Summoning

"Haha, it worked! I finally succeeded! Who would have thought that a randomly summoned soul from another world could perfectly bond with the egg of an Efiash."

In a sealed, cramped room, the floor and surrounding walls were covered in unknown symbols. Wisps of flowing light pulsed from them, exuding an air of mystery and eeriness.

In the center of the room, a small white egg, no larger than a fingernail, hovered in mid-air, bobbing slightly under the influence of an unknown force.

A humanoid creature, standing only about 1.5 meters tall and draped in a bizarre robe, danced about in joy.

Dole was ecstatic. The Efiash was known as the Infinite Evolution Bug, and its appearance changed drastically throughout its growth. The ancient book he possessed only recorded the detailed characteristics of the egg; the images of the adult form were all marked as "suspected."

Therefore, it was estimated that even the Efiash themselves could not distinguish their own kind. This led to an extremely low reproduction rate, and there were even legends that they only had a chance to produce an egg when their life was reaching its end.

Such harsh reproductive conditions had caused them to vanish into the long river of history, but these flaws could not mask their former power. When energy was abundant, they could continuously adapt to various harsh environments through rapid evolution. If nurtured carefully, they could even rival a Fifth-Rank Archmage upon reaching maturity.

In the current Nier Continent, where the highest combat power was only a Third-Rank high-level mage, that would be a god-like existence, possessing the power to unify the entire continent.

Dole's own mage rank was only Second-Rank high-level. He had reached this level three hundred years ago and was once famous within his clan, hailed as a genius most likely to reach Third-Rank before the age of one hundred. It was during his youth, while he was riding high on his success, that he discovered this Efiash egg while exploring a mundane ancient ruin.

Among the few who accompanied him, only he, through a stroke of luck, knew the origin of the seemingly ordinary egg. Thus, he had obtained it at a very small cost.

From then on, Dole became obsessed, pouring his heart and soul into the incubation process. He dreamed of one day sweeping away all opposition and dominating the entire continent with a Fifth-Rank pet.

Unfortunately, fate seemed to play a cruel joke on him. After numerous experiments, he discovered with fury that while the embryo inside the egg was well-preserved, its consciousness had long since dissipated over the endless passage of time.

He began to frantically scour various materials and conduct all sorts of experiments. At first, things were relatively normal, but as time passed, Dole's thinking became increasingly extreme and deranged, and his methods grew more and more cruel.

A genius whose cultivation had made no progress for decades eventually attracted the attention of those with ulterior motives. A thorough investigation unearthed shocking news.

Over the decades, hundreds of Dole's apprentices and servants had gone missing without a trace, and he was linked to several cases of illegal human trafficking.

Forced into a corner, Dole had to flee while carrying the egg, continuing his experiments in hopes of reactivating it and reaching the pinnacle of his life.

More than two hundred years had passed since then. The once high-spirited youth now had a hunched back. Of his originally thick, short green hair, only a small tuft near his ears remained, still growing stubbornly.

Hard work pays off. A few years ago, during an expedition, Dole obtained a blueprint for a summoning magic circle. After modifying it to use the egg as the foundation, and following several trials, he finally succeeded today in summoning a soul from an alternate dimension that could perfectly fuse with the egg.

With the injection of a soul, the embryo inside the egg was revived. His two hundred years of effort had not been in vain; soon, those fools who had forced him to leave his home would pay the price.

At this moment, outside a rocky cliff, dozens of figures in black robes stood facing one another.

"Captain, we've found traces of a hidden magic circle here. Based on our investigation, it's Dole's handiwork. But to avoid alerting the enemy, we didn't dare act rashly, so we aren't sure if he's still inside."

The captain nodded and directed the group to set up a magic circle to surround the cliff. Once everything was prepared, he raised a hand, and a wand hidden in his wide sleeve slid into his firm grip.

He muttered an unknown incantation, and the energy around him began to boil. A beam of green light shot from the tip of the wand, striking the cliff.

The surrounding scenery began to twist and shift, revealing its true form: a deep, dark hole appeared where the cliff had been.

