Dollmaker
Two of the bear dolls reacted to my words. Muttering "Duumba Bear" under their breaths.
"......"
I took one step forward toward the bear dolls. The moment I did.
As if I'd invaded their territory, the other bear dolls let out sharp roars and charged at me all at once.
The bear dolls flew at me with frightening speed. I calmly took in their movements.
Before Princess and Kinogine Arachne, racing up from behind, could arrive, I twisted my shoulder slightly to dodge one bear doll, slid smoothly to the side for another, or ducked my head to let all the attacks glance harmlessly off me.
While evading the attacks like that, I immediately counterattacked the bear dolls floating in the air. I struck the back of the nearest one with my right hand, then followed up with my left on another. I repeated those simple motions in rapid succession.
The bear dolls shattered into pieces from the continuous strikes, scattering everywhere. Even nerfed as they were, these were disappointingly weak for B-grade.
When the brief fight ended, only two bear dolls remained under the tree. Unlike the ones that had charged at me with immediate hostility, these two just stood there blankly staring at me.
That attitude turned my guess into certainty.
"...Of course they wouldn't attack me. Tamed monsters never betray you, no matter what."
I stepped forward again. Standing right in front of the two bear dolls, I gazed down at them intently, observing closely. Up close, it felt even stronger. The invisible bond between us, unbreakable.
Kinogine Arachne approached and asked. I nodded.
"Yeah. My tamed monsters feel connected by an invisible thread, and these two feel connected just like you all do."
I crouched down, petting the bear dolls' heads as I continued.
"The big one's the Abyss undead spirit, and the little one's definitely the Hedgehog Summoner God. They're in this form for some reason right now."
The connection to the big bear doll felt a bit faint. But the little one had a bond as strong as the monsters behind me. That meant the big one was an Abyss undead spirit summoned by a tamed monster—not directly tamed by me—while the little one was directly tamed: the Hedgehog Summoner God.
And the bear dolls I just took out were probably originally Poison Apples. No other nerfed B-grade weaklings that didn't meet conditions around here.
If the threat detection had been accurate, those bear dolls would've registered way below B-grade.
"No idea. Gotta catch the one who turned the Hedgehog into a bear doll and pry it out of them."
I answered like that, then turned back to Omega.
"Omega. Any guesses on the monster? Not many could pull this off."
Omega tapped its head thoughtfully, rummaging through memories.
"No need to apologize."
There was a way to find the culprit anyway. Niara Nephensis had tracking skills like the Puppeteer. Asking Omega was just to get a heads-up on what we were dealing with.
Right on cue, Niara succeeded in tracking. Sharp as ever, even without me asking.
"No, capture it alive and bring it here. No guarantee killing it reverts the Hedgehog."
Niara vanished from sight in an instant. Off to grab the one who turned the Hedgehog into a bear doll. She said 30 seconds to reach, so about a minute to capture and return. Maybe two if she exaggerated.
While waiting for Niara.
A voice suddenly came from the side. I turned to see a Poison Apple hanging from a nearby apple tree, staring right at us. No different from other Poison Apples. Except it spoke fluently and didn't cower or avert its gaze like the rest.
I strode right up to the Poison Apple that had just spoken. My monsters followed behind me. Nearby Poison Apples freaked out, trembling and bowing their heads to avoid eye contact. Except the one talking to us, of course.
"What's the method?"
"Condition?"
Kinogine Arachne scowled and raised her voice.
"Kinogine, don't butt in. Step back."
She immediately backed off with her tail between her legs.
"Tell me the condition first. I'll decide after hearing it."
Ah, so we're already infamous here. Yeah, we do regularly nab Poison Apples to feed the summons.
Anyway, not a hard condition. Skipping one out of the kidnapping lineup? Easy.
I nodded at the Poison Apple's proposal. I accepted the deal and asked how to revert the bear dolls.
The Poison Apple first revealed the name of the monster that did this to the Hedgehog.
"Strongest among the weak? What does that mean?"
"...Eye contact alone turns them into dolls?"
Got the gist of Dollmaker's threat level. Since it didn't work on SS-grade, obviously S-grade. Definitely a cheat ability, but calling it top S-grade? Overkill. Just don't look at its eyes. Super easy counter.
"So, how do you revert the dollified ones?"
"Just kill it? That's it?"
Verification was instant. Necro Puppeteer, viewing through Iris, used mind reading on the Poison Apple.
For the record, we didn't need the Poison Apple's info—could've mind-read the culprit Niara was fetching. But I was curious if it really knew and what condition it'd demand. Just killing time for fun.
We didn't need its help anyway.
Niara's voice came from behind. I turned to see a monster gripped in her hand. Skull head with a pair of small horns, space torn behind it holding countless bear dolls. That had to be Dollmaker.
Niara raised her hand. Ready to kill Dollmaker the second I gave the okay.
"Niara, release it and step aside. I'll kill it myself."
I said that, then extended one arm straight toward Dollmaker. One of the techniques I'd mastered in Elemen西亚. The stance for Secret Art, First Finger.
Secret Art First Finger: Bend your thumb to fix it, push with middle finger while pulling thumb to tension it, then snap the middle finger fast to strike the target.
The moment Niara tossed Dollmaker to the ground like trash, I focused all senses on my fingertip, timed it perfectly, and snapped.
FWIIIP—! A sharp air-tearing sound ripped out. The shockwave shot horizontally forward, bisecting Dollmaker's body as it scrambled up—instantly.
Power was as expected: underwhelming. But even so, one flick was enough to end it.
With Dollmaker's death, the two bear dolls clinging to my legs began distorting. Their forms twisted and shifted—one into the Hedgehog Summoner God, the other into an undead spirit.
As they regained their original forms, everyone else's memories of the Hedgehog returned too.
◈ Ability: Dollification