The [Mines of Malevolence] were no more.

Without Dante and his Kaijin oppressing all of the slaves, broken and unbroken, they now had the chance to take their lives back into their own hands and do...whatever they wanted.

After all, many of these slaves weren't sent here because they were good assets. Rather, they had all manner of reasons to be sent here.

Some were sent here because they were politically heavy figures that needed to be removed for sake of the grand ambition of others.

"Finally, this nightmare is over...now I need to figure out who betrayed and tried to kill me in such an undignified manner."

^Kinkakano, once I get my hands on you, vengeance shall be mine.^

Time to reclaim my birthright...

Others were sent here to die and be someone else's problem in the process.

These slaves were usually terminally ill or has become horribly crippled due to one unforeseen accident or another.

However, thanks to some unusual intervention, these condemned were given a second chance to live...and had no idea what to do with this second chance at life.

"My sores are gone, my skin is clear, but I have no family to go back to...now what do I do?"

^I used to have a farm, but that got burned down when I was enslaved...I don't think I can go back to that.^

~I mean...the mines are still a viable option. It's just under new management.~

"That...is a very good point."

An even stranger group that had to readjust to their new lives of freedom, though, were the imprisoned rebel warriors from the last rebellion.

After the Gallop Brothers were executed, many of their martial allies were sealed away as opposed to being sent to their deaths for the sole purpose of being used as materials for Dante's Kaijin.

As such, they were forced to spend decades living through unending nightmares that would destroy weaker minds and render the victim a drooling vegetable…at best.

Thankfully, these warriors were made of sterner stuff… granted, they were still bitter from their experience.

"What…what did you guys see while you were in those cocoons?"

"Hell."

"The face of my parents as they were being murdered over and over again."

"My wife cheating on me…with my brothers and sisters...again."

"Holy—wait, what?"

^The fuck?^

Out of all of these new beginnings, though, there was one group of people turned monsters that were having the trickiest time in readjusting.

Especially since they had been dead for at least a decade.

...I wonder who that group of people is...

"Hey, are you sure we shouldn't bring in Zhen Liu for medical treatment? He is...weirdly unresponsive..." Zhen Xing asked with a worried tone as he poked his unconscious cousin in the face.

[Our connection with him informs us of his status,] Razorstella assured the Zhen Clan scions as she fulfilled her duty as watchmen for the day. [He's fine, just exhausted.]

"Okay..."

"To be fair, he did create three new Kaijin, somehow fused with them, broke through to becoming an Aether Lord, and finally killed that other Kaijin Lord all in the span of...I think an hour?" Zhen Tai justified after coming in to the room with food for himself and his cousin. "The fact that all he needs after all of that is a few days of sleeping is honestly the more impressive part."

"Fair..."

A little bit after Zhen Liu had won his fight and floated back down to the ground with the Gallop Brothers in tow, he passed out.

It didn't take too long after that for the aforementioned brothers to reunite Zhen Liu with the rest of his group, i.e., his cousins, his friends, and a certain group of young women who had a vested interest in the Gallop Brothers.

There were initial cries of alarm over Zhen Liu's unconscious state, but those were resolved once Nepherage and Blazejudicator showed up and explained that their shared Lord/creator was fine, he just needed to rest for a few days.

The Gallop Brothers should've technically been the ones to confirm this, but they were a little shocked and overwhelmed by the sudden question bombardment...combined with the awkward presence of some people that they were family with.

Either way, finding a place for Zhen Liu to rest was surprisingly easy since they had already cleared out the biggest malefactor in the area.

Literally, the Kaijin and Zhen Liu's mortal allies just took over Dante's domicile for the time being and used his bedroom as a place for Zhen Liu to recover while they took care of the fallout of the sudden upheaval.

Which took a couple of days, to say the least.

Thankfully, the Kaijin had the brain power of the curator spirits to figure out that logistical nightmare.

