Abyssal Chronicles

Chapter 545 - 546: Yumo’s Hesitation [2/2]

"Should I just destroy everything? If it’s all gone, then there’s nothing to worry about anymore," the dark-haired girl muttered with empty eyes.

—

’What?! ’

’No! What am I thinking?!’

Snapping back to reality after a moment of haziness, Yumo frantically shook her head, trying to dispel the terrifying thoughts in her mind.

"No, I can’t do this..."

Although she managed to suppress the strange urge to wreak havoc within her, the young girl’s anxiety and restlessness didn’t lessen one bit. It even escalated under the attacks of the Soul-Devouring Demon.

During her moment of anxiety, Yumo deeply regretted not learning some combat skills from Kalina when they were in Winter Forest. That kid would have had a way to handle the current situation.

She regretted not taking better care of Yuan’er. If she had been more strict, the child wouldn’t be in danger.

She regretted not addressing the matter with Youlan sooner. If she had been more resolute back then, she wouldn’t be in this mess right now.

Of course, Yumo wasn’t solely focused on her regrets. She knew very well that regrets wouldn’t change anything. What she could do now was think of any way possible to utterly destroy the bothersome creature in front of her. After her regular attacks and a few powerful energy blasts failed to achieve the desired effects, Yumo recalled a set of tactics her son Pierre had once told her about. Tactics about how to deal with extremely resilient enemies.

Perhaps because Pierre usually left a somewhat unreliable impression, Yumo initially forgot about the battle strategies he had suggested. But as she wracked her brain for a solution, Pierre’s advice resurfaced from the depths of her memory.

That was to inject a vast amount of Shadow Energy directly into the enemy, using their body as a conduit. She would then spread her energy throughout their body and detonate it in one fell swoop, obliterating them from the inside out. Regardless of how potent their life force, they would be reduced to ashes, with no chance of revival.

At that moment, facing a creature that hid most of its body underground, this plan could actually work.

So, Yumo, following Pierre’s tactical advice, landed a punch on the Soul-Devouring Demon’s head, injecting her energy into it continuously...

As her power flowed in, the enormous body of Soul Demon’s huge body started to glow in a red ’veil,’ and began falling apart, bit by bit.

Then...

After a heaven-shaking burst of energy, the Soul Demon regenerated once more, while Yumo was thrown hundreds of meters away by a divine light. Despite her attempts, Yumo’s actions ultimately ended in failure. The demon, after absorbing so much of her shadowy power, had gained strong resistance to it. Due to its massive size, her power couldn’t spread throughout the demon’s body fast enough, only to be absorbed and further strengthening its resistance.

If she didn’t disseminate her power throughout the demon before setting it off, the Soul-Devouring Demon would begin to regenerate. Its horrifying rate of regeneration was even faster than the speed of her explosion.

Yumo steadied herself and evaded all the bloody claws chasing her. Biting her lip in anger, her scarlet eyes locked onto the demon.

"Damn it... Is this thing specifically designed by Youlan to counter me?" she muttered through gritted teeth. She cursed Youlan internally, but it was just powerless rage at this point.

"As time goes on, what will happen to my Yuan’er?" Anxiety and worry began to consume Yumo’s mind, as if she were trapped in molten lava. Dodging the demon’s attacks, she couldn’t help but think of her little daughter. The idea that her precious child could be drained of her life force by Youlan and turned into a husk—or worse, fed to this monstrous black mud demon—made her feel as if she were being sliced into pieces.

Her scarlet eyes trembled, her heart raced, and tears uncontrollably started to slide from the corners of her eyes. After multiple failures, Yumo’s sanity was on the verge of collapse.

"No, I can’t let this happen... I can’t! I’m her mother, I can’t let anything happen to her," she said, kicking a red claw away and breaking it into energy pieces in the air. Yumo clenched her fist over her heart, as if trying to keep her emotions inside.

For a moment, everything seemed to stop.

She was deep in thought, trying to figure out what to do next.

--

Yumo fondly remembered the day she first encountered humans in Winter Forest. At that time, Kalina had not even been born yet, and Youlan had not left the forest. A group of ten human adventurers had stepped into the eastern part of Winter Forest and entered Yumo’s sensory range. As it was her second time encountering intelligent life form beyond abyssal demons, and her first time meeting humans, Yumo, who was in her Demon Temple form, was quite excited. She immediately drove away the abyssal demons lurking around, wanting to consume them, and guided these humans into her special magical barrier.

