Ficool

Chapter 22 - Chapter 022: This Pandora Has Serious Personality Issues

The Netherworld, also known as the Boundary Between Life and Death.

This was a world completely different from the present world, where spirit took precedence over matter.

In Western mysticism, this place was also called the Astral Plane or Spirit World; in Tibetan Buddhism, it was generally called the Bardo.

Neither the present world nor heaven or hell, it was a position existing between these realms.

For Ryuga, who possessed extremely high spirituality, upon arriving in this world, he had already detected this layer closely adjacent to the present world, though he hadn't rashly entered.

The concepts of time and space within the Netherworld were very vague. If one entered rashly, it was even possible to travel to past time points.

Now with Pandora's guidance, there was naturally no need to worry about this.

Upon entering the Netherworld, the first thing that met his eyes was a pure white space.

In the space without any furniture or decoration, a slender girl with purple twin-tails and divine beauty was staring at him intently with an eager expression.

"Wah! My dearest and most special child! I'm your mama Pandora! Come let mama take a look! Let mama examine your body!"

The girl, who appeared to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, cheered and then charged toward Ryuga with a pig-rush-like posture, opening her arms to embrace him.

Though this was their first meeting, the girl showed a completely defenseless attitude.

Looking at her movement full of openings, Ryuga had a hundred ways to kill her.

Of course, Ryuga didn't do so—after all, he wasn't some murderous maniac, and the girl before him wasn't an enemy either.

As the witch of mythology who brought all calamity and hope, Pandora presided over the great ritual capable of creating Campiones—Pandora's Dark Christmas.

It could be said that she was the creator of all Campiones in this world. Calling herself their mother wasn't really problematic.

But he also didn't accept Pandora's excessive enthusiasm, instead directly pressing his palm against the girl's forehead to stop her approach.

"Act normal!"

Ryuga said thus.

"I am acting normal!"

Pandora blinked, her eyes slightly aggrieved as she replied.

"..."

Ryuga found himself momentarily unable to refute.

What kind of perverted behavior was this?

"Such a cold child! Mama specially opened a passage to welcome you, yet you won't even give mama a basic hug. Wuu wuu wuu... Mama is so pitiful! I won't get up unless you give me a hug."

Seeing Ryuga unmoved, the self-proclaimed "mama" girl began playing the emotional card, covering her eyes with both hands and starting to fake cry.

It had to be said, the girl's acting was extremely realistic, even containing some genuine emotion, making it difficult to distinguish.

But in Ryuga's eyes, her purpose was as obvious as a firefly in the night.

"If I'm not mistaken, you seem very eager to make physical contact with me?"

Ignoring the girl's coquetry and tantrums, Ryuga's tone was calm yet sharp.

As he spoke, he slightly raised his palm, dozens of techniques weaving in his palm.

Though he saw no hostility in Pandora and understood her personality well enough, he wouldn't relax his guard where he should be cautious.

Hearing Ryuga expose her thoughts, Pandora's slender body stiffened slightly.

She had originally wanted to say something to lighten the mood, but seeing Ryuga's guarded appearance and fearing being misunderstood, she immediately waved her hands in panic.

"No! Don't be angry... I, I, I—I really don't have any bad intentions! I'm mainly just curious about the physical structure of otherworld people!"

"Please believe me on this point! As your mama, I would never do anything harmful to my child!"

To avoid creating friction with her new child, Pandora obediently knelt on the ground, proactively raising both hands in a surrender posture.

In this posture, if Ryuga wanted to harm her, she wouldn't even have a chance to mobilize divine power for defense.

This behavior of completely entrusting her life and safety to another person was simply foolish.

But it also clearly showed that Pandora was completely unguarded toward Ryuga.

Her identification with the role of mother was definitely not just lip service.

However, even so, Ryuga didn't completely accept her explanation.

"You said mainly curious about otherworld people's structure. What's the secondary reason?"

He continued pressing.

"Can I not answer this question?"

Pandora's gaze began wandering.

"No!"

"Uu~ Fine, fine, I just think you're very handsome and want to touch you a bit, what's wrong with that?"

Under Ryuga's interrogation, Pandora loudly shouted out the reason she had been too embarrassed to voice.

This reason was already quite ridiculous.

What was more ridiculous was that according to Ryuga's detection, this was actually the truth.

So even gods were looks-obsessed?

"..."

Ryuga showed a somewhat speechless expression.

Seeing his expression, Pandora, somewhat breaking the pot, puffed out her slender chest and spoke righteously.

"What's wrong with that? As a mother, what's wrong with wanting to cuddle with my own child!"

Seeing her righteous appearance, Ryuga finally understood why the Campiones' attitudes toward Pandora were all rather poor.

This witch had serious personality problems.

Just as Ryuga deeply understood the witch Pandora's problematic character and was about to ask about information regarding the Campione reincarnation ritual.

The voice of War God Verethragna suddenly rang out above the white space.

"So you're a hero from another world—no wonder you could push me to such an extent! As a War God, I acknowledge your strength!"

The Campione world also had numerous parallel worlds.

Perhaps this was secret information for ordinary people, but for gods it was just common sense.

So even knowing Ryuga was from another world, neither deity was particularly surprised.

"Setting aside acknowledgment, Verethragna, I have a question for you."

"What question?"

"You're staying here because of Pandora's Dark Christmas, right?"

"Correct. As the defeated, I should naturally hand over my Authority and crown of victory to the victor. This is the most basic etiquette for a warrior."

"I'm not asking about that. What I want to know is—where will you go after the reincarnation ritual is complete?"

Ryuga shook his head, asking about his most concerning point.

To be continued…

Guys, drop your power stones and support the story!

More Chapters