Zhen Liu, up until now, had yet to be on the receiving end of any aggressive musical aether arts.

He knew from the times he was exposed to healing musical aether arts that whatever effect he was being subjected to would be thoroughly amplified; he just didn't know by how much.

As such, when Lyona rolled up and released the vocal equivalent of a nuke in this big, echoing cave, it took Zhen Liu a touch more effort than usual to suppress the pain he was feeling ringing in his ears.

'IF I DIDN'T HAVE TINNITUS BEFORE, I DEFINITELY HAVE IT NOW!' Zhen Liu concluded as he covered his ears. 'But at least I don't have it as bad as these assholes.'

From what Zhen Liu could remember from his studies, the attack he and Dante were just subjected to was an Ethereal-grade aether art known as [Bellow of the Liger King].

This technique mimicked and layered the roar of lions and tigers into a discordant chorus of pain.

Against humans and aetherii, this attack was effective in momentarily stunning them and even outright injuring them through sheer concussive force and a small yet noticeable application of tapping into "primal fear."

Against bloodliners and aether beasts, though, this attack was downright crippling from the get-go.

Ignoring the fact that aether beasts had senses that were easily a hundred times more powerful than mundane animals and a thousand times more potent than a mundane mortal, both they and their bloodline descendants were still subjected to the ingrained fear that originates from understanding and respecting the "Law of the Jungle."

The presence of an apex predator was enough to cause most lesser beasts to either freeze up in fear or run away with their tails between their legs and tears streaming down their faces.

Needless to say, this effect was essentially quintupled against Dante's brand of mutant aether beast kaijin.

[Guh…]

[GYA!]

[This…stupid bitch!]

Despite their mutated and demented appearances, many of Dante's kaijin still maintained several habits and behaviors that originated from their original animalistic forms.

As such, the kaijin that were originally prey animals started freaking out and passing out due to the sudden liger roar ripping through their heads, while many of the predatory beasts felt agitated and challenged by the roar.

Oddly enough, this roar even affected some of the insect-like and plant-like kaijin too, albeit, they were only stunned as opposed to injured from the roar.

This sound-based bomb, though, wasn't the opening attack.

^There's the signal!^

Drop in! Charge in!

"ATTACK!"

It was actually just the opening signal.

'Huh. It looks like they managed to find a lot more assistance than anticipated. Excellent.'

Shortly after Lyona had leapt from the ledge, she was soon followed by several dozen other warriors that Zhen Liu mostly recognized.

He saw his cousins, Lythero, Olstenna, Antonio, and even Maggie, leap down after Lyona, alongside a dozen or so other aether warriors that he never met but could tell were more than ready to deal with the enemy kaijin.

Partially because Zhen Liu could sense that his kaijin were possessing and enhancing people, and partially because he could sense that a whole bunch of the warriors he didn't recognize were circulating [Chaos]!

[Stick to the plan!] Lythero called out in nearly perfect [Chaos] talk as he drew his [Black Iron Slab] and [Astra] double. [Pierce through and smash what pops out!]

[Aye!]

'Well, I'll be damned.'

On the one hand, Zhen Liu felt flabbergasted that they had blatantly shared around the secret to [Chaos] cultivation. On the other hand, Dante did it first with his literal decades to century of kaijin abuse by proxy, and this was very much a "fighting fire with fire" situation.

Either way, Zhen Liu looked forward to the upcoming battles.

Well, up until he needed to disappear and make a costume change.

'I really hope the kaijin informed the others about me needing a distraction as being part of the plan... preferably a visual one...'

... Perspective shift time...

[Contact in three! Don your Regalia if you've got it! Summon Astras if you can!]

[Regalia, manifest!]

[Astra, appear!]

Like shooting stars, the Aether Grandmasters of the rebel army began to glow with power as their aether circulated and transformed into suits of armor that covered their bodies from head to toe.

As for the Aether Lords among them, they began to condense the environmental aether into weapons that were perfectly tailored to their fighting styles.

Leading this group, though, was a pair of Aether Masters and an Aether Lord who were using something similar to these marks of Aether Warrior honor, but theirs were a little…different.

