The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss-Chapter 569: Mercurial Hunter

"...Urgh..." I let out a painful groan, panting a little, with no intention of sounding polite.

"Headache?" my mom asks while I'm lying on the floor, feeling an unpleasant sensation in my head.

"Sort of... how long?" I answer her question and ask my own; time is kind of confusing, so I'd rather hear her say how much has passed.

"Let me think... 8 days, 6 hours, 23 minutes, 34 seconds, 829 milliseconds, 587 microseconds, 102 nanoseconds, 252 picoseconds, 521 femtoseconds, 215 attoseconds..."

"T-That's enough!!! You don't need to break it down further!" I stop her before she reduces the number even more; I already understood she was counting when she got to 34 seconds.

"Did you succeed?" she asks as I try to manifest my divine weapon. What appears in front of me is a slightly silvery but darkened slime, as if someone had taken liquid mercury and darkened it a bit.

"Yes..." I know the name and ability that came with my divine weapon; it's part of my soul, so it's like an extension of my body that I was, in a way, born with.

"It's called [Mercurial Hunter] and it has the ability to mold itself into any shape I can imagine. Its power is to expand infinitely or contract just as infinitely, but it can also increase its mass indefinitely."

"..." My mom seems to think about the possibilities, and her eyes widen. It really is impressive; it might even seem 'simple,' but being able to contract and increase mass infinitely means I could literally create a miniature supermassive black hole and use it as a weapon.

Or I could expand the weapon until it's big enough to completely cover the universe; it all depends on my creativity.

Plus, incredibly, the part about contracting infinitely is what impresses me the most, because it means I can create subatomic blades, or pierce any defense by making the weapon so thin and small that it'll pass through the defense like it was nothing.

I can even make it thinner than the ambient Mana, meaning Mana armor becomes useless against this weapon. So, in short, it's the perfect weapon for combat, no matter what my enemy is.

Of course, there's a limitation. The weapon's strength is purely based on how much Mana I feed it. That means, currently, I can't even scratch the goddesses with this weapon. Plus, a black hole isn't that impressive.

With my current strength, if I used my true form, I could literally hold a black hole in my hands, so this weapon is weak for now and will only become powerful when I'm a high enough level to properly fuel it.

"Your weapon is better than mine," my mom says with a smile, while I think about her weapon. I don't think my weapon is better, since my weapon has that weakness of being based on my Mana, and its power only influences the weapon, not other beings.

"Better? I doubt that, Mom. Mine is just more versatile, but yours counters immortality and regeneration, which is really useful against powerful beings. Plus, yours damages the Mana pathways, and mine, without Mana, is just a useless, gooey mass."

"Pandora, they're weapons based on the soul. Obviously, they have weaknesses; after all, souls have their own vulnerabilities. You can't expect to gain absolute power from nothing, right?" my mom says, as if I were a child unsatisfied with something good.

"Hmm... anyway, thank you, Mom. The divine weapon is exactly what I needed, even if it's not what I wanted." Its ability to mold into whatever I want is perfect, because my fighting style is based on switching weapons.

'I wonder why it's called Mercurial Hunter?' The liquid isn't really mercury; it's more like a dense, liquid, slightly gooey mass made of Mana, which is also why it has that dark tint, since my Mana is black.

"Daughter, I wonder, where are you going to keep your divine weapon?"

"What do you mean?"

"Not every divine weapon can return, Pandora. Some remain externally, unable to dematerialize again, so you have to store them."

'Is that why Delphina's daggers were on display in her palace instead of being hidden?...' I haven't even thought much about this weapon yet to decide.

"I don't know if I can store it inside my soul, but I wasn't planning to put it away now that I understand its power." I use the weapon for the first time. The metallic slime quickly floats towards my body, latching on and expanding.

It shreds the flimsy dress I'm wearing and replaces it, creating a long dress with lots of ruffles and elegant bows. The dress is monumental but possesses a durability no ordinary armor could match.

It also generated darkened silver little shoes and gloves with an equally silver tint that seem to absorb the light hitting them. With this outfit, I look like a noble girl instead of the wild monster I am.

'It's good armor... though inconvenient.' This armor would hinder my true form, so I'll only use this armor/dress while fighting in my normal form. When I use my true form, I'll stay naked; it's better and more comfortable. I'll just wear this dress daily because of Azraelith, anyway.

Either way, it's undeniably useful for defending myself while I'm out of my true form.

One of the biggest problems with being absurdly powerful is that clothes and armor don't keep up with your defense, to the point where Mana armor becomes mandatory. But with my weapon, I now have armor that can take the shape of any clothing.

"Good idea. The dress is pretty too, my little princess," she says with a smile on her face, watching me use the weapon with mastery already.

"Yeah, but I can't change its color." It seems the weapon has a fixed color, or does it? I need to practice more to see. The color isn't ugly, but this darkened gray isn't the best color; I prefer black.

'My Mana...' I feel the Mana being slowly drained by the clothes to fuel the defense. It's a smaller amount than what I regenerate naturally, but in a fight using Violet at the same time, the cost would be very high.

'In the end, I can't do what I thought.' I thought about covering my entire body with this weapon and then placing Violet inside, that way the weapon would be indestructible, and nothing would pierce the armor.

But if I do that, the Mana cost would be so high it'd be ridiculous. Besides, I can sense how the weapon is an absurd Mana insulator; if I cover 100% of my body, I won't be able to see, sense, or perceive the world around me.

I'd have to leave my head free, creating a weak point that would be targeted. It seems using it as full armor is ineffective. It's better to always use it as a defensive dress that can be destroyed and rebuilt while using Violet only as a weapon.

So, either way, my plan to keep my true form without clothes continues and is even more solidified.

"..." I create a sword and test it out. It seems there's no limit to creating separate things; the sword and the dress are different things, which is good. It's also useful for creating dozens, hundreds, or thousands of weapons and controlling them all at once.

'It means I can place Violet only inside the weapon without needing to put it in the dress...' That'll reduce the Mana cost since using Mana on attacks is situational, and using Mana on the dress's defense is constant.

"I see you're already testing all the possibilities, Pandora. I like the expression you make when you're thinking," my mom says, staring at me as I look at her, trying to see if she's being serious or just messing with me.

"Thanks, Mom. I'm figuring out the best way to use this divine weapon. Manifesting it was hard, but it's not even the worst part." I'll have to train a lot with this weapon to master it perfectly.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, Mom, I'm going to go eat something. My head hurts a lot." Manifesting the divine weapon messed with my soul, and that directly messed with my brain, which hurts.

"Go ahead, and test your weapon by hunting something. You can leave the castle to test it," she says, smiling at me. I think about the area around the castle; since I arrived, I haven't left the safety of the castle.

"Ok! I'm going exploring!" I'm going to hunt something to eat. My instincts really need sharpening with a good hunt, like the old days when I used to hunt living things in the past.

Ever since I entered the Abyss, everything's been so intense that I haven't really had the chance to just hunt for fun, but now I have the power to do it.

"Oh, Mom, before I go, I left Violet with Azraelith to help her. Azraelith is trying to make some buff and defense spells to use in battle, and I'd like you to tell me later about the progress she's made; after all, you see everything that happens!"

"...That can be arranged. Also, if you entertain me during this hunt, I'll teach you a very useful trick I have."

"Trick?"

"Surprise. I won't say what it is. Anticipation for something good is the best motivator, isn't it? Since the taste of most monsters in the Abyss is garbage, maybe this little gift will cheer you up a bit."

"Of course! You've got me excited! You'll see, I'll put on a spectacular hunt," I say, heading out the door, thrilled by it.