And since the most overqualified beings in existence were taking care of the boring yet important logistical stuff, this meant that the Zhen Clan scions could ask about the more entertaining stuff.

Namely, how the Gallop Brothers were adjusting to their new lives.

"You know, I can't help but feel like we're just sort of glossing over the fact that Zhen Liu can bring the dead back to life like it's nothing," Zhen Xing pointed out to his cousin and Razorstella while they were eating. "Like, I know certain super experts can do it, that there are several treasures in legend that can do it, and certain ancient rituals, but still!"

"In fairness to our cousin, I think I remember the Kaijin saying something about how only under extreme or unusual circumstances that someone can be brought back as a Kaijin, is that right?" Zhen Tai replied while directing the question towards Razorstella.

[Yeah, not everybody can be brought back from the dead. Those who die peaceful deaths or fulfilled tend to refuse the call for revival,] Razorstella plainly answered. [Only those with unfulfilled desires or very strong emotional connections to the material realm are more willing to agree. Even then, it's not all cracked up to be.]

"That...makes sense," Zhen Xing slowly nodded in understanding. "Wait, does that mean our grandmother wouldn't take the deal to come back?"

[Maybe, but I don't know your grandma.]

"Fair enough."

"Wait," Zhen Tai interjected. "Why isn't coming back from the dead a good thing?"

[Because the reincarnated will be basically mentally picking up right when they checked out of life. So depending on how they died, and whether or not they left someone behind in the process, you can imagine the awkward interactions.]

"Is...is that why Depth Strider has been avoiding Maggie like the plague?"

[Yup. In fact, he has just been cornered.]

"Oh shit."

[Wanna listen?]

"...yes."

...Okay, now for the juicy stuff...

[RAIL HORN, PEGASOAR, YOU TRAITORS!]

[Sorry, big brother.]

[It's for your own good, we swear!]

^Keep his arms steady!^

^Bah! It's like lifting a horse!^

[Hey, I am one!]

In a private part of the mines, a rather unusual sight was playing out.

Depth Strider, the six foot something equine warrior with deep blue armored plates built into his skin, was being forcefully moved by his two younger brother, Rail Horn and Pegasoar, and two adoptive sisters, Lyona and Taurna.1

More specifically, the brothers were keeping his arms locked while the sisters were making sure he wasn't able to kick around and escape.

The reason for this barbaric capturing was actually quite noble, at least from their perspective.

Shortly after their victory, the Gallop Brothers had revealed to Zhen Liu's inner circle that they were indeed the formerly deceased Gallum Brothers.

Now, for the most part, this was an emotionally powerful moment and reunion between the brothers and their adoptive sisters. However, there was one interaction that was noticeably absent during that first meeting: Depth Strider and Maggie.

Depth Strider was, and technically still is, Maggie's lover.

In the time since Mahaa's original death, Maggie had been faithful.

She hasn't taken on any new lovers, despite having the right to do so, because there was no one in existence that could ever measure up to Mahaa.

But now, he was back...technically.

As such, many people who knew about this history assumed that there would be an emotional reunion and an overwhelming romantic tension.

Instead, when they finally met face to face, Depth Strider ran away like a bitch.

The other Gallop Brothers could confirm that he had done so not out of malice but nervousness, thanks to their mental connection, but...that was a cold comfort at best.

This behavior maintained itself for several days, Depth Strider literally bailing whenever Maggie was in eyeshot, until the other two Gallop Brothers and Maggie's younger blood sisters had enough.

Ergo, they took the drastic action of kidnapping the Kaijin and dragging his ass to a specialized cavern that was to be guarded by Springerdermain and Screamira.

[Why are you two helping?!]

[Boredom, mostly,] Springerdermain admitted.

[Referencing for a friend.]

[What the fuck does that mean?!]

So, random fact. I had initially pen these two to be gladiators that would become the MCs lovers. Evidently, that plotline didn't pan out.