter and explode if it tried to contain so much as a speck of her power.
Yet this otherworldly soul absorbed every last drop as if it had always been its own.
As expected... My eyes never lie.
Born in a purely human body, yet greedily devouring the very divinity of she who was the Abyss itself.
In a world alive with gods, monsters, spirits, and fairies, what tempests would this peculiar soul unleash?
How long had it been since her heart thrilled so?
The ancient night blessed the soul before her with a crescent moon smile.
I shall gift you a body.
From the bottomless depths of the Abyss, immense power began to writhe.
Your bones come from the earth's most ancient stone, your flesh from the deepest darkness, and your soul from my primordial night.
My children—death and sleep, wrath and vengeance, fate—shall bless you.
Now, begone. Hero of monstrous form. Blasphemer who ascended to the divine without a drop of godly blood. I bless your third life.
"⟨ Abyss's Benediction ⟩"
Brighter than Hyperion's light, darker than Tartarus's depths, within this blessing a single child slowly began to rise toward the earthly realm.
On the day you are ready, I shall come to you.
May you dream sweetly until then.
As the ancient night mother waved goodbye with a smile, the child slipped through one of countless mirror realms and vanished from sight.
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