Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?

[After tonight?] Zhen Liu asked. [What makes tonight so special?]

^Well, originally nothing,^ Dante answered, ^I was just going to implant cores into some slaves that were participatants in a failed rebellion some odd number of years ago. The end result would hopefully be more powerful than Tusktara and Trigoose. Well, more stable too.^

The thought of those mutated mortals caused Zhen Liu to inwardly flinch.

Visually speaking, their transformation from being human to mutant kaijin was already shocking.

However, Zhen Liu's perspective on the matter was...a touch more disturbing.

Thanks to his ability to see with [Chaos], he could see how the implementation of these weird [Cores] absolutely fucked up those mortals not just on a physical level, but a spiritual one as well.

An aether formula allowed one to reform and reinforce one's soul into something greater, what the [Core] did to these mortals...he wasn't entirely sure what he saw.

It was like their souls were unwound into being more akin to primordial [Chaos].

'If my method is taking [Chaos] and trying to form it into acting like a soul, then...this guy is the opposite. He takes a soul and unwinds it into being closer to [Chaos],' Zhen Liu concluded.

^But now,^ Dante continued, ignorant of Zhen Liu's personal thoughts and feelings. ^I think I shall have a breakthrough based on a factor I never considered. What if a mortal was able to use [Chaos] before being implanted with one of my [Cores]?^

'Oh...uh oh.'

As soon as this question was posed, Zhen Liu knew that shit was going to get incredibly dicey.

^I didn't have any examples other myself, but that swordsman from earlier knows how to use it. Well, weakly, anyways. Either way, it's better than nothing,^Dante commented.

'Looks like my infiltration and stealth mission might be turning into one that requires no survivors,' Zhen Liu speculated.'I really hope that isn't the case though, because I want to least find an opportunity to fix my [Key to Nowhere] before shit gets...wait a minute...'

As Zhen Liu continued to follow Dante, he suddenly received a message from one of his own kaijin.

Well, the only full-fledged kaijin that he was still mentally connected with.

...

[Executor.]

'Blazejudicator, finally! Any good news?'

[Sort of. Zhen Xing and Zhen Tai are still unaccounted for, but we can kind of sense their presence in the mine somewhere.]

'Okay, that's better than nothing...what about Olstenna and Lythero? Kind of lost track of them due to my need to play enigmatic guest to Dante the fake over here.'

[Olstenna and Lythero were dragged to some weird hidden portion of the cave. We're attempting to free them now, but...]

'But? Why is there a "but"?'

[Are you sure recruiting this Arbalest guy was a good idea?]

'Oh, so y'all finally decided to tap in on that, good. Wait a minute, why? What did he do?'

[Well...]

...

Hours ago, Lythero and Olstenna were dragged from their "comfortable" cell in the fighting arena and were escorted to some cavern cell that was located deeper in the mine and next to something that made them uncomfortably sweaty.

As natives of Dozing Salamander, the duo were used to the heat, haze and ambient Ignarii aether. Therefore, whatever was making them feel uncomfortably warm must've been a very bad thing.

Unfortunately, the duo were unable to investigate or appreciate this ominous blaze past their initial entry into the place before being rendered unconscious.

To be more precise, the escorting kaijin had injected them with [Chaos]-infused venom and rendered them both in a state that was somewhere between dreaming and waking.

The sheer fluidity of their envenomining suggested that this had been dozens of times before.

If Lythero and Olstenna were more aware of their surroundings, they would realize that this was the case and then some.

The cavern they were brought to was filled with people, warriors that looked tougher than the ones that were in the arena before them.

Not because they were actually stronger, but because they seemed to have stronger wills.

At least, that's the impression that Blazejudicator and Nepeherage had when they followed Olstenna and Lythero into this strange cavern.

A cavern that felt oddly familiar in a deja vu sort of way.

[One, two, three...I am counting about a dozen or so kaijin that appeared to originally have been spider type aether beasts, half a dozen poisonous reptile or amphibian kaijin, three dozen venomous insect kaijin and three snakes,] Blazejudicator observed. [That said, I'm pretty sure that Arachnidame and Hurricroak could kill them all faster than we can blink.]

