Hedgehog Summoner God: The Lord of the Abyss
The Abyss Lord lavished praise on the Hedgehog Summoner God's butt dance. He even used the honorific "teacher" while politely begging for just one more performance right here and now.
[Duumba...]
The Hedgehog Summoner God was flustered. No one had ever reacted like this to his dance before. Artistic. Impressed. Not even the spirits, let alone his disciples Terio and Ayula, had ever said such things.
Of course, he'd received plenty of compliments on his dancing. But those were only after people learned the Duumba Dance boosted evasion and changed their attitudes accordingly. At first, most recoiled in horror.
Outsiders weren't much different. Vulgar. Ridiculous. Looks fun. That's what they said whenever he danced.
[Finally, someone who appreciates my art has appeared, yot...!]
The Hedgehog Summoner God's eyes welled up. He was thrilled that a being with true artistic vision had emerged.
[See? My Duumba Dance was right all along, yot! Everyone else just had no eye for it, yot!!!]
The Hedgehog Summoner God strode past Solorb, stepping forward. He faced the Abyss Lord and revved up his hips.
[Duumba.] Wiggle.
[Duumba.] Shake.
His butt swayed softly at first, then his hips began snapping fiercely.
[Duumba. Duumba.]
[Ohhh...!]
[Duumba, du-duuumba.]
[Such beautiful dance lines...!]
[Duumbababaaa!]
[This is it! My soul is trembling!]
[Duumba, duumba! Du-du-du-du-duuumba!!!]
[Incredible! Seeing it live makes it even more artistic!!!]
Zing! A shiver raced down the Abyss Lord's spine.
[Amazing! Truly astounding! To think a dance this perfect existed in the world!]
The Abyss Lord, who had been sitting cross-legged in midair, leaped up in admiration, clapping wildly.
His reaction was, in a way, only natural. The butt dance wasn't something just anyone could pull off. A slight misalignment in the hip snaps could turn it comical, so even seasoned dancers never dared attempt it.
[Shout it out with joy, yot! Duumba, duumba!]
[Duumba! Duumba!]
The Abyss Lord bobbed his hips along to the upbeat melody.
[Duumba, duumba! Dance with joy, yot!]
[This is fun! So much fun!!!]
[Duumba? No, yot! Not like that—shake it like this! Like this! Just like me, yot!]
[Understood, teacher! Duumba!]
In this moment of dance, the Hedgehog Summoner God's authority surpassed even the Abyss Lord's. To him, the Hedgehog was the god of dance incarnate.
[That's not how you do it, yot! This won't do, yot! I need to teach you from the basics step by step, yot!]
Declaring he'd teach the Duumba Dance in more detail, the Hedgehog Summoner God summoned all the spirits before him.
The S-grade spirits gathered swiftly. The SS-grade ones dragged their feet, their faces screaming reluctance.
[We danced plenty earlier...]
[Yeah. Isn't it time to call it quits?]
[I don't even have a butt—why keep forcing this dance on me...]
The SS-grade spirits grumbled timidly. They'd contracted with the Hedgehog Summoner God and accepted him as master, but they were done with this lowbrow butt jiggling.
But [No, yot! Special training until you can shake your butts properly, yot!]
[You dare refuse Teacher Hedgehog's teachings? I could overlook fleeing my class, but skipping his? Unforgivable. Join the lesson quietly unless you want oblivion.]
The Hedgehog Summoner God and Abyss Lord wouldn't let them off. Forced to participate, the spirits had no choice.
Incidentally, the Abyss Lord overlooked the SS-grade spirits' earlier insults to his teacher. The Hedgehog had vouched for them as friends now.
And so, under the Hedgehog Summoner God's guidance, dance class began in the Abyss. Students: the Abyss Lord himself, plus SS- and S-grade spirits.
[Kyuuu...]
[What weirdos, meow.]
[Hmph.]
Melody, Bastet, and Solorb watched the "group Duumba Dance" with dumbfounded expressions.
