MTLNOVEL Chapter 1318: Unexpected Movement
[Hell with it, let's go and assist, I guess.]
[Really? Fine...]
Blazejudicator and Nepherage proceeded to leap down from the spot on the ledge and land right where Arbalest was about to walk towards.
Once they were by his side, Nepherage and Blazejudicator simply hooked their arms around Arbalest's arms and lifted the poor chimeric bastard off the ground.
Evidently, this seemed to work wonders in preventing them from following the rest of the spellbound kaijin. However, his legs still made motions as if he wanted to move forward.
For now at least.
[Oh thank the heavens, thank you for stopping me,] Arbalest sighed with relief.
[Don't thank us yet,] Nepherage retorted. [Your legs still seem to want to follow this herd of horrors.]
[I think if we inject you with some of our brand of Chaos, that should negate the effect or poison you,] Blazejudicator pointed out. [Do you want to take that risk?]
[No need, no need,] Arbalest replied. [Once the boss select his hunters, the rest of us should be dismissed back to our regularly scheduled work tasks.]
[Is...is this a regular occurrence?]
[More or less.]
[Huh...]
[In that case, we should probably warn the others to not act yet,] Blazejudicator told Nepherage as he began to stimulate his connection with the Doll Twins.
[Right, I'll tell the others,] Nepherage concurred before contacting the Mysticlassic Trio (Razorstella, Springerdermain, and Screamira).
...
[Hey, hey, why is there so much noise?] Corpse Doll asked.
[Are we about to go on the attack?] Porcelain Doll added.
[Not yet, girls. Not yet,] Blazejudicator began to explain. [The false lord is apparently choosing who amongst his collection of knock-offs are about to go on a hunt.]
[A hunt?]
[A hunt for what?]
[Supposedly, Executor.]
[What?]*2
...
[...and that's why these assholes are on the move. That means we have a window of opportunity to—]
[Before you continue,] Razorstella interjected, [would you mind elaborating as to why we're supposed to be working with the fucked-up Kaijin that forced us to be here in the first place and not, you know, sending him back to the pits of formless Chaos alongside the rest of his knock-off ilk?]
[Agreed,] Springerdermain echoed. [We should be crushing his core into pieces and mercy killing any poor beasts that compose his form. Wait, would it be messed up to use the bodies of the recently deceased beasts to make new kaijin?]
[I don't think so, but I'm made of dead bodies, so…] Screamira shrugged.
[Look, I know its less than ideal, but hold off on any murderous tendencies. Our lord has a plan apparently, and we need to make sure it play out perfectly,] Nepherage chided the trio. [Besides, I don't think any of us want to fight that entire horde of enemy kaijin, right?]
[Fine…]*3
...That aforementioned horde...
"Huh?"
^What's going on?^
=Why are all of those monsters moving away?=
~Is this a chance to escape for real?~
All over the mines, the kaijin began to drop whatever task they were doing and marched towards the central portion of the caverns.
Many of the newer and unbroken slaves saw this strange behavior and assumed that something good was happening for once, a chance for them to flee and leave this awful hellscape behind.
Alas, they were wrong.
As these hopefuls hemmed and hawed at the possibility of freedom, the slaves that had been here long enough to become broken but not brain dead began to dash their hopes.
"Oh...that? That's just...the Hunt. It's something that the Lord of the Mines does every now and then to do a headcount of his monsters and inform them of their next target," a slave answered for his unbroken comrades. "Think nothing of it, it's just something that happens now and again."
"..."
The central cavern of the mines began to grow louder and messier as the Kaijin began to crowd in.
Usually, gathering this many kaijin in one place would lead to in-fighting and cannibalism to an absurd degree.
Under the command of the Kaijin Lord, though, they were as obedient as muzzled hunting hounds...with barely controllable rabies.
These monsters weren't going to be staying in this state for that much longer though.
Once the last of the Kaijin had gathered in the central cavern, their wretched creator finally made an appearance.