[It's Spider's Hell all over again, but worse and with significantly more humans involved. It's...it's...]

[Spider Hell 2: Electric Boogaloo?]

[Kind of?]

[Venom Hell?]

[Significantly more accurate.]

There were about a hundred or so people in this cave, all wrapped in cocoons made of silk and hardened saliva, and none of them conscious due to the aforementioned kaijin constantly injecting poison into the poor sods.

This venom seemed to supply whatever nutrients these bastards needed to live, or at least keep them in some fucked up version of suspended animation.

If the [Mines of Malevolence] was a normal mine, this would be an incredibly disturbing sight.

In the fucked up manmade hell that was this mine as a whole...this just seemed unnecessarily excessive.

Then again, an entire cavern that was lined with defiant mortals in various states of bondage was in line with this place's style.

Regardless, Blazejudicator and Nepeherage didn't plan to stick around this shit show for long.

The two kaijin could only watch as Lythero and Olstenna were dragged, drugged and bound to the walls of this fucked up cavern due to their need to maintain stealth and keep themselves hidden from the enemy kaijin.

Additionally, they had to wait for several hours for the number of kajiin to finally dwindle down to a number that could be handled in a stealthy enough fashion.

Thankfully, though, after these hours had passed, an opportunity had presented itself on a silver platter.

Well, impaled on a giant skewer at least.

[Oi, Spittle.]

[Huh? Arbalest? What the fuck are you doing here in the boiler room?]

[I still can't believe our Lord managed to convince this barbarian to work with us,] Nepeherage commented at the sight of the porcupine kajiin confronting another kaijin that resembled a poison tree frogs with heads for hands. [This guy is the reason we're in this shitshow in the first place.]

[Eh. Technically, he just accelerated something that we were going to find out eventually,] Blazejudicator pointed out. [Besides, the Executor can be surprisingly persuasive when he needs to be...sometimes.]

Ignorant of their commentary, Arbalest was about to do something that was very normal for this fucked-up mine, but was still distracting enough.

[Long story short, the boa constrictor parts of me has been making me crave frog meat and you look delicious,] Arbalest bluntly declared while setting himself on fire. [I'm going to need you to die for me, right this instant!]

Immediately after making this declaration, the porcupine kaijin proceeded to fire off a shower of quills in Spittle's direction.

Oddly enough, the frog-like kaijin wasn't caught off guard by this attack or declaration. In fact, he seemed to be expecting this.

[Constrictor failed to eat my ass because my poison was too much for his stomach to bear. You're not gonna be any different!]

Before the needles could make contact, Spittle released a surge of [Chaos]-laced toxic mist that snuffed out the flames and melted the quills into a disgusting sludge.

Immediately after, Spittle released his own barrage of toxic bubbles that surged towards Arbalest's location.

The porcupine-like kaijin didn't falter in the face of this attack though. Instead, he rushed forward and had even more quills manifest all over his body in order to pop the incoming bubbles.

Spittle was going to taunt the porcupine about the latter's inability to defend against his poison, but was gobsmacked when he saw the reckless charge and pointed defense that had rendered his attack pointless.

He couldn't even provide a follow-up before Arbalest had fully tackled him off a ledge while repeatedly stabbing him with a dozen or so quills.

[Why don't we take this battle elsewhere?! Wouldn't want to accidentally injure the boss's experimental fodder, right?!]

And with that declaration, Arbalest had successfully not only create an opening for Zhen Liu's kaijin to free their companions, but also eliminated the possibility of a guard retaliating and reporting.

Hell, the other kaijin that were supposed to keep watch decided to follow the dueling kaijin in order to watch.

[Alright, who thinks Arbalest is going to win?]

[No fucking way! Spittle's gonna melt a hole in his stomach and bladder!]

[Do we even have those anymore?!]

[Fucking hope so. Otherwise, what the hell have I been emptying whenever I pee on the slaves?]

Once the last of the enemy kaijin had left the area, Nepherage and Blazejudicator popped out of their hiding space.

[Alright, let's free these guys.]