She still vividly remembers everything that happened then. When the adventurers saw the bloody butterflies—embodiments of her power—and felt the horrifying shadow power, they showed unprecedented fear and hysterically launched an attack on Yumo. At first, Yumo was a bit startled, but when she realized they couldn’t break through her defenses, she let them "punch and kick" until they were completely exhausted and collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.

Seeing that the time was right, the bloody butterflies controlled by Yumo began to make contact with these adventurers. At first, everyone was very resistant, their eyes filled with caution. However, when Yumo withdrew the surrounding menacing abyssal demons and retracted her oppressive aura, the tense atmosphere somewhat eased.

The blue-haired man leading the adventurer team cautiously stepped forward upon seeing this, approaching the bloody butterflies. After witnessing the insane power of the surrounding abyssal demons, he began to regret his decision to enter the forest. He had even considered taking poison to end his life swiftly. But when he saw the abyssal demons retreat, he looked astonished and stared in confusion at the few bloody butterflies dancing gracefully in mid-air.

"These butterflies?"

In the scary, monster-filled Winter Forest, the blue-haired guy felt a tiny hope when he met something that could think. After all, just sitting there would mean getting killed by demons from the Void Spirit Tower. So why not take a chance to see if there’s a way out?

With that in mind, the blue-haired man mustered his courage. Under the anxious eyes of his companions, he slowly walked toward the bloody butterflies. His hand nervously gripped the hilt of his sword behind him, ready to fight to the death should danger arise. Even though he knew that fighting was probably futile, holding onto the sword gave him some comfort.

"Um... Hello?" The blue-haired man greeted awkwardly, his voice trembling and full of fear. Yet, upon hearing his greeting, Yumo was overjoyed. The bloody butterflies danced in delight.

"Good, good, it seems we can have a little chat," Yumo said happily inside. For Yumo, who had been confined to Winter Forest, the outside world was full of allure—human societies from other worlds, elegant elves, majestic dragons, and dazzling magic. Although Yumo had gained some knowledge of these beings, many questions remained due to the short-lived nature of her previous conversations.

At this moment, seeing the human adventurer overcome his inner fears and willing to communicate, Yumo was quite pleased. The intimidating aura surrounding the bloody butterflies gradually faded, replaced by a cheerful atmosphere. Even the demonic creatures hiding nearby in the forest seemed to catch the joyful mood and started to hop around.

"Nice to meet you, brave adventurer" Yumo’s voice entered the blue-haired man’s mind. The next instant, under the watchful eyes of the adventurers, a scarlet energy began to gather, forming an arm of energy that reached out to the blue-haired man, offering a handshake.

Though startled at first, the blue-haired man quickly summoned his courage and shook the crimson energy hand.

"Very good, this is how a friendly exchange should begin," Yumo said in a pleased tone.

Yumo was quite satisfied, muttering to herself inwardly.

However,

Just as Yumo planned to inquire about some information about the human world, the blue-haired man seemed unable to contain his fear and hostility towards the Shadow’s power, and involuntarily released the aura hidden within him.

The moment the man’s hostility and that aura with a certain killing intent reached Yumo’s mind, something weird hit her mind, making her soul shake.

"What’s going on?!"

Before Yumo could figure out what was happening, her vision darkened, and a feeling of sleepiness enveloped her consciousness.

"Wait, what’s... happening?"

’Why do I feel... sleepy?’

’How is this possible?’

’I... I’m a building, Why... why would I feel... sleepy?’

Yumo was confused, unable to understand why she, as a building, would feel tired. This was something that had never happened in decades.

’Why now?’

But then,

Yumo had no time or energy to figure out the strangeness in her body. Under the assault of this overwhelming drowsiness, her resistance was futile, and her consciousness plunged into darkness. It was as if everything was cut off in that instant.

...

...

Time passed, who knows how long it took.

When Yumo’s consciousness gradually awakened, she was shocked to discover an unacceptable fact.

That is,

The adventurers, who were just there in front of her, were now a gross pile of chopped-up meat.

"Wha... What happened?"