Meanwhile, above Arbalest's last stand...

You know, it's a pity that you can't connect with Arabalest down there, Pathos noted. I imagine whatever he's saying to Dante must be incredibly juicy in terms of lore.

'I will worry about that another day,' Zhen Liu commented. 'Now, can you just tell me why you wanted to pop into my head like this in the middle of a battle?'

See, I could give you a straight answer...or I could make use of a function that we haven't gotten to use in ages! Oh, but before we do that, can you hold the [Godoku Gourd] in your left hand please?

'I...okay...'

Instinctually, Zhen Liu couldn't feel anything ominous about Pathos's words...but history had a tendency to make one worry.

Especially when this request was immediately followed by a set of words Zhen Liu was not looking forward to hearing.

Perfect! Beginning data download...now!

'Oh fuck me—HNNNNNNGGG!'

...Okay, enough comedy, let's get tragic..

[W-what are you blabbering on about?] Dante asked with barely contained rage and anxiety.

In the eyes of the observing rebels and victims of despair, this emotion was unnoticeable due to Dante looking like a chimera made of tar.

In Arbalest's eyes, though, he could tell that these were ripples of pure existential dread.

And this was exactly what he needed to see to boost his confidence.

'Well, looks like what the other lord had bestowed upon me was true…'

When Zhen Liu injected his [Chaos] into Arbalest's [Core], a whole mess of information rocked his being.

A part of this information was just a crash course on what kaijin were actually capable of doing once their [Cores] were perfected, as well as what kind of weaknesses kaijin had, but a huge chunk of this information was just stuff that Arbalest forgot when he was converted into a kaijin and a variety of things that Dante wanted to try and keep suppressed as much as possible.

For example, the true reason for Dante's miserable outlook on life.

[I know, we know, the little fairy tale you tell yourself every night to justify your sins,] Arbalest began to speak, clearly agitating Dante in the process.

Evidently, this agitation was directly related to one of those aforementioned weaknesses.

[...shut up.]

[How did it go again? Once upon a time, there was a small kingdom that was swept up in a war,] Arbalest continued, drawing a quill and twirling it like a spear in the process.

[I ordered you to shut up, also I expect you to shut up,] Dante roared again, angrier than before.

This should've been the part where he lashed out with an attack, but something about these words spilling out of Arbalest's mouth made such an action impossible to do.

[You were the only survivor and now you wish to burn the world because you thought it unfair that it moved on despite yours collapsing,] Arbalest briefly summarized before getting to the real crux of his argument. [But that's not the truth is it?]

Dante didn't even respond to this question due to the anger in his heart being so violent that it practically choked him. Needless to say, this reflected in the state of his body as well.

The sight of Dante's rippling body may have been enough to deter most other warriors from speaking their piece, but Arbalest was determined to scar these words into his creator's brain.

It was an appropriate parting gift, after all.

[No, the truth is that this small kingdom was actually protected by something grand and mysterious. An ancient tree oak tree with azure bark, if the memories I received aren't totally messed up, and it was something that you and your family had spent generations protecting and maintaing,] Arabalest continued, even as he felt the shadow of death about to crawl down his throat. [Until suddenly, and without warning, the whole thing just disappeared like mist on a windy day.]

... Quick perspective change...

^Wait...I know this story,^ a rebel warrior who was able to wield [Chaos] suddenly muttered to the surprise of his compatriots. ^They're talking about the fall of the Hazentez Kingdom.^

"The Hazentez kingdom? What's that?"

^It was a small yet incredibly ancient kingdom. I believe it managed to last under the rule of one dynasty for...eight hundred years, give or take.^

"An eight hundred year old dynasty?! How the hell..."

^Its because they were protected and provided for by an ancient tree called the Azure Paradise Oak,^ the rebel explained. ^But then one day, it just suddenly disappeared.^

"How?!"

^Nobody knows...^

... Except...

[But you and I both know the reason,] Arbalest continued, fully aware that Dante was definitely going to attack him in the next five seconds. [That tree didn't disappear on a whim, no. In truth, one of its caretakers thought that they were too good for—]

[SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!] Dante roared as he finally snapped and lashed out at Arabalest.

A mess of tentacles made of [Chaos] and covered in spikes made of aether, surged towards Arbalest in hopes of having the porcupine kaijin die an ironic death.

Arbalest was ready for this, though...mostly.

Making use of the elongated quill in his hands, Arabalest proceeded to spin it with enough momentum to turn it into a blur. Enhanced with [Chaos], this spinning quill turned into a spinning blade that annihilated the tentacles upon contact.

This kept going for a couple of seconds before Dante eased up on the tentacles to change his approach. However, this also gave Arabalest time to make his response.

[Eat this!]

True to his nature, Arbalest bent over and released a barrage of quill-like javelins in Dante's direction.

These quills, however, were not fired in a straight line. Instead, they were fired in a shotgun-like manner and angled to ricochet off the walls and ceiling.

These weird attack angles, in turn, forced Dante to put in more effort than necessary to block the incoming attacks.

And it was in this cover of quills that Arbalest decided to take this fight up close and personal.

[Due!]

Charging forward, Arbalest aimed a spike covered fist directly at Dante's main [Core], that disgustingly huge chunk of gold that was in the dead center of his chest.

Unfortunately, before Arbalest could deliver what he believed to be righteous justice, he was stopped dead in his tracks.

More specifically, the part of Dante's body that was controlled by Slavina suddenly flared to life, transformed into vicious spears and jammed themselves into Arbalest's body in order to ensnare his [Core].

[Hrk!]

In comparison to how it felt when Zhen Liu touched his [Core], Arbalest couldn't help but notice how disgusting this has actually felt.

[You know, you were talking all of that good shit earlier to the point that's I couldn't help but be a little impressed by your audacity,] Dante mocked with a sarcastic tone. [Any last words before you die?]

[...]

Arbalest was a little sad over the fact that this was how he was going to go out, but at the same time...this was what he had planned from the beginning.

He just hoped that his former master was still dumb enough to fall for an incredibly obvious taunt.

[Eat me.]

[Oh...I fucking intend to.]

After making this promise, Dante proceeded to melt down Arbalest's body and absorb the defiant kaijin's [Core].

... Time's up...

Download complete! Any questions before we continue?

While shaking his head to get the fuzzies out of brain, Zhen Liu did actually have one question on his mind, well, two.

'First question: I thought you said the brain tingles from downloading information would go away once I got stronger.'

We did.

'Then why does it feel even more intense than before?!'

=To be fair, you were disconnected from the main capabilities of the library for a number of months,= Logos interjected. =It wouldn't be a complete shock to assume that your brain became unadapted to the usual downloads.=

'I...feel like that's a fair assumption to make,' Zhen Liu admitted. 'But that also feels like an incredibly stupid excuse.'

=Meh.=

'Second, and more importantly...' Zhen Liu trailed off as he brought the [Godoku Gourd] in his left hand up close to his face. 'When were you going to tell me that this weird ass gourd cannon of mine had that kind of functionality?'

=To be completely honest, we knew that it was capable of combining the energies of kaijin, hence the cannon, we just didn't know that it could be leveraged in such a way until recently.=

Translation: big, bad, and drippy down there is part of the reason why we were able to figure all of that out. The other part includes that time Nepherage, Hurricroak, and Frosttusk formed into Ragnarocker.

'Wait, now that I think about it, how come those two haven't pipped up in my brain yet? I figured they would be the first ones to do so.'

=They're taking bets on how you're going to win this thing.=

'Ah.'