Frequently Asked Questions

"This article features very frequently asked questions to provide a structured overview to answer them"

Do Chapters come out on a set monthly date?
Chapters can release on the 10th/ 20th/ 30th of each month, however there is no fixed schedule. This means they come out once the author, Akihito Tsukushi, is done with a chapter.

Is Reg the same individual as in Lyza's? Notes
No, the sketch in Lyza's notes is of a different individual, with noticiable differences being noted in the notes; for example a section describing the claw-like hands of them.

Is Nanachi immune to the Curse of the Abyss?
While Nanachi can see the forcefield, they are not immune to it and they are not able to completely avoid it during ascend, as proven when they excreted blood during leaving Ido Front with Mitty.

Who are the Umbra Hands?
The Umbra Hands is the name of Bondrewd's group of Delvers. All Umbra Hands chose to become one on their own will. Some are not even Delvers, but bounty hunters who originally came after Bondrewd and joined him due to his skills of persuasion.undefined

Does Bondrewd control the Umbra Hands?
The Umbra Hands have free will and their own consciousness. However, Bondrewd can implant his consciousness on them at will. Bondrewd can either assume full control over one of them, or put them into "Auto Bondrewd Mode" at any time to assume control over them and manipulate them like drones. However, this causes their movements to become more sluggish, as Bondrewd has to access all the information parallelly.undefined

How does Bondrewd control the Umbra Hands?
Bondrewd owns a Special Grade Artifact named Zoaholic. This relic allows to multiply his conscience and control other bodies. As long as Bondrewd has available Umbra Hands, and the Zoaholic relic, he is virtually immortal.

How did Bondrewd revive after Riko's team defeated him the first time?
Because of Zoaholic, Bondrewd's conscience is able to "jump" from one body to another of the Umbra Hands' bodies.

After his "welcoming" body was destroyed by Reg in their first fight, he jumped bodies to that of the Umbra Hand that was guarding Prushka. The new body recovered Bondrewd's mask and whistle from the old body and put it on, essentially becoming the new Bondrewd.

How did the new body change shape and clothing to match the old body?
Bondrewd has certain heavily armed Umbra Hands. These Umbra Hands wear white outfits. Under this clothing, some cotton padding hides the real shape and weaponry these bodies equip.undefined The Umbra Hand that was guarding Prushka, and to which Bondrewd "jumped" into after his previous body was killed, was fully equipped with Sparagmos, Far Caress, Gangway, Shaker, the tail, and possibly other weapons, but they were all hidden under the white cotton clothing. Once Bondrewd was in control of this body, he ripped the padding away and his true looks became visible.undefined

Why does the body Bondrewd use in his battle against Reg have a multi-layered eye with tentacles able to come forth of it?
The multi-layered eye, as well as the tentacles, are two seperate Artifacts of the body Bondrewd took over.undefined

Did Bondrewd die at the end of their second fight? Why does he appear again just before the end?
The combat body that Riko's team defeated in Ido Front was indeed killed. However, Bondrewd used Zoaholic to make his conscience jump into another of the Umbra Hands. At the end, when Riko's Team is departing, it's Bondrewd in a new body giving them blessings and prayers for their journey.

Did Riko's Team destroy Zoaholic, as they said they would?
They didn't. At the end of the fight, Prushka expressed her will for them not to fight each other anymore. Since Riko is able to sense Prushka's emotions even in her life-reverberating stone shape, Riko told Nanachi that they should leave Bondrewd alone, and Nanachi respected Riko's will. They had an off-screen negotiation with Bondrewd after defeating the second body.undefined

Why didn't they shatter Bondrewd's mask at the end of the fight?
Same reason as above.

Why did Bondrewd become blessed at the end of the fight in Ido Front?
Bondrewd became blessed by the love of Prushka while ascending from the Miniature Garden Of Dawn, that is at the 6th Layer.

Why didn't Bondrewd become blessed before that when he returned from his expeditions from the Sixth Layer while using cartridges?
Love is required for achieving the Blessing. The person in the cartridge needs to have a love bond with the subject, while the subject is protected from the Curse. It can be concluded that none of the other children in the cartridges had such a feeling for Bondrewd.

Why did Prushka turn into a Life-reverberating Stone?
The requirements for creating life-reverberating stones aren't clear, but it involves a human to sacrifice themselves for the sake of another person to push forward in the Abyss. Ido Front was used since ancient times to perform such ritual, so it is perhaps required that the sacrifice suffers the strains of ascending of the 6th layer. Prushka was in one of Bondrewd's cartridges when he and Reg fell to the Miniature Garden that is in the 6th layer, and then, during the fight, both combatants climbed back to Ido Front in thee 5th layer. During the ascension, Prushka was hit by the the Curse of the 6th layer, while she was wishing for Riko to push forward in her adventure in the Abyss. Probably these circumstances were very similar to those that happen during the ritual to create life-reverberating stones, causing Prushka to become Riko's white whistle.[citation needed]

How does Mitty exist in Ilblu?
The Mitty in Ilblu is an exact copy of the Mitty at the time Bondrewd visited the village; according to Belaf, even down to the soul itself being an exact replica.

How big is the 5th layer?
It is the thinnest vertical layer of the Abyss, being only 1,000 meters deep, but it is also the widest one horizontally and, according to Riko, said to be tens of times the size of Orth.

With the Water Supports collapsing, is the 5th Layer in danger of collapsing?
No. Within the 5th layer exist the Water supports which can collapse, and "Water Bastions" which are permanent.undefined

How do balloons fly up from the 6th layer to the 5th layer with the Sea of Corpses in the middle?
The Abyss's shaft doesn't stop at the Sea of Corpses. It goes on downwards as a hole in the middle of the sea, with a circular waterfall pouring down to the 6th layer. This hole, at the center of the 5th, isn't the route that White Whistles use for their Last Dives. Instead, they use the Altar of the Absolute Boundary at Ido Front, which is situated closer to the outer edge of this layer. Mail balloons, and nametags, can move freely between layers thru the central shaft. See the sketch below by Tsukushi featuring the central shaft and circular waterfall in the Sea of Corpses, as well as a mail balloon ascending from the Sixth Layer, and Ido Front towards the left side, for reference.

Did Bondrewd build Ido Front completely from scratch in the 5th Layer?
Ido Front was build on ruins of what was a ritual site thousends of years ago.

Are catridges only made from humans that had a bond with Bondrewd and how do they work?
Cartridges are made from the flesh and essence of humans who are the easiest to transport and won't be missed. The Curse is deflected away from Bondrewd and onto the person in the cartridge instead.

What is inside the catridges?
Only the brain, part of the spine and enough guts to live for a few days until the expiration date of the respective Cartridge; as well as a liquid drug cocktail to manipulate the ecstasy and terror. After all has been thoroughly scraped off, its warpped in skin and flesh.

How many Cradles are known to have been used in the timeline?
All in all, three Cradles of Desire are confirmed. According to Vueko, all three were inherited by Faputa.
 * 1) The first one found by Ganja and given to Irumyuui during the Pseudowater Crisis.
 * 2) The second one given to Irumyuui by Wazukyan to strengthen her power.
 * 3) The thrid one that Wazukyan failed to use and was absorbed by Irumyuui when he was transformed into a Narehate.

Does each pin give the user excatly the strengh of thousand individual humans?
No, there is no direct relation for the termonologie "strengh of a thousand men" to specific individuals as it functions similar to a phrase like "strong like a bear"; it is basically to describe someone or something as "very strong" and not akin to a specific number of actual individuals being added to the strength.