Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?
Chapter 1359 1359: Unwanted Intervention

Dante's plan was simple.

He was going to interfere in one of the battles his [Demon Knights] were participating in, taking out their opponent so that they could then be free to serve as his [Taboo] or [Stigma].

Why?

Because they were the only kajin that Dante was certain of being the right quality he needed.

After exchanging blows with Zhen Liu, Dante realized that despite having momentary bursts of power that exceeded his rival lord, he didn't have consistent power.

Most of his kaijin, as far as he could tell, were too unstable to be used as [Taboo] or [Stigma].

Why?

Because the composite [Cores] that served as the main power source for the kaijin, were far too fragile for the aforementioned purposes.

To be more precise, every single one of Dante's kaijin were technically composite lifeforms.

Decades upon decades of cannibalization between the kaijin had led to the existence of powerful warriors, to be sure, but none of the kaijin fully disappeared because their [Cores] were still present.

These [Cores] never fully subsumed one another; instead, they just sort of squished together like balls of colored clay.

Now, this combination technically made the [Core] stronger, but it also introduced a lot of flaws and holes that could be exploited with the right knowledge.

However, this fact only applied to the regular, lesser kaijin that were the majority members of the mines.

Dante's elites, [The Demon Knights], were literally built differently.

Unlike the other kaijin, they had subsumed dozens of other [Cores] and gained dozens of unique abilities.

Unlike the other kaijin, these four were able to maintain their egos the longest.

Unlike the other kaijin, they were the only ones that Dante could fully trust.

Perhaps that last reason was why they were able to take the form of a [Taboo] or [Stigma] without disappearing immediately after.

It takes a lot of trust to be wielded as someone's weapon, and it takes a lot of faith in order to risk one's life in the act of protecting someone else.

That stated, it was very likely Dante would never really learn this lesson.

After all, it was usually difficult to understand the meaning of trust when one only wanted absolute obedience.

…

'Alright, once we get in swinging distance, we jam this glaive into the back of his stupid skull, agreed?'

[I think my design is meant more for slashing than stabbing, my lord,] Nepherage pointed out.

'Then we'll slice his head off when we get close enough to—hold the fuck up, why is freaky black ooze dripping from his hands?'

[Oh, that's not good.]

…

'Now let's see here, who can I take out first so that I can get back to killing my rival and taking his place?' Dante thought to himself as he quickly parsed through the battlefield.

From what he could see, his three remaining [Demon Knights] were locked in a deadly melee with several mortal warriors that Dante had finally realized had their own methods in dealing with [Chaos]-empowered warriors.

In fact, they weren't the only ones.

^Huh…^

Due to being distracted by Lyona, his own power, and the sudden appearance of his rival kaijin lord, Dante didn't have a chance to realize that his forces were actually being effectively pushed back for once in their short existences.

On the one hand, seeing his kaijin being forced to actually put in effort in fighting opponents that weren't each other was oddly refreshing.

On the other, he found the sight absolutely infuriating.

Only he was allowed to brutalize/mutilate/cannibalize his kaijin, no one else.

Alas, he couldn't resolve fighting off all of these wretched rebels because he was only a single… hold on…

^Oh, now is a perfect time to do this!^

Understanding that he was going to need even more numbers to turn this battle around from mildly annoying to a decisive victory, Dante began channeling [Chaos] into his palms until a deep, dark liquid began to pour out and pool.

This liquid was none other than the tar that had once been used to create the horde of zako that had made the life of his kaijin rather miserable.

And now, he was going to use it to turn the bodies of the fallen rebels into a horde of zakos that would then—

[Burning Crescent Slash!]

^Whoa there!^

Before Dante could even create one zako, Zhen Liu had appeared behind him like a burning a boomerang, with the sole intent of decapitating the bastard in a single blow.

Obsidious, however, was a surprisingly attentive kaijin in [Stigma] form.

Literal inches before his blade could catch purchase and decapitate the fucker, little rat-shaped exhausts appeared on key points of Dante's body and released jets of black flames that allowed him to dodge the attack in a rather strange manner.

Unbeknownst to both parties, though, this dodge had also caused Dante to accidentally spill the strange tar that was in his hands.

Then again, it was kind of hard to focus on such little details, when one has murder and hatred clouding their ability to focus on outside factors.

[Oh? What's this? Are you so afraid of fighting me on even ground that you feel the need to attack me from behind? That you're afraid of me going all out as you have? How cowardly!] Dante asked with sarcasm dripping from every weird, and a fireball of black flames thrown in Zhen Liu's direction.

In response to this attack, Zhen Liu simply swung the glaive and sliced the fireball in two, causing a pair of small explosions to occurr directly behind him.

[The word you're looking for is "prudent",] Zhen Liu retorted in a disguised voice, [and besides, I'm not even at full power yet.]

[Oh?]

[I don't need it to kill a pretender like you.]

[Awww, also, bitch.]

After insulting Dante, Zhen Liu rested the crimson jade glaive across his shoulder with one hand on it while lifting the other for his opponent to see.

[And besides, you and I both know that a Kaijin Lord's true power doesn't come from just tapping into the power of Kaijin into becoming weapons and armor]

[Oh no? Then where does it come from?] Dante asked with an exaggerated look of disbelief.

[It comes from our ability to coordinate them. Now!] Dante roared while snapping his fingers.

Immediately after doing so, Corpse Doll and Porcelain Doll appeared as if they were apparitions and launched palms towards Dante's left and right. In reality, the Doll Twins had actually been maintaing their shrunken down forms until they found the perfect opportunity to strike.

[Oh fuck!]

In response to this sudden attack, Dante had no choice but to respond with his own palm strikes in an attempt to intercept the attacks.

Technically, he could've dodged, but adrenaline was one hell of a decision maker.

Bam! Bam!

To his credit, Dante managed to catch the two palm strikes with his own hands and keep them in place.

As he did, though, Dante began to realize that these twin doll-like kaijin were a little... different.

More specifically, he could sense that the Doll Twins didn't even have [Cores]!

'Wait a minute...what? How is that even—'

[Fire Giant's Executing Slash!]

[Oh, come on!]

Unfortunately for him, Zhen Liu used this opportunity to go for Dante's head again, so he couldn't finish thinking about the implications of this discovery.

At least, not yet.

...Wait, what about the tar?...

As the battle raged between the Kaijin and the rebels, casualties on both sides began to mount.

A mixture of mortal bodies and aether beast corpses began to decorate the battlefield, showcasing various wounds that came from all sorts of sources. Albeit, most of the aether beast corpses had prominent holes in their chests, a clear sign that they were once kaijin before their [Cores] were forcibly removed and destroyed.

It should be noted though that while the rebels outnumbered the kaijin, the kaijin were still overall stronger than most of the mortal warriors present.

As such, there were multiple instances where an unlucky mortal got caught out alone by an enemy kaijin, and was subsequently slaughtered for their trouble.

One such mortal was currently laying on the ground dying as his guts were ripped open by a weasel-like kaijin.

'Am...am I going to die here? Seriously?!' the mortal thought to himself as he felt himself growing colder and colder by the second.

As the thought of death became more and more of a reality, something unexpected occurred.

From high above the battlefield, several dark drops of tar had suddenly appeared and began to fall all over the place.

Some were destroyed on the way down due to the heat of battle destabilizing the atmosphere, while some dropped onto the fighting forces and did absolutely nothing.

One of these drops, though, had unexpectedly landed directly into the mouth of the dying man.

'What the—HRK?!'

Unfortunately, this tar wasn't going to be the dead man's salvation.

Instead, it was liquid condemnation.