CHAPTER 1349: AS THE REBELS RAGED...

Meanwhile, during Lyona’s battle...

As Lyona decided to attack Dante and his elite kaijin head on, the rest of the rebel army was making sure that the rest of the horde didn’t have a chance to interfere.

The kaijin of the [Mines of Malevolence] may have been cannibalistic assholes, but they were also the type of bastards that would band together if their way of life was ever threatened.

And having a whole bunch of rebel slave warriors suddenly appear while wielding the same power that they used to inflict mass suffering was enough of a shock to get them to collectively focus on dealing with the pertinent threat.

"Back off!"

[Gah! How dare you?!]

"Holy crap, it actually worked?!"

When the rebel warriors were first taught how to shape [Chaos], they were honestly still a little skeptical.

Sure, they had seen it in action when Lyona used it to handily dispatch half a dozen or so kaijin in the past few months, but seeing an unusual source of power being used was very different from wielding it.

Especially when the rebels only frame of reference to [Chaos] prior was seeing how Dante’s kaijin used it to make their lives miserable.

As such, learning that the other way to use [Chaos] was to encourage one’s [Desire] and weaponize it was...oddly freeing.

Of course, it wasn’t as freeing as being actually freed from slavery but that was another thing altogether.

For now, just being able to injure their tormentors was already a massive boost to their morale.

Then again, it also probably helped that their champion fighters were making one hell of a display in taking out these kaijin.

And that wasn’t even including the Zhen Clan scions.

...

[Mangy little slaves!] A fucked-up mash up between a hummingbird and a squirrel chattered in fury as he began condensing [Chaos] in his fucked-up little paws. [Burn in hell!]

With a screech filled with rage, the strange kaijin lobbed a ball of condensed [Chaos] towards a group of rebels that had just managed to take out an enemy kaijin that resembled a goat mixed with a scorpion.

"Incoming!"

Throw up shields, now!

^Nah! Leave it to me!^

Before the projectile could make contact and deliver a deadly payload that was designed to shred the rebels into ribbons, Lythero intervened.

Armed with the [Black Iron Slab] and his [Astra] , Lythero proceeded to intercept the [Chaos] ball with the twin blades before launching it back towards the offending kaijin.

Lythero, of course, made sure to coat his weapons in [Chaos] in order to protect the integrity of his blades.

[Bah!]

The hummingbird-dog kaijin managed to mitigate most of the damage by circulating [Chaos] through their arms before knocking the blast upwards.

Unfortunately, this left the bastard wide open for Lythero to rush in with his transformed [Astra] taking the form of the lost [Unrelenting Piercer].

One good charge was all it took for him to skewer the enemy kaijin and destroy the [Core] at the same time.

Once the deed was done, Lythero dismissed his [Astra] before resummoning it in order to avoid having to forcefully extract the blade from the deceased kaijin’s body.

That and he needed to get ready for the next wave of bastards that were charging towards him.

[That bastard took out Buzzer!]

[KILL HIM!]

^BRING IT THE FUCK ON!^

Facing down this horde, Lythero switched to wielding the [Trickster’s Fang Pack Kukri].

’The [Malevolent Gold] here better be fucking worth it...wait a minute, why am I thinking about that stuff now? Wait...what the fuck am I sensing?’

Turning his head towards what was tickling his senses, Lythero saw a giant sphere of dark flames forming on the palanquin. Coincidentally, right where Dante was standing moments ago.

’Why...why do those flames resemble rats?’

...

^One, two! One, two!^

[Guh! Gah! Make it stop!]

Unlike everyone else that was currently fighting, Olstenna didn’t choose to make use of [Chaos]. Instead, he relied on his methods and was actively refining it while fighting.

The military marches he had memorized worked to an extent, but Olstenna found that he didn’t need to use a whole song in order to make his blows able to penetrate the kaijin’s defenses.

Hell, he could make it up on the fly.

[What the hell are those sounds coming out of his mouth?!]

If Olstenna or the enemy kaijin had the knowledge of a certain Otherlander, they would know that Olstenna had accidentally discovered the art of "Freestyle Rapping".

