"So, that's the Black Hole," Lux narrowed his eyes as he looked at the five-meter-tall black orb in the distance. "Master, to ensure that the two of us do not get separated when we enter, we should let Eiko store us inside her body."
Gaap agreed with Lux's suggestion, knowing that this was definitely the best option for them to enter the abyss.
"Eiko, make sure to release Lux and me as soon as we arrive in the Abyss," Gaap stated. "There might be monsters lurking in the place where you arrive, so the sooner we are out, the better."
"Un!" Eiko nodded.
She then opened her mouth and swallowed the Half-Elf and the Halfling inside her body before flying in the direction of the Black Hole.
As soon as she came within its range, the Baby Slime felt a very powerful force pulling her toward its center.
She felt a bit scared, but she made no effort to resist and allowed herself to be sucked into the gateway towards the Abyss.
A few seconds later, Eiko appeared in a place that was surrounded by many active volcanoes. Volcanic plumes were rising from these volcanoes, and the temperature in the surroundings was quite high.
After making sure that there were no Monsters nearby, Eiko immediately spat Lux and Gaap out from inside her body.
"This is the Abyss?" Lux appraised his surroundings, and his Master, Gaap, did the same.
The Halfing then summoned the Abyssal Soul and asked him a question.
"What Layer of the Abyss is this?" Gaap asked.
The Abyssal Soul looked around his surroundings for a brief moment before giving his answer.
"The Seventh Layer of the Abyss," the Abyssal Soul replied. "This place is called the Volcanic Pit, and several Fire-Type Abyssal Creatures are living in this place. The ruler of this place is the Six-Headed Hydra, Jazkia, a Calamity-Ranked Monster. Jazkia has the ability to regenerate its body, so it's a very troublesome opponent."
"Is it safe to assume that every Layer of the Abyss has a Calamity-Rank and above ruling it?" Gaap inquired.
"For most Layers, this is true," the Abyssal Soul replied. "However, there are some Layers of the Abyss where several Abyssal Nobles share the Abyssal Plane. These Abyssal Nobles can be found on the 100th Layer and below."
After getting the information he needed, Gaap unsummoned the Soul and called out Antero.
"Antero, spit them out," Gaap ordered.
The Head of the Golem of Destruction appeared and did as Gaap commanded.
One by one, it spat out the Dragon Born Saints, as well as the Human High-Rankers that had been sent to rescue the members of their faction.
As soon as these High-Rankers appeared, they immediately noticed that their Ranks had regressed by one stage.
However, they were prepared for this, so this didn't come as a surprise to them.
The Dragon Born Saints, on the other hand, didn't regress, which relieved them greatly.
Just as Gaap was about to tell everyone that they would now go their separate ways, a loud roar was heard in the distance.
Lux then immediately summoned his Soul Book to check his map to see what kind of creature it was.
But to his surprise, he saw dozens of green blinking dots moving in their direction.
Right behind them, one big red dot, accompanied by six smaller ones, was in hot pursuit of what Lux assumed were people from the Skystead Alliance, Xynnar War Pact, Six Kingdoms, or the Crystal Palace.
All the people that were around Lux glanced at each other before nodding their heads at the same time.
Without even speaking a word, they all headed in the direction where the roar came from in order to check what was happening.
Lux and Gaap followed them as well, and within a minute, they were met with a scene of a dozen Dragon Borns and humans being chased by a Giant Salamander that was an Empyrean Ranked World Boss Monster.
The Compendium was able to identify the creature, and its species was Red-Scaled Fiery Salamander.
Running alongside it were Salamanders half its size and had purple skin coloration.
They were called Purple-Scaled Venomous Salamanders, and these Salamanders were all Argonaut-Ranked Monsters.
The High-Rankers, whose ranks had regressed by one stage, didn't even bat an eye and charged toward the Salamanders that were chasing their people.
These High-Rankers were the best fighters that their respective Kingdom possessed, and they were all proficient in fighting strong monsters together.
"Go and clean this up quickly," Piccoro ordered the other Saints that accompanied him in the rescue operation. "We have people to save."
The Four Saints nodded their heads and obeyed Piccoro's command. With them joining the battle, the Salamanders were easily subdued, which made the survivors cheer in happiness.
"Don't worry. All of you are safe now," Piccoro said to the Dragon Borns that belonged to the Crystal Palace. "Where are the others?"
"Three of our comrades died while we were fleeing the Salamanders," one of the Dragon Borns reported. "As for the others, we have no idea. We got separated after entering this cursed place."
Piccoro sighed in his heart. He had already expected that some of the people they had sent to conquer the Gate of Apocalypse would die in the Abyss.
'I just hope that there will be no more casualties on our side,' Piccoro thought with a pained expression on his face.
After the battle ended, they collected the corpses of the monsters.
Everyone then agreed to gather together in one place to discuss their next course of action.
"My Disciple and I will go to the 13th Layer of the Abyss," Gaap stated. "As for you guys, you can choose to go wherever you want. Just know that every layer of the Abyss has many powerful Monsters. If I am to make a suggestion, the Saints and the High-Rankers should go as a team and save people together."
"You already have the White Marbles with you, so feel free to use them anytime," Lux commented. "Remember, do not use them when there are many monsters around you. We must prevent the Abyssal Creatures from entering our world through the Black Holes you will create."
After further discussion, the Dragon Borns, and the High-Rankers all agreed to send the first batch of survivors to Elysium.
They deemed that it was not wise to move into such a big group as it would attract many monsters to them. Also, since the survivors' strength had regressed, they'd be more of a burden than a helper. It would be a troublesome thing for the High-Rankers to try to protect them while fighting strong monsters.
When the first batch of survivors finally appeared at the Entrance of the Gate of the Fallen, many people cheered. They finally regained their hope of reuniting with their trapped comrades in the Abyss.
"Let's separate now," Gaap said. "Are you still coming with us, Piccoro?"
"Of course, Halfling," Piccoro replied. "I already gave my word, and I don't plan to back out of it."
Piccoro then accompanied Lux and Gaap until they were out of sight of the others who had come with them to the Abyss.
The Half-Elf didn't come to the Abyss without a plan. Eiko had the ability to instantly teleport to him or Iris as long as they were both on the same Plane of Existence.
After making sure that Piccoro wasn't wearing any artifacts that would project what they were doing to those in Elysium, the Half-Elf asked the Dragon Born to allow himself to be swallowed by Eiko.
The Dragon Born didn't resist and allowed the Baby Slime to swallow him. A moment later, she swallowed Lux and Gaap once more, storing them safely inside her body.
The Baby Slime then used its skill, Family Bond [EX], and turned into a beam of light that traveled towards the 13th Layer of the Abyss in order to finally reunite with her Mama, who was currently being protected by her rival, Astra.
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