Then Bastet glanced at Solorb.
[Solorb. We can head back now, meow. No more threats to Hedgehog-meow, right?]
[...Can't relax yet.]
[Meow?]
[That Abyss Lord seems friendly to Hedgehog now, but he could turn any moment. Unlike the other spirits, no master-servant contract binds him. We stay until Hedgehog's soul safely returns to his body.]
Bastet nodded slightly at Solorb's words.
[Got it, meow. I'll wait too, meow.]
[Kyuaa, kyuuu.]
And so the trio silently stood watch until Hedgehog's soul returned safely.
Labyrinth Day 78.
The egg cracked open, and a robed bipedal hedgehog strolled out leisurely.
[Everyone! I'm back, yot! Duumba!]
"Dochi-yang! We were waiting, yang!"
The Hedgehog Summoner God was still a hedgehog. The main change: massively bigger. Once palm-sized, now he was small-dog proportions.
His appearance hadn't shifted much otherwise—just cuter face, nothing major.
"......"
I was speechless—couldn't speak. The danger radiating from the Hedgehog Summoner God was a whopping SSS-grade.
[Duumba! Gauntlet, missed you, yot!]
The Hedgehog Summoner God leaped into my arms. I stroked his head and called his name.
"...Dochi."
[Duumba?]
"Just to check—you're not telling me you can summon spirits on par with Solorb now? SSS-grade...?"
[Duumba! Contracted a spirit even Solorb acknowledges, yot!]
Beaming proudly with arms crossed, the Hedgehog Summoner God launched into his tale.
The Abyss world. SS-grade undead spirits. Evolution method. Contract for evolution. Help from Melody, Bastet, Solorb. And finally, taking the SSS-grade undead spirit obsessed with Duumba Dance—the Abyss Lord—as his disciple.
I heard it all.
[This robe's from Abyss Lord too, yot! Made from his soul fragment—super tough, yot!]
With that, the Hedgehog Summoner God summoned his S-grade spirits, then the new SS-grade ones. And finally, the undead spirit he'd mentioned: the Abyss Lord.
[You must be Gauntlet. Pleased to meet you. I am Abyss Lord.]
"...Uh, yeah. Nice to meet you."
The summoned Abyss Lord greeted me—while dancing the Duumba Dance his teacher taught him. Actual danger: SSS-grade. Nerfed: S-grade.
After greeting me, the Abyss Lord hurried to join Hedgehog's dance party.
[Duumba!]
[Duumba! Dancing in the outside world feels fresh!]
"Duumba-yang! Welcome new friends, yang!"
Hedgehog Summoner God, Abyss Lord, Merino, other undead spirits, and assorted monsters shook their butts in chaotic bliss.
"...Still hard to accept. Am I not awake yet?"
Forcing myself to accept reality, I sat to steady my rattled mind and calmly opened the monster guide to update it.
First, the SSS-grade spirit. Then the sniffling SS-grade ones shaking butts like forced dancers—one by me, one by Art Pega Unicorn.
■ Abyss Undead Spirit A
— Actual Danger: SS-grade.
— Current (Nerfed) Danger: A-grade.
■ Abyss Undead Spirit B
— Actual Danger: SS-grade.
— Current (Nerfed) Danger: A-grade.
Next: fragile body but maxed evasion, now contracted with SSS-grade Abyss undead spirit. My strongest tamed monster—the Hedgehog Summoner God—got his entry.
[Duumba?! Drawing me now, yot? Gotta strike a pose then, yot! Keep dancing, everyone, yot! Be right back after posing, yot!]
His new name: Hedgehog Summoner God.
■ Hedgehog Summoner God
— Actual Danger: SSS-grade.
— Current (Nerfed) Danger: S-grade.
— Abilities: Transcendent Duumba Dance, Abyss Undead Spirit Summoning.
Drawing calmed me. Watching the butt-shakers, I admitted: this was real. Fine by me—labyrinth runs just got way smoother.