We follow after the Abyss Zombie.
It was easy to to keep track of it because of its broken legs and unsteady posture which made it difficult for it to run fast, plus, its stats show how slow it really is.
In fact, we were moving so slow, I’m starting to lose my patience.
Partner looks at the Abyss Zombie with slight annoyance.

The spiders were all just crawling around, but Nightmare called them out and they soon followed us.
…… It’s nice that they have a leader to listen to now.

【“Yea, ya right.”】

A somewhat dispirited Partner said, in mind speak.
…… S-Stay strong, Partner.

I look at Nightmare’s face or mask or shell or whatever it is, while thinking.
If it evolves again, will it look even creepier than it is now?

Rather, they’ll stop on the next evolution, right?
If they keep up this evolution spree, they might hit rank B before long.
I won’t be able to tell what’s gonna happen next if they become even more monstrous.
And, with Partner being played and wrapped around with webs, I feign ignorance.

【”…… don’t ya ignore me”】

It can’t be helped, you know.
If you buy a baby pet, it’s not gonna stay a cute little puppy forever.

Following the Abyss was no sweat.
The only challenge was fighting against other monsters coming our way.
The hard part was mostly keeping the Abyss Zombie safe by those monsters, so I alternated with using〖Wind Slash〗to turn them into exp points or〖Roar〗to scare them away.

As we kept this routine throughout most of the day, I’ve slowly started getting desperate in protecting the Abyss Zombie.
I don’t know if it’s because I suddenly got protective of it, or if I had already gotten used to it, or it could be because I suddenly felt responsible for tampering its life after death and I had to take the responsibility……

【”…… Are ya thinkin somethin weird again?”】

Partner narrows her eyes and stares at me.

N-Nothing, I was just thinking what’s gonna happen if we evolve this Abyss or something……

【“I dun like it”】

But, we did go through the trouble of reviving it, I feel responsible……

【“I dun like it!”】

Partner sends a strong thought message.
…… Right, got it.

【“Besides, I dunno how your responsibility stuff works. The corpse just moved on its own, that’s all”】

Partner looks at the Abyss without showing signs of being disgusted.
Next, she looks at Alo.
Alo must’ve noticed us arguing and was too scared to meet Partner’s eyes.
Partner tries not to look pissed and faces forward.

…… Since Partner was born when we became an Ouroboros, reviving the dead, eating our prey, or killing lives might not even bother her.
In the first place, it’s her instinctual behavior that makes her stand out.
If we’re asking who’s the strange one here, then it’s me who has memories of a past human life and is now a dragon.

【“If ya really want to, then go ahead”】

O-Oh, thanks, I guess…… I’m really sorry about this.

【“I still dun like it. It tried to attack us, y’know”】

Well yeah, but that thing also has〖Servant of the Evil Dragon〗title as well……
Even Treant did what we told it to do, so we should be able to order this thing around too.
This whole time, we probably gave it a “keep running, we’ll protect you” command without knowing, so let’s change it up a bit.

I attempt to give it a command, and the Abyss hesitantly turns around and looks at us.
I can’t tell what expression it’s making without a face, but I do feel something is changing inside the Abyss……

【Not liking it】

Ah, right……

The further we follow the Abyss, the steeper the path.
There were beautiful flowers and strange glowing insects everywhere.
The trees were also bent and twisted all around.
I didn’t know this part of the forest exists.
Once everything has calmed down, I want to explore again.

“Dra~a~a~aa~aa! Dra, draa~a~a~a!”

In the distance, I heard a dull sound as if it’s echoing in some kind of hole or cave.
And then, I heard a loud banging noise, like rocks being pounded.
What is that……
It sounds familiar, and there’s this feeling of déjà vu…… wait, this sound is……

Looking to where I heard the sound, a moving lump of earth is seen.
It has a neck, a head, and instead of eyes, it’s just a hole.
I know that monster, it’s……

【〖Clay Dragon〗: Rank C monster】
【A monster made of earth.】
【Overall power is strong, and regenerative abilities are high.】
【It is considered to be the demon lord’s prankster, bringing terror to the lives of people.】

…… I knew it, it’s a clay monster.

“Dra~a~a~aa~aa!”

With a hideous cry like that, I can see why it’s a prankster.
And, what the hell is “draa~aa!”, you’re giving real dragons a bad name.
You should be screaming “Demon Lord!” for your demon lord.

Though, I should be thankful for it once I retrieve that chunk of magical clay.
If I still have time after this, I want to bring back your clay body home.
With humanization, I finally have human hands and I’m now more powerful than before.
You will make fine pottery for me to craft.

It seems that the Clay Dragon is very territorial and was mad at me for trespassing its home, but I ignored him.
He kept roaring on me as I left his domain, but after a while, he eventually stopped.
I’ll make sure to remember where you live.

As we kept going, the path ahead only kept getting more rigid.
The number of twisted trees has increased now and the ground is a lot harder.
I saw many fresh corpses of bloodied monsters scattered on the way here.

Then, we finally arrived at a cliff.
It was more of a crack on the ground than a cliff though.
The Abyss Zombie looks at us before crawling inside.