CHAPTER 160: Abyss
The Hedgehog Summoner suddenly showed strange symptoms. It was engulfed in intense light and transformed into an egg. It seemed its bizarre behavior had just been a prelude to this change.
Anyway, glad it was okay. Not some illness in the Hedgehog's body. I crouched down, taking in the sight of the Hedgehog Summoner's egg. It was pretty big, but tiny compared to the other monsters' eggs. Just a bit larger than an ostrich egg.
As I admired the egg, Merino crouched beside me, peering intently. She cautiously poked it with a finger.
—Duum-ba.
"Yang?!"
The egg vibrated slightly at her touch, and a familiar sound emanated from inside. Merino's mouth fell open. She poked it again.
—Doo-doom-ba.
"Yang-yang?!"
One more poke.
—Doo-doo, doo-doom-ba.
"Yang-yang-yang!? The egg's talking, yang...!"
Merino kept tapping the egg in fascination, then cradled it gently like a baby, hugging it to her chest.
"I'll take good care of you, yang. Come out pretty, yang."
—Doo-doom-ba.
As Merino tenderly stroked the egg she'd claimed, Melody Fox—the one who'd buffed the Hedgehog—was tugging at Bastet's front paw with her mouth.
[Kyuu, kyu.]
[Da-ong?]
[Kyuu, kyuuu. Kyuuuuu.]
[Got it, ong.]
Bastet nodded, then strode over to Merino.
[Merino-dong. Hand over that egg, ong.]
"Yang-yang? Don't take my baby, yang."
[If you don't yield it to us, the Hedgehog might not hatch, ong. So hand it over quick, ong.]
"Yang-yang?! No way, yang! Here you go, yang!"
Merino yelped in panic and hurriedly passed the egg. Bastet took it into the crystal orb house, placed it carefully on the mattress, and curled around it protectively. Melody Fox sidled up close too.
I followed them inside and asked Bastet,
"Bastet. What did you mean just now about the Hedgehog maybe not hatching?"
[Just something I said, ong. Melody-dong asked me to look after the egg, ong.]
"Melody asked you that?"
[Yes, ong. Her cries to me reeked of excessive worry, ong. Crystal clear.]
I turned to Melody. She nodded emphatically with half-closed eyes, confirming it. Apparently, she didn't trust Merino with the egg. Fair enough—not a trust issue, just that Merino was the weakest at F-grade.
[Mmm... suddenly super sleepy, ong...]
[Kyuu.]
The two, cradling the egg preciously, slowly closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep.
The world of undead spirits. The Abyss.
A fragment of the Hedgehog Summoner's consciousness arrived here.
[...Doo-doom-ba? Where's this place-yot?]
In pitch-black darkness, the Hedgehog looked around with a dazed expression.
[What happened-yot? I was dancing with everyone just now...!]
The Hedgehog couldn't fathom why it had suddenly ended up here. It definitely wasn't like before, getting turned into a doll by the Stone Maker—no memory of that. The feeling now was totally different from being trapped in darkness as a puppet.
Maybe Gauntlet secretly used dispatch rights? The thought crossed its mind, but it shook its head—no way. Gauntlet wouldn't dispatch without saying anything.
[Did everyone abandon me and leave-yot...?]
As it wandered the dark, the Hedgehog started calling its friends' names at the top of its lungs, hoping they'd hear and come.
[Gauntlet! Merino! Kino! Princess! Necro... went to the undersea village... Medical! Melody! BlackMagmaSlime! Iris! Azeras! Niara! ArtPega! Bastet! Zapaannn!!! Where is everyone-yot!!!]
No one responded to its cries. Still, it kept calling without giving up. Time passed. Exhausted from walking, it stopped, sniffled, calmed itself, and looked around calmly again.
[...But this place feels kinda familiar-yot.]
A strangely nostalgic sensation, like returning home. Only then did the Hedgehog realize it matched the aura of Abyss undead spirits.
[My doo-doom-ba friends would know where this is-yot! Gotta summon and ask-yot!]
The Hedgehog wiggled its butt. It tried summoning its spirits, but...
[...Doo-doom-ba? Can't summon-yot!]
Summons failed. No matter how hard it tried, no connection.
[Doo-doom-ba friends! Answer my call-yot!!!]
Of course, the spirits couldn't respond—their link to the Hedgehog was severed.
The Hedgehog strained desperately to summon them, butt bouncing wildly in flashy dances.
And then.
[Doom-ba...]
[Doo-doom-ba...]
[Hedgehog...]
Enormous figures materialized above the Hedgehog's head. It bounced excitedly at the sight.
[Doo-doom-ba friends?! You finally answered my call-yot! I believed in you-yot!!!]
