Abyss of Dual Cultivation: Goddess's Lust system

"From today onwards, you all will become the last line of earth's defense against this invasive parasite. If you have anything else to say, do it now. I will hear nothing from today onwards."

The eight-year-old girl looked back at the scarred man in front of him. He was rough looking and his eyes had a mean look in them.

Seeing his stare pointed at her made the child back down and hid behind the taller woman's legs.

The taller green-haired woman was a family friend who had volunteered for this service when she had heard that Seraphina had been selected. It was a pure coincidence that the woman had been able to make it this far.

"Hey, I have a question. I can understand why you took me in during this experiment but isn't this kid too young? She had not even hit her teen years yet. Surely you cannot allow her to participate as well."

The speaker had been a relatively young girl. When Seraphina had first seen her, the other girl had been full of life and fighting for what she believed.

Well, in this case, it was to get Seraphina out of doing something dangerous but the thought was still the same.

The reassuring smile that the young teen flashed toward Seraphina was something the goddess remembered even until this day.

"Nonsense. Do you know how rare it is to find someone like you people who are compatible with the energy signatures we found? Out of a billion people, only seven were selected. How can we let you go."

At that time, Seraphina had not realized that these would be the words that would seal her fate. She had been naive and had thought of herself as special.

Even if the aunt behind her had gone stiff, Seraphina had not thought much of it at that time. Life had been so simple back then that it was funny to even think about it.

"Still, at least go easy on her and don't cut off on her food supply as you do for the rest of us. The least you all could do is to feed us well if you want us to help you out."

Mei had been the only one to speak up back then. Maybe she thought that she had to speak up now or she would regret it, or she was the only one foolish enough to feel upset at what was happening.

Anyway, that was the first day Seraphina had met Mei and that was also the first day she realized that something special had formed between the pair.

Their second meeting happened a week after their first one. This time it was because Mei had been paired up with her that one time in training.

And Seraphina's short legs had not been able to keep up with Mei's pace which caused her to fall.

That was why Mei had decided to carry her on her back while he ran through the jungle course that had been set up.

"Ah, Seraphina you're awake? I was afraid that something bad happened to you and you hurt yourself badly. I'm relieved to see that you finally woke up."

Seraphina had gone quiet at Mei's words, her tired eyes looking around before realizing where she was.

As soon as the information about her current circumstances hit her, Seraphina hid her face in the back of Mei's neck.

She had no heart to look up and see Mei's face.

"Are you alright now? Can you walk now?"

Seraphina had nodded back then, too mortified to say anything more. Mei had looked Looking back, they were much less complicated times. Mei and Seraphina didn't have to give their actions any thought. Back then, events just happened spontaneously.

And now? Things had changed now. This was the exact opposite of how horrible it had been in the abyss when they had parted ways and Seraphina had discovered her frailty.

The two girls had been fighting against one another in the monster-hunting tournament on that happy day when they came into the hallowed domain.

Seraphina had all but exhausted her core in that special space, her focus not on the fight but on the small child her aunt had left behind.

Asami was someone Seraphina did not understand. The child wished to be human when they were more than that. Seraphina could not understand why that was.

However, Mei seemed to understand Asami and even took her said back then.

What was that she had said?

'The sadness of losing someone is very painful. That child lives in a time different from us so her needs are different as well. It is not something we can understand.'

And it had taken Seraphina a long time to come to terms with it. By the time she had, she had already left the tower behind.

"S-Seph, are you there?"

Mei's weak voice assaulted Seraphina's senses and she instantly looked at the pained face below her.

Mei was as white as a ghost currently but she was alive. She was alive and talking.

But she won't be talking for a long time. Even now Seraphina could feel her life bleeding away from her body.

The thing was, gods and goddesses live a long life because of their magic and their core. Mei could not currently sustain herself properly and her body would start to degrade without her core.

"Seph, you s-surviv-ed? I'm g-la-d to s-ee t-ha-t. L-ist-en, l-ive a g-good l-ife and g-go ba-ck. T-he-y a-ll mi-ss y-ou."

'How is that 'all' you are talking about? Karan and Minerva didn't even come to seek me out even when they knew where I was. Asami betrayed me and Clara is dead. And Alan, he is a coward. You are the only one who even tried to see me.'

In the start, Mei made an effort to mend their relationship. Be it fighting or competition, she had tried everything to ignite the fire in Seraphina.

And it had worked for a while. Seraphina had let her anger control her moves at first and fought Mei a few times.

But it did not take long for even that to become meaningless. The more Seraphina tried to hold on, the more she lost.

In the end, she could not even hold on to her own body and had to follow the will dedicated by the abyss.

"G-Go b-ac-k"

Mei said that but Seraphina could tell that she would not survive for long. Her body had started to break down as well.

Her core had dislodged from its place a while back which meant that there was no proper supply of magic in Seraphina's system now.

She would die in a matter of days.

'But before that, I will take revenge. Those bastards won't know what hit them once I am through with them.'

"L-ive a f-ull-flin-g l-li-fe."

Those were the last words Seraphina ever heard from Mei's mouth and her eyes felt warm and wet.

"Huh, what's that? Tears? I was not even sure if my body could even produce them anymore."

Seraphina had not cried in a long time now but these tears refused to stop falling down her face. A cry was building up in her throat that could no longer be contained.

"Fulfilling life? Yes, I would live a happy and fulfilling life by taking my revenge. I did not want to drag the others in it but I will no longer be considerate. Everything will burn in this world."

The world was painted in a thin film of red. It was her anger that was making Seraphina see red.

The abandoned child inside her was crying for the loss of a sister she had driven away and it was casing the magic to flux around the valley.

Outside the valley, Zoe turned back toward the site where they had left their target with a forlorn look. She was the only one who was worried as well.

"Is it really alright to leave things as they are?"

"Who said that we are leaving things as they are? Of course, we have a back-up plan and Asami is making sure it is carried out. We don't need to worry about it that much."

Clove looked confident in the other goddess but Zoe could still not help but be worried. Asami was not someone Zoe would have chosen to trust in the first place. But she had because of Clara.

And now that they were all in the same boat, she had to trust Asami to not screw them over.

"Don't worry that much. The one who wants this plan to go through the most is Asami. She won't be foolish enough to let her emotions get in the way."

Clove assured Zoe and that did bring a little ease to Zoe's mind.

Well, they were all in the same boat now and had the same support. All Zoe could do now was to believe in her chosen partners. This was the path to the end she had chosen after all so she had to hold it in until the very end.