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

<Huh…now that our connection with our lord has been fixed, I think this is the first time we've ever seen that weird [Core] fusion thing occur with greater clarity and detail, right?>

=Yes. Yes, it is.

<Now that we're getting all of this high-quality data, I'm starting to realize just how crude Dante's implementation of his own trick is,> Pathos critiqued. <Hell, I'm pretty sure we can whip something better than whatever the hell this is in a couple of minutes.>

=Way ahead of you on that,= Logos interjected while sending a data packet in Pathos's direction. =We just need you to add the finishing creative touches.=

<Yahtzee.>

=While you do that, I'm going to focus my efforts on identifying the true identities of that boxy sheep and fox kaijin, because I swear I have seen them somewhere before!=

<Look up the Little Prince,> Pathos suggested before focusing on the documents in their hands. <You'll get your answers from there.>

=Say what?=

…

'Okay, I am now completely justified in wanting to get the rebels out of the pit before fighting for real,' Zhen Liu mentally concluded in an attempt to rationalize the horror before his eyes. 'Oh my gods, this is just Grub Part Two: Electric Boogaloo.'

Once Dante absorbed the first batch of his defeated kaijin, the man proceeded to start absorbing even more of them.

With another wave of his hand, Dante released even more pillars of black ooze that melted down even more kaijin and absorbed even more of their [Cores].

With every absorbed Kaijin, every assimilated golden [Core], Dante got noticeably stronger and stronger by the second.

But also, visually and physically more and more distorted.

His [Stigma] began to writhe with each new addition, to the point that sometimes entire limbs would form and add a macabre detail to the armor, or entire heads would manifest in order to blend into the mix.

This effect, however, wasn't incredibly noticeable until the defeated [Demon Knights] were added into the mix.

The [Demon Knights] were unconscious at this time, but the moment that Dante's nasty ooze grabbed them, they all shot awake like a fire was lit underneath them.

Needless to say, they were shocked and disturbed at the current predicament that they were in.

[Wait, what? No, no, no!] Gumab cried out in despair.

[This isn't supposed to happen to us! We're at the top of the pyramid; we aren't the ones to be consumed!] Slavina yelled, aware that she was about to die like so many other slaves before her.

[Master! Master!] Delictum cried out, not wanting to die in ignorance. [Why are you doing this?! Were we not your loyal blades?!]

At this moment, Zhen Liu fully expected Dante to just stay silent as he essentially cannibalized his most loyal kaijin warriors. Unexpectedly, he overheard a…decidely disturbing answer instead.

[You three misunderstand my intentions,] Dante answered in a voice that sounded more like a chorus speaking in unison than a singular being. [I am not going to devour you.]

[Y-you're not?] Gumba asked with the faintest tint of hope in his voice.

[No...instead, you will be joined with me.]

[Say what?]

Instead of explaining themselves further, Dante proceeded to circulate the [Chaos] within and began absorbing the [Demon Knights] into himself.

What followed was that oh-so familiar scene of the kaijin screaming as they melted down and their [Cores] becoming a part of Dante. However, there was a slight difference this time around.

The [Cores] of Delictum, Gumba, and Slavina were much too powerful to simply collide and combine with one another, let alone the mass of [Malevolent Gold] that was increasingly looking more and more like a did substitute for Dante's heart.

Instead, each of the cores began to move about his body before settling into place and drastically mutating the nearest body parts until they resembled what they had before being melted down into deranged meat soup.

Gumba's [Core] moved to Dante's stomach, and changed his lower half to be thicker and a slight stumpier than before. Shortly after, a strange belt with a pair of beady eyes manifested around Dante's waist.

Delictum's [Core] moved to the back, and gave Dante a pair of owl-like wings that were spread open for now, but could be clearly folded into a full body cloak. If one were to trace the connection point of these wings, though, they would see that they were directly coming out of Delictum's [Core,M,.

And last but not least, Slavina's [core] travelled straight up to Dante'a forehead and embedded itself into his brain.

