In a hidden shadow, a fox and a box has a talk...

[It seems that our promised day has finally arrived.]

[Yes, it does...but this day has come and gone before. Do you really think that something different is going to happen this time?]

[Yes, I do.]

[Why?]

[Because this time, there's someone here who knows the truth.]

[Indeed...]

...But now's the time, for the story to play out...

[Ah...what a lovely day...is Caretaker back yet?]

[No, but I can see that the local kaijin are acting a touch more agitated than usual.]

In a hidden natural alcove, overlooking the main entrance to the mines, Corpse Doll and Porcelain Doll were keeping a close eye on the activity below them.

Over the last three or so months, the Doll Twins were tasked with keeping track of any moments of interest that could occur at the mine's entrance.

Granted, there weren't that many moments of interest so the Doll Twins simply used this assignment to just bask in the sun before heading back down to the accursed underground portion of the mines.

However, today wasn't going to be a basking day.

[Are they acting agitated because of something we did? I thought we planned not to do anything until the heat died down from the last time we fucked with their supplies.]

[No, this is something else.]

Below their vantage point, PD could see that the kaijin at the mine's entrance were frantically pacing about and constructing what appeared to be a welcome gate of some kind.

From the information they gathered over the past few weeks, this behavior only occurred whenever Dante, the False Lord, returned to the mines from a hunting expedition.

However, those same pieces of information detailed that the welcoming ceremony was never this unusually lavish.

At most, a couple of kaijin that were near the surface would gather together and greet them with their heads bowed low, like they were Yakuza or something akin to that sort of organization.

This was the first time that Porcelain Doll had even seen these kaijin attempted to build something as opposed to destroy, and honestly, it got her a little nervous.

However, she wasn't fully spooked until she saw what, or rather who, was approaching this makeshift welcoming gate.

[What the hell?]

[Eh?]

Needless to say, PD's comment had stirred CD's curiosity as well.

[What's got you riled up, PD?] Corpse Doll asked.

[Take a look down that way, what do you see and sense?] Porcelain Doll asked.

[Let's see...] Corpse Doll trailed off as she focused her senses.

[I'm sensing...all of the kaijin that initially left, Caretaker, and...wait a minute, what the fuck? Why are there two Caretakers?]

...Say what?...

"Ah, home sweet home," Dante stated, his voice now dripping with [Chaos] in a way that seemed way too natural for him. "I never thought I'd say that about this place, but that meditation session was...enlightening."

"What do you think, Curator? Since I have finally come around to making this place my permanent base of operations. Should I finally spruce up the place? Given that I now have the power to summon these lovely zakos?"

[That is entirely up to you,] Zhen Liu answered while still putting on his persona as the Curator. 'Although, personally, I think it's about to be your tomb.'

Riding a top a palanquin being carried by a hundred slaves, surrounded by a horde of monstrous warriors, and accompanied by a strange advisor of questionable trust, was the perfect picture of a monster king.

Dante, the Lord of the [Mines of Malevolence], had an undergone a visual and qualitative transformation since he and his entourage left on their expedition.

When he first left the mines, he was a fairly typical yet comely young man of Dozing Salamander descent, with a sharp nose, dark skin, golden eyes, and black hair that seemed naturally messy.

When he came back though, he looked a touch more sinister.

Dante's features seemed sharper than before, more highlighted in ways that made him appear less real than before, as if he was transplanted into this reality from one that was just a dimension away.

His originally golden eyes had surprisingly healthy bright white sclera, but they were now a crimson red with golden sclera. In a way, he resembled a demon more so than a human at this point.

His naturally messy hair became unusually neat, as if he he gelled it back so many times that it became permanently locked into place.

And to top off the fact that this man was now significantly different from before, Dante had a pair of literal golden horns growing from the side of his, that curved in a such a way that it resembled a crown.

A big. Stupid. Crown.

Needless to say, if the previous Dante got on Zhen Liu's nerves,this new version of the false bastard pissed him off.

And it wasn't just because of the air of newly minted arrogance the man seemed to have once he got out of that fucked-up crystal.

No, this anger was almost... instinctual, spiritual even.

It was the type of anger Zhen Liu had never felt before, but it was an anger he had read about in books and learned from his father's lessons.

It was a type of anger that only territorial beasts felt when a rival appeared before them, to challenge them for the right to live.

For reasons Zhen Liu was certain was impossible, Dante had become a knock-off lord to one that set of his senses and pissed him off to a devastating degree.

Funnily enough, Dante felt this rage too, but he had grossly misinterpreted it.

Then again, it probably didn't help that Zhen Liu purposely fueled this misinterpretation.

"Ah...that irritating feeling is back again," Dante groaned as he began to scratch his head. "Are you certain that this feeling will go away once I take out the other Kaijin Lord."

[Yes, I'm certain of it,] Zhen Liu answered with complete sincerity for once.

When Dante first emerged not too long ago, he had immediately attempted to attack Zhen Liu in a blind rage.

The reason: he felt that there was a dangerous energy coming off of him that compelled him to instinctually rage.

Thankfully, Zhen Liu was able to lie through his teeth convincingly enough to have him think that the reason for this rage was because he was, to quote, "still contracted to the current Kaijin Lord. But seeing as you now seem to have the same qualities, I think the energy on me is going to piss you off...unless..."

And with that completely bullshit lie delivered, Zhen Liu was able to convince Dante to stand down and focus on the more important things.

[If if you're going to try and challenge my current Lord, perhaps you should return to your place of power and consolidate your gains. Even I can tell that while you managaed to absorb that power, your body has yet to fully adjust to it.]

And thus, after three long months of hunting after a false goose, Dante and his kaijin returned to the [Mines of Malevolence].

Unfortunately for them, things weren't going to be as peaceful as the former had hoped.

"Hmmm, I am in a good mood today. I think after a nice, long bath...I'll test how well my zakos do against the slaves. I imagine it'll take at least ten slaves to take down at least one of these disposable soldiers of mine."

'Yeah, you just keep thinking that,' Zhen Liu mentally mused. 'You're going to be in for a rough surprise.'

As the palanquin continued forward, Zhen Liu saw how Dante's kaijin welcomed him with a whole big celebratory gate, a clear change in their demeanor towards their Lord.

However, Zhen Liu's attention was elsewhere, focused on a pair of doll-like beings that had managed to keep themselves hidden for quite some time.

...

[Welcome back, Caretaker,] Corpse Doll called out through her link with Zhen Liu. [You feel...tense.]

'Yeah, well...I was hoping to brain the guy before we got back to the mines, but it looks like I'll have to settle for the fact that my distraction worked better than intended,' Zhen Liu admitted. 'That and this asshole is just... perpetually pissing me off. How are things inside the mines, anyways?]

[The rebel army we have amassed consists of four Aether Lords, a dozen Aether Grandmasters, several dozen Aether Masters, a hundred or so Aether Acolytes, six thousand or so Aether Novices, and triple that in terms of civilian non-combatants. Plus, we found a proper revolutionary leader that will also probably end up joining your ever-growing harem of women that would probably kick your ass under any other circumstances.]

'I...Corpse Doll, where did you learn that from?'

[Big sister Razor said something about you having a type, and then sister Nepherage mentioned feeling conflicted about how—]

'Okay I need to get this shit fixed sooner rather than later.'