[Romance].

To most, [Romance] refers to the passionate love between two people.

However, there is an older definition to the term.

Once upon a time, [Romance] referred to stories of action, mystery, and adventures into the unknown.

To travel distant lands, to sail the high seas, to ride the winds, and to explore the infinity of space—that is the other meaning of [Romance].

And such high ideals, such wonderful flights of fancy, are absolute poisons to the ignorant.

Because, how can one be [Disgusted] with the wonders of the world if they could learn to see how wonderful it can be?

—The words of a man who braved the dangers of the world beyond his homeland's walls and learned that there was more to life than simply hating what he couldn't understand.

...Let's get back to the fighting…

[Oh no, you fucking don't!]

Dante didn't know what trick Zhen Liu was about to pull off, but he knew in his heart of hearts that he needed to put a stop to it before the man had a chance to finish whatever the hell he was planning. Unfortunately, Zhen Liu's trigger finger was much faster than his slow-ass tentacles.

It also probably helped that before he could even get impaled, the ten-legged stallion shadow behind him suddenly became significantly more real and smashed its front hooves down to stop the attack.

[Gah!]

Accompanying this display of power was an announcement and an explosion of smoke that covered an entirely new being that had four sets of glowing eyes coming from their face, chest, and shoulders.

A being that felt familiar and alien all at once but was definitely someone new all the same.

Beyond the land, the sea, the sky, and the stars, the Explorer of Infinity will lead the way.

[Of course I will! It's the duty of a captain, after all!] A heroic voice that sounded like four people speaking in perfect harmony called out from the smoke.

With a wave of his hand and a surge of [Chaos], the self-identified captain blew away all of the smoke, revealing to the world a tall humanoid figure wearing a flowing captain's coat and hat with a clear horse motif going on. What realm brought this whole ensemble together though was that on his chest and shoulders were horse head-like decorative bits that were clearly representations of Depth Strider, Pegasoar, and Rail Horn.

[Otherwise, I wouldn't be the one and only CAPTAIN GALLOP!]

Referring oneself by a job title was considered odd by most people especially when the being doing such things, didn't even exist until a couple of moments ago.

However, in Captain Gallop's case, all of the onlookers and even Dante himself agreed that the term, "captain", was an incredibly accurate name and descriptor.

Whether this accuracy stemmed from the man's outfit looking like a ship captain's uniform, the fact that this new warrior carried himself with the swagger most only seen in captains of small military squads or bandit groups, because nobody wanted to correct someone this powerful, or a combination of all three, was unclear to the watching rebels and slaves.

To them, they just couldn't help but feel as if a brand new hero had come to save the day.

"That guy...how the hell did he do that?!"

^I don't know,but his aura reminds me of Dante's.^

~You mean a less fucked-up version of Dante's aura, right?~

^Felt obvious enough for me to not mention.^

^Fair enough.^

As for Dante's perspective, he didn't care about any of the aesthetic details as he was fully focused on the nature of Captain Gallop's existence.

Namely, the fact that Zhen Liu kept true to his word and showed him that he could indeed create a new form that was even better than his own.

[How...how were you able to absorb those three willingly into yourself? Why don't you look as I do? Why have their cores flawlessly combine into one new gestalt despite their individual traits still being present?!] Dante roared with a discordant chorus of indignation.

To these questions, Captain Gallop simply snorted in a manner that sounded similar to a prize winning stallion before providing an unsatisfactory answer.

Well, unsatisfactory to Dante at least.

[Can you truly not tell?] Captain Gallop asked in a rhetorical tone of voice as he got into a fighting stance. [I am a true fusion of the Admiral and the Gallop Brothers. A being born from the latter's brotherly bond, and the trust that they have with the Admiral. As such, they were able to combine their core desires of "Hope", "Freedom", and "Determination" into something even greater.]

[And what would that be?!] Dante asked, the indignation replaced by the purest fury.

Instigated by his own rage, Dante attempted to charge forward while tapping into Gumba's power and turning one of his arm into a giant hammer. Unfortunately for Dante, Captain Gallop was significantly faster and had positioned himself directly behind him.

[What the—?!]

Nobody was able to see how Captain Gallop had done it, but the kaijin warrior had actually combined the abilities of Depth Strider and Rail Horn to first sink into the ground by just a foot before creating a series of underground rails that perfectly positioned him behind Dante's shambling mess of a body.

During this process, Captain Gallop made sure to concentrate enough [Chaos] into his fist to cause the whole thing to glow.

[Perhaps we should take this fight to a grander stage. Sky-High Uppercut!]

POW!

[GAH!]

Before Dante could react to the fact that Captain Gallop was now behind him, the latter proceeded to slam an empowered fist directly into the former's jaw and literally knocked him out of the lower cavern, through the hole in the ceiling like something out of a cartoon.

While Dante was being sent flying, Captain Gallop briefly turned his attention towards the watching rebels and slaves in order to address them. Of course, he made sure to switch to a language they could understand first.

^Be sure to get to safety first before feeling free to keep your eyes on me. Captain's orders!^ Captain Gallop said while giving a thumbs up like he was a cheesy superhero.

Despite the cheesiness, though, several of the rebels had actually saluted out of instinct before answering in kind.

^Aye, aye, captain! Wait...why did I do that?^

^Good!^

With that warning out of the way, Captain Gallop proceeded to fly out of the hole and after Dante.

"Why did...ah, forget it! You guys heard the captain, get to moving and get everyone to safety!"

Now that they were left alone and given a form of more concrete hope, some of the rebels began to move the slaves that were injured or sick to someplace where they wouldn't get caught up in any future fall out. At least, that was the hope.

However, a surprisingly large amount of rebel warriors and slaves chose to try and get somewhere they could watch the ongoing battle. For reasons they couldn't exactly comprehend, they felt that they needed to watch this moment to the very end.

That they were going to see something that would ignite the fire in their souls and then some.

And in the case of one group of young warriors, it was a little more than that.

To be more precise, the Zhen Clan scions, Lyona, and Lythero had managed to regain consciousness while under the protection of Taurna, Antonio and Maggie.

And...well...it's better shown than told.

...

"Did...did our cousin just fuse with three horse-like kaijin and turn into a calvary captain?" Zhen Xing asked Zhen Tai.

"Yes, yes he did."

"Did...did we know he could do that?"

"No, that was something entirely new."

"Huh..."

While the Zhen Clan scions were busy mentally digesting that their cousin had grown in a new, explicable way, the rebel girls who were familiar with the true identities of the Gallop Brothers were busy settling their joyous and confused emotions.

^Big sis, those three kaijin that just showed up, the Gallop Brothers...they're actually the Gallum Brothers, right? They're our big bros?!^ Taurna asked Maggie, the joy and confusion being greater than anything she had ever felt up until now.

^I...I think it is them, yes,^ Maggie nodded with an oddly wistful voice. ^They look very different now, but I recognize Mahaa's aura anywhere. Although, it's a bit more...wild than before.^

^Wild is an understatement!^ Taurna laughed. ^He's an actual wild mustang now!^

^I think he's actually a shire horse,^ Maggie speculated. ^He was always a gentle, yet hard worker.^

^Oh, maybe! Lyona, what do you think?^

^...^

^Lyona?^

At this moment in time, the lion Bloodliner girl was staring up and out of the ceiling with an oddly bashful expression. In other words, she looked a bit like a maiden in love.

^Lyona, are you okay?^

^I...I think I understand why Nepherage said I would find her creator unexpectedly charming...^

^Huh?^