Dole, who was in the midst of his excitement, felt the strange energy fluctuations outside. Just as he was about to check, he realized his hidden magic circle had been breached. His heart skipped a beat; after centuries of fleeing, he was highly experienced in this. Although this laboratory was built temporarily, he had reserved multiple escape routes. As long as one wasn't blocked, he could slip away.

He tucked the egg away and sprinted along a tunnel in one direction.

Ten minutes later, a pale-faced Dole returned to his starting point. The surrounding space was locked by an unknown magic circle, trapping him like an invisible cage. Even though there was a path ahead, it was blocked by an invisible barrier.

From outside came the voice of the enforcement captain: "Dole, did you really think that after letting you escape so many times, we wouldn't be prepared? Surrender now and hand over the Efiash. Lord Leon might just spare your life."

Leon had always been a loser to Dole in the past, and he was the one who first discovered Dole's human experiments. Now, two hundred years later, the status of both parties had undergone a earth-shattering change.

Perhaps Leon's original intention was merely to retaliate against the man who had always overshadowed him, but after so many years, Leon had long since realized the truth. His original purpose had changed; seeking justice for the innocents who died was a joke—the Efiash was worth anyone using any means to obtain.

Having competed with each other for so long in their youth, Dole scoffed at the idea that Leon would spare him. If he handed over the egg, he would only be silenced.

Now that he was sealed by an unknown magic circle, he pondered for a moment. His only remaining option was to detonate the simple elemental furnace that powered the summoning circle. By releasing a massive amount of energy in an instant and running the magic circle in reverse, he could "counter-summon" himself out.

Since this magic circle could summon a soul from an alternate dimension, a mere containment circle shouldn't be able to stop it.

As for where he would be counter-summoned to, that was up to fate. As long as he was alive, it was better than being dead.

Having made up his mind, Dole began to cast various defensive spells on himself, and colorful lights rose from his body. As for the egg, the shell of an unhatched Efiash was the strongest defense of all.

The captain surrounding the cave was not in a hurry. His master had told him that Dole did not have the ability to destroy the Efiash egg. Therefore, for the sake of caution, he chose to surround the area without attacking, attempting to complete the mission with minimal cost. After all, Dole was a veteran powerhouse, and he might pose a threat if cornered like a dog.

However, it turned out he had overthought it. A blinding white light flashed. Dozens of black-robed men, including him, vanished, leaving behind only a semi-circular crater with a diameter of over 10 kilometers.

Dole had also overthought it. He overestimated himself; as a mage who had not reached the Third Rank, how could he withstand the close-range explosion of an elemental furnace? He was evaporated into nothingness by the boiling torrent of energy in the very first instant.

Only the Efiash egg disappeared in the flickering light before the surrounding magic circle was destroyed.

When Rowan regained consciousness, he was mentally breaking down. He had only closed his eyes to rest for a moment after work—his eyes were dry from staring at the computer for hours—but who would have thought he would inexplicably fall asleep the moment he closed them?

Upon waking, he found himself in a dark cage, surrounded by thick, disgusting liquid. Was this some kind of show? Even if he fell asleep on the job, it shouldn't be this extreme, right?

Rowan wanted to shout, but no sound came out. He wanted to struggle, but he felt as if his limbs had sprouted several brothers and sisters, which terrified him instantly.

After a few seconds of numbness, he began to struggle even more frantically.

Finally, the cage could no longer bear the pressure and cracked open. Rowan hurriedly crawled out through the gap.

He was surrounded by huge rocks, but after escaping the cage, Rowan felt his strength return, even becoming stronger than before. He easily pushed aside the surrounding boulders with his body, creating a small space for himself.

Did the production team go this far? It seemed they hadn't just locked him up, but buried him alive as well. Perhaps due to some unknown transit, he was still a bit groggy upon waking, his mind jumping around.

However, he soon discovered a terrifying reality.

Looking at his own hands, the pitch-black, smooth texture, the leg hair on them, and the pair at the very front—Rowan didn't even know if they were claws—he completely broke down.

Staring blankly at his body, he saw the same pitch-black luster, two pairs of arthropods on his belly, and that segmented tail. He completely collapsed.

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