Descending from on high, Kaijin Lord Dante floated over the horde of monsters as if they were a god addressing their pitiful worshippers.
[My detestable monsters, my beloved freaks of nature,] Dante began to say with a [Chaos]-enhanced voiced. [An opportunity most unusual has appeared upon our doorstep. One that can raise us all to the next stage of our glorious evolution.]
At this statement, the various kaijin began to let out snarls, growls and roars of approval.
If one were to listen to these sounds, though, they wouldn't help but to notice that had this oddly mechanical characteristic to it.
In fact, one couldn't help but to notice how their responses sounded mechanical as well.
Now, this prey of ours is unlike anything we've hunted before because they're no mere beast, or some foolish aether warriors who thought they could overpower us. No, this new quarry of ours is a pretender to my title, to my throne.
At this revelation, the Kaijin began to shout curses.
[Boooo!]
[How distasteful!]
[Another Kaijin Lord?! A fake?!]
[I wonder if their Kaijin will taste any better than you fucks!]
Dante allowed his Kaijin to roar and shout for a couple more moments before they finally settled down and continued his speech.
Now, this...pretender...has gotten his hands on my birthright: access to the [Demon's Archive], the source of power of every Kaijin Lord in history.
After making this fact known, Dante began to circulate his [Chaos] and release an aura that pressed down on every Kaijin and slave in the mines.
The Kaijin seemed to become agitated and empowered as this energy pressed down on them, while every mortal in mines began to act as if they were suffocating.
Once we slay this pretender, I will be able to reclaim my right and achieve a level that surpasses even those Kaijin Lord of the past and in turn, raise all of you to heights of power unseen and unheard of in history.
Creatures of madness, monsters of despair...are you satisfied with inflicting pain on just this colony of slaves?
At this question, the Kaijin began to murmur amongst themselves.
[Do we answer honestly or do we lie?]
[I want to inflict more pain on more people. What about you guys?]
[Same! Same!]
[I want to make the whole world grovel at my feet.]
I said, are you satisfied?!
Once they heard their creator repeat himself, the Kaijin were now unified in their answer.
[NO!]
Do you wish to spread and grow? To claim this world as your own?!
[Yes!]
Good, good! Then listen well! I shall lead this glorious hunt for the pretender, and I will take my best and most brutal Kaijin with me.
As soon as he made this statement, the rowdy Kaijin suddenly became significantly more quiet.
Come forth, members of the First Generation. Come forth, my demon knights.
From the crowd of Kaijin, four distinctly-shaped shadows flew upwards and began to kneel before Dante in the air.
The first twenty-seven Kaijin that Dante ever created were the ones he made by hand from start to finish.
As a result, their [Cores] had the most potential to grow. Alas, only four of them managed to reach this far.
Well...to be more precise, these four were the only ones who managed to slay the other twenty-three, consume their [Cores], and maintain their self of sense for the longest amount of time.
Even when they devoured the members of the second generation, they were still in control.
Making them even more visually different from the rest of the kaijin, they looked significantly more humanoid and were even wearing clothes.
State your names, my knights.
The first to answer was a strange, owl-like kaijin dressed in a butler's uniform.
[Delictum of Ignorance, answers the call. Whose rationality shall I steal away?]
The next to answer was an oddly feminine, plant-like Kaijin that was more like a tangle of vines and poisonous flowers stitched together into human form.
[Slavina of Oppression, answers the call. Who needs to be broken?]
[G-gumba of Despair is here. Who needs to drown in hopelessness?]
The third to answer was a large, fat, catfish kaijin who looked positively depressed.
The last of the knights to answer was a strangley mousey looking Kaijin that seemed to be wreathed in flames. However, if one were to take a really close look at him, they would sense that he was at least several times stronger than the other three Kaijin combined.
[Obsidious, he who hates the world, has answered. Whose blood shall we water the world with today?]
Once all four of his best Kaijin had presented themselves, Dante prepared to give the orders that would change his life forever.
Choose your best subordinates. We march at dawn.