That, and he learned how to incorporate the very rhythm of the world to help him make his songs.

Every clash of blows, the sound of metal against metal and bodies hitting the floor all served to empower his songs, and in turn, make his blows hit even harder.

As Olstenna took out his sixth kaijin in a row, a rather amusing thought popped into his head.

’These small fry aren’t a bad fight...but I want to see if my fists can punch through that knock-off Lord!’

Directing his gaze towards the palanquin, Olstenna began to sense that something big was brewing. Especially since it was accompanied by a weird cloud of black smoke.

’Ooooh, this is going to be fun,’ Olstenna thought with a vicious smile. ’Whats up with the rats though?’

...

[On your left.]

’Got it!’

[Now you have two coming directly behind you.]

’How did you—WHOA!’

[I suggest you stomp down with your left foot now, and get ready to throw a bitch.]

’Where did this guy come from?!’

Taurna had learned about the existence of the other Kaijin Lord and his merry band of misfits around the same time Lyona did.

That is, they both learned on the day that Nepherage possessed Lyona’s body and gave the power she needed to outright slay their lifelong tormenters.

And once Taurna learned that there were even more of these significantly more friendly monsters, Taurna was more than open to borrowing their power.

Especially after they helped to identify the exact bloodlines both her and her sisters were descended from.

^So you can help me hit...how much harder?^

[About the average of our combined cultivation levels. Which we will help raise the longer you have one of us in your head.]

^Cool...^

[Although, there are side effects....]

Regardless of this warning, though, Taurna was more than willing to work with these visiting kaijin if it meant bringing Dante down into the mud.

That said, there were some growing pains involved.

[You have to remember that my flames have the bad habit of effecting your mood as well,] Blazejudicator warned Taurna as she began to channel the [Flames of Ira] through the horns on her head. [Remember what I said about balance.]

’Yeah, yeah,’ Taurna agreed in an annoyed voice as she proceeded to cradle her cranium in a helmet made of the [Flames of Patientia].

Once she had donned these flames, she tapped into the power of her blood and wreathed her legs in golden lighting.

^Ready...HIKE!^

In one fluid motion, Taurna launched herself like a bullet train and plowed through several kaijin at once, inflicting burns of both emotional and physical nature...at best.

Some of the injured kaijin ended up getting smacked so hard that they either got their [Cores] removed entirely, shattered inside of them, or exposed to the air just long enough for another rebel warrior shatter it instead.

Visually, this was impressive.

Unfortunately, Taurna had a rather harsh critic.

[You used too much power again,] Blazejudicator chided as Taurna grappled with an enemy kaijin and dropped them with a wrestling move. [You have to remember to control it.]

’Hey! I’m the one doing the fighting here! If you’re going to complain, then you do it!’Taurna mentally roared as she clotheslined another kaijin. ’Wait...I think I need to dial back on the Ira.’

[I am aware why you yelled, I’m the embodiment of Judgement after all,] Blazejudicator retorted as he watched Taurna land a flying kick on a guy. [But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re acting less like a warrior and more like an untamed bull.]

’And what’s wrong with that?’

[Well, if you were working with the likes of the Secretary Twins or Hurricroak, it wouldn’t be a great issue. But the best way to exercise my power is to act like a judge. Observant, impartial and able to exert equal force to all regardless of...hang on, something’s weird.]

’What? Weird how?’

[I’m not sure,] Blazejudicator answered with hesitation. [But it’s causing both the Chaos and aether in the mine to act up...hang on. Look over there.]

’Where?’

[There.]

Feeling Blazejudicator’s mental suggestion, Taurna turned her attention to the palanquin where Lyona was fighting off three of the four Demon Knights.

...

Wait a minute.

’Where’s Obsidious? Shouldn’t he be engaged with fighting Lyona?’ Taurna immediately noticed.

[Pivot your vision about...forty degrees to your right.]

’What?’

[Look at the weird smoke thingie!]

’Oh? OH SHIT!’

Now that she was staring at the disturbance, Taurna was greeted by the sight of what she could only describe as a rat king in the making.

A giant one.

’What the fuck...’