In a previous adventure, Dante had developed a pair of horns out of the side of his head. And now, due to Slavina's influence, those horns became wrapped in vines and were made to be part of a much larger helm.

[Now isn't that so much better? ]Dante asked, his voice now sounding as if three more of them were added to the choir.

[And now with that out of the way,] Dante trailed off as he began concentrating [Chaos] into the barrels of Obsidious's canon once more. Only this time, the [Chaos] being condensed felt significantly thicker and carry feelings that were closely related to the absorbed kaijin.

And to top it all off, the condensed [Chaos] was being molded in such a way that they were beginning to resemble missiles who had their heads replaced with that of the freshly absorbed kaijin.

Needless to say, the sight of these developments caused Zhen Liu and his cohort of Kaijin to get a bit anxious.

They were either ready to give it their all and down swinging, or use whatever tricks they had in their sleevee to escape to somewhere safety.

The ultimate decision maker for this, though, was going to be Zhen Liu.

[War Chief, what are your orders?] Depth Strider asked for the group.

'...'

Quickly glancing over at the gathered Kaijin, and tapping into his connection to them all, Zhen Liu could sense the desire to fight to the bitter end burning in their chests.

As such, Zhen Liu figured it was best to justify these feelings.

'Is it not obvious?' Zhen Liu asked with a touch of playful sarcasm as he began circulating this [Chaos] at a greater rate and summoning his [Astra], Senbazuru, once more. 'We're going to kick his ass!'

[Yeah!]

[Nepherage, Blazejudicator, with me. Gallop Brothers, scatter and charge!] Zhen Liu ordered his kaijin moments before turning to rush at Dante.

As Zhen Liu flew forward, he noticed that Dante wasn't going to simply allow him to get in close with dealing with some monumental bullshit.

To be more precise, Zhen Liu saw that Dante had summoned a whole mess of gun ports from the lower parts of his body and was aiming to lock him down. Hell, he could feel the killing intent being directed at him specifically.

In a few moments, the gun ports were going to unleash hell and continuous blast at Zhen Liu until he dropped to the ground dead. Fortunately, Zhen Liu had an idea on how to prevent that.

'Saw that coming,' Zhen Liu mentally griped, as he held Senbazuru in his hands.

[Senbazuru: Scattering Cranes in Flight!]

With a wild swing, Zhen Liu swung around his scarf like it was a flail and summoned a whole flock of paper cranes that tore off from his scarf in the form of individual squares before folding into shape.

Once this flock of paper cranes appeared, each individual piece began to release enough aether that one could easily mistake them to be warriors attempting to power themselves up before committing to a big attack.

The effect of this trick was almost immediate.

The gun ports that were originally aimed in Zhen Liu's direction, immediately pivoted and freaked out as they began firing off shots at the hundreds of paper cranes that appeared out of thin air.

The cranes were immediately destroyed on contact with the fired projectiles, but that was the point.

They were supposed to act as shields for the true threat that as to follow.

[The War Chief got us covered! Charge in before we lose it!]

[Sure thing, big bro!]

[Smash his stupid face in!]

Depth Strider, Pegasoar and Rail Horn, quickly took advantage of their creator's shield and rushed in to attack Dante directly.

They knew that this was going to be the final battle of the day anyways, so they figured they would go all out.

As for Blazejudicator and Nepherage, they did as ordered and joined up with Zhen Liu.

The former once again took on the role of a [Stigma] for their creator, but the latter was stopped before doing so completely.

'Hold up, Nepherage.'

[Huh?]

'Going to try something.'

At this moment, Zhen Liu's [Astra] was being used as a defensive cover against Dante and couldn't be used to form an [Apostasy].

However, Zhen Liu did technically have a built-in [Taboo] that could work in its stead.

Summoning [Alf Layla Wa Layla], Zhen Liu shot a meaningful look in Nepherage's direction.

'I get the feeling that this is going to have unintended consequences...do you trust me?'

[Always, milord.]

'Cool.'