Unfortunately, they hadn't answered its call. The Hedgehog realized that soon enough.
[Step aside.]
A voice from somewhere. The spirits parted like the Red Sea at the command.
[Tch. Their sizes always get on my nerves.]
[Pathetic things, needlessly bulky.]
Between the spirits, other spirits approached the Hedgehog slowly. SS-grade Abyss undead spirits. Smaller than S-grades in size, but their soul rank was incomparably higher.
And seeing them, the Hedgehog belatedly realized this was the spirits' home—the Abyss.
[You lot. Don't just stand there—kneel.]
One SS-grade commanded the Hedgehog's S-grades. They trembled and knelt instantly. Legless ones flattened to the ground.
Outraged, the Hedgehog yelled,
[Don't give weird orders to my doo-doom-ba friends-yot!!!]
[Shut up.]
The SS-grade's voice dropped ominously. The Hedgehog hiccuped and backed away. The SS-grades closed in, stopping right before it, looking down coldly.
[Hedgehog Summoner after so long.]
[Dumbest-looking one yet.]
[Another Hedgehog Summoner dies today.]
[Contract terms as usual?]
[Of course.]
Hedgehog Summoners evolved differently. Contracting with higher spirits than their current ones—that was the condition.
(Its initial contracts formed naturally at birth.)
The SS-grades' terms: Fight and beat us. Simple, brutally hard.
Win, and the loser SS-grade becomes eternal familiar. Lose, and death awaits.
The SS-grades explained every detail before starting. Bewilderment crossed the Hedgehog's face.
[Doo, doo-doom-ba?! So I came here for evolution-yot! Fight and win against you guys-yot?]
Fighting familiars directly? Unfair for summoners, especially combat-weak ones like the Hedgehog.
Thus, since ancient times, no Hedgehog Summoner had ever succeeded. No SS-grade Hedgehogs ever born.
Evolution equaled death for the species.
[That's ridiculous-yot! I'm a summoner-yot! Fair dance battle-yot!]
The spirits wouldn't accept dance duels. They held the power; Hedgehog had to comply.
[Judges are my doo-doom-ba friends, who shakes butt better wins...]
Thud—!
[Doo, doo-doom-ba?!]
The SS-grade's attack cut it off, slamming the ground. It dodged—just barely, thanks to boosted evasion from Melody Fox's buff.
[Oh? Dodged that? Not bad.]
[What is this? Dodging with such trashy dance.]
[Different from other Hedgehog Summoners.]
[Ease up. Fun after ages—don't kill quick.]
[Doo-doom-ba!!! You evil spirits!!!]
The SS-grades toyed with controlled attacks, faces twisted in sadistic glee like bullies tormenting weak prey.
The S-grades couldn't help. In the Abyss, higher spirits' word was law.
[Kuhaha! Dodging everywhere!]
[Uglier the more you watch.]
[Ultimate evasion bought with ugliness.]
[Doo-doom-baaat! Not ugly-yot! My dance is cool-yot!! Contract with me and I'll make you dance all day-yot!!!]
[One more reason not to lose to it.]
[Better suicide than that dance.]
[We'd never contract anyway.]
[Doo-doom-baaaat!!!]
The Hedgehog fled desperately. Then—thud! An uncharacteristic slip. Step tangled mid-dance, it fell.
[Doo, doom-ba......!]
Done for. Sensing death, it squeezed its eyes shut.
And then—Flash—!
[Kyuaa!]
[Entrance, ong!]
Two monsters tore through space into the Abyss: Melody Fox, intervening directly in the evolution, and Bastet, pulled by Melody's power.
(Bodies stayed in Ancient Labyrinth; just soul fragments entered.)
The Hedgehog opened its eyes at the light. Melody and Bastet in view. Tears welled as it cried,
[Me, Melody! Bastet!! You came to save me-yot!!!]
[Kyuu!]
[Melody-dong's worries were spot on, ong. Super dangerous guys attacking Hedgehog, ong.]
[Kyuaa, kyuu-oo-aa!]
Melody's translation: "Told you, bad feeling!" (No one got it.)
With Bastet-dong's arrival, SS-grades froze. Instinct told them: same rank soul.
Playful demeanor turned serious. Not like toying with Hedgehog—this foe demanded respect.
But not full caution. One vs. many—they had numbers.
Bastet judged it couldn't win alone. Time for trump card. In a soul-only world, it should work.
[Daaaaoooong!!!]
In that instant, Bastet's massive roar shook the Abyss. The pitch-black realm flooded with brilliant light.
[You called?]
Answering Bastet-dong's call, Solorb's soul descended upon the Abyss.