[We hope you're ready for this next part,] Springerdermain warned Zhen Tai.

"More than ready!"

[This is kind of our first time doing something like this,] Screamira informed Zhen Xing.

"Too late for those regrets now!"

[Expose, Stigma!]

[Chaos] began to surge around Zhen Xing and Zhen Tai, forming into giant, monstrous shadows that resembled a giant, horned skeleton and a mechanical, dreamlike snake.

These shadows let out soundless cries of fury before shrinking down and turning into strange armor pieces that resembled [Regalia] by the greatest stretch of the definition.

One could tell from a glance that these armor pieces were meant to compliment and empower a completely formed [Regalia]. However, the raw [Chaos] concentrated in these strange enhancements were still enough to make an Aether Master fight like a Grandmaster and then some.

Besides, this much power coursing through someone's veins would inevitably cause a breakthrough...probably.

"Whoa! Is this what a [Regalia] feels like?!"

"Nah, bro! This is the power of [Stigma]!"

Zhen Xing and Screamira's [Stigma] made it appear as if the former was using the skull and skeletons of various fox-like aether beasts to resemble an undead monstrosity empowered by blue fox flames.

As for Zhen Tai and Springerdermain's [Stigma], coils of thick brass seem to manifest around his arms and legs while snake-like helm encapsulated his head. Topping off the change, crimson flames began to burn beneath the metal while a dark purple cloak suddenly flew around him before settling around his waist and turning into a boxer belt.

[Look alive!] Zhen Tai roared. [We're coming in hot!]

[Don't you mean we should be knocking them dead!]

The moment the two Zhen Clan scions landed they immediately lashed out with [Chaos]-enhanced attacks.

Zhen Tai's fists flew forward and seemed to transform into giant mirage-like pythons that tore through the enemy ranks.

Meanwhile, Zhen Xing began to dance and weave like a ghost, skeleton-covered claws necrotizing kaijin flesh like a vicious plague.

Needless to say, these unusually vicious attacks and the appearance of these [Chaos]-clad warriors, snapped Dante's Kaijin out of their stunned states.

Mostly.

The sudden pain and shock made them cognizant enough to cry for help for the first time in their miserable existences.

[H-hey! We need help here!] One of the kaijin cried out towards the palanquin, where their lord and superiors were still standing. [Their attacks are somehow actually causing injuries!]

Unfortunately, their superiors were occupied with their own problem.

[Alright, lion queen, just like we practiced!]

While Lyona had the option of having Nepherage empower her newly minted [Regalia], she felt that that wasn't enough power to deal with the demon knights.

As such, she decided to focus harder on the offense.

[Expose, Taboo!]

...Commercial break to explain things...

Ability name: [Taboo]

Energy type: [Chaos]

Description:

If an [Astra] is a warrior's mean to impose their [Will] against the world, then a [Taboo] was a Kaijin's way of weaponizing their existence against those that would dare deny them life.

The form the [Taboo] takes will vary from wielder to wielder, because not everyone view all crimes the same way.

One man's sin is another's virtue.

...Now we're back...

When Lyona touched down on the palanquin, the shadow of a giant warrior woman with skin like magma and jade briefly appeared from her body before it converged to her hands and transformed into a thick kanobo made of crimson jade and decorated with bands of obsidian.

Despite the brutal looking nature of the weapon, though, one couldn't help but feel this barbaric sense of [Heroism] radiating off of it.

This was the weapon of a wild outlaw who dared to challenge those who dared to say that they were blessed with titles from some imaginary force.

And right now, Dante was looking like someone who needed their head removed.

That said, the Demon Knights weren't going to make that easy.

[Who's going?]

[Not it.]

[LEAVE IT TO ME!]

Despite being visibly fatter than the average elephant, Gumba managed to rush forward with the ludicrous speed of an oiled codfish sliding across a lake of ice.

As he did, an immense aura of [Despair] began rolling off of his body and forced the ground underneath Lyona to suddenly sink and sag like it was made of muddy swamp water.

[Drown in it, kitty cat! You're about to be—]

POW!

Unfortunately, this was an increidbly stupid idea.