NOVPUB’Question. How intertwined are these grafted-on parts? Could we just take a scalpel and slice them off?’
=To be completely honest...not sure.=
<This is the first time we’ve seen grafting like this. Mortal turned abomination sure, but this is more...advanced.>
’So, we won’t know unless we get them under a microscope back at the library?’
<=More or less.=>
’Great...wait, y’all are unfathomably ancient and have been involved with all sorts of Kaijin Lords, how has this not happen before?’
<=Most kaijin don’t leave a corpse, we have irregular activation schedules and we are limited to what books or knowledge any active user collects during their tenure.=>
’I...that makes sense. That makes sense.’
=Exactly.=
<Anyways, who are you going to be using to dig into the brain of these guys? Just gonna let one do all the work or...>
’Gonna try something.’
...
Over the course of these interrogation/interviews with the Grafted warriors, one thing became increasingly clear to Zhen Xun Tian and Cornileus.
"Tell us about the guy who gave you those body parts and we’ll-"
"Fuck you, no."
"Didn’t even get to finish making the offer, wow!"
Gao Kan, Gao Dau and Gao Su were the loyal to a fault type of warriors. In other words, in another timeline, they would be the type of soldiers who would never crack and simply repeat their dogtag information regardless of the type of torture they received or the type of bribery they were offered.
It was an admirable trait to be sure...but also incredibly frustrating to deal with. Evidently, this might’ve been the reason why they were suggested to go diplomatic before resorting to torture.
"Well, this is clearly a waste of our time."
"Agreed."
"If I had known that we were going to be extracting information from people, I would’ve brought along some anima wielders," Zhen Xun Tian complained while mentally going over the roster of warriors she brought with her. "Then again, I’m not entirely sure if we can use them on Grafted warriors..."
"Probably not,", Cornileus guessed. "Whenever an anima wielder pokes into the mind of a Kaijin, there’s a ten percent chance that they’ll go absolutely mad. That same logic might apply to these guys who are only partially kaijin."
"Ah."
"..."
"..."
"Get the kaijin?"
"Get the kaijin."
Realizing at this point that their words weren’t going to be useful at this point, they finally decided to let the monsters handle the rest.
...
’Alright. Show time. Screamira, Razorstella, Nepherage. Y’all ready?’
[Anytime, Director.]
[As you wish, Producer.]
[Of course, my Lord.]
[D’awww, why do they get to have all the fun?]
[I think it’s because we fought them before.]
[Boo~.]
...
After deciding to let someone else handle this next part, Cornilues and Zhen Xun Tian left the Grafted prisoners to their own devices in their respective holding cells.
Physically, they were isolated from one another. However, they were still be able to exchange words with one another.
"You really think they’ve given up?"
"Doubtful. They’re probably going to find an anima wielder to poke at our minds."
"I’d like to see them try. Anyone who tries to get into this head of mine is going to end up-"
Bam!
"Huh? Who the fuck is -wait...what the fuck am I sensing"
With a surprising amount of force, the door to the holding cells were flung open, allowing a majestic yet devious aura to pour in and mess with the senses of the three Grafted warriors.
In that instant, they were reminded of their shared insect-like benefactor but the sensations were significantly more...raw.
If they feeling from Buzza was equivalent to the fear one would feel when facing a swarm of giant hornets, this new aura was equivalent to the feeling one might get when starring down a swarm of prehistoric giant insects.
Granted, the source of this aura didn’t look the part.
Shortly after the door had been flung open and the aforementioned aura had successfully unnerved the Grafted warriors, a young man dressed in concealing black robes entered the room.
The Grafted couldn’t even see the man’s expression as he was wearing a mask, but the way he spoke was enough for them to know that he wasn’t going to be very lenient with them.
"Hello there, my dear graverobbers," the robed man said in an altered voice."Good to see that you’re as lively as I’ve heard from the others. Makes what’s coming next all the more enjoyable."
"What’s coming next?"
"Enjoyable?"
"Wait a minute," Gao Dau piped up. "Aren’t you..."
"Yes, I am, Gao Dau. I am the Kaijin Lord that you fought in the tomb of my predecessor, in the flesh," the Kaijin Lord said with an exaggerated tone of voice and a bow. "I know I look a touch smaller than you remember, but that’s because I am here not in a martial capacity. I am here for intelligence."
"Intelligence?"
"Pst! Good luck with that!," Gao Kan mocked. "We didn’t say shit to that Imperial dog and her bitch, and were not going to say shit to some weirdo like-"
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Before any words of protest could be thrown his way, the Kaijin Lord proceeded to produce a strange looking tool and blasted all three of the Grafted prisoners one after the other.
"Gah!"
"Bah!"
"Grrrrr!"
The effects were immediate as all three of the imprisoned warriors doubled over due to the kaijin being forcefully shoved into their skulls.
"Mouths can lie, minds can be tricked but the soul is always honest," the Kaijin Lord mused. "Oooh, I should write that down somewhere."
...
’AAAAAAAGHHHH!’
’MY HEAD!’
’GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!’
<Well...that’s a new reaction.>
=Indeed. But I think we can mark this as to what might happen when someone gets possessed by two kaijin at once. Well, what happens when that someone isn’t the Kaijin Lord.=
<True.>
In the control room of the [Library of Nowhere], Logos and Pathos were keep track of the progress of Nepherage, Screamira and Razorstella as they began to dig into the memories of the Grafted warriors. However, the process wasn’t exactly smooth this time around.
<Man, I didn’t know [Chaos] interference could be this bad. Is this because of those parts or something else?>
=Maybe the installation process included something more than what’s on the surface.=
<Maybe.>
This was the first time any of the Kaijin had ever had to try and possess someone who also had Kaijin power.
It was known fact that Kaijin couldn’t possess other Kaijin and that whenever they possessed mortals, they would need to swap out on who was in charge at any one time, with the exception being the Kaijin Lord.
Regardless of the strangeness of this moment though, it didn’t stop the two spirits from being able to assist their Kaijin wards in-
<Hold up, something’s weird.>
=Are you referring to the surge in similar desires in all three of them or the rise in [Chaos]?=
<Both. Why are the energy readings on these Grafted guys reading like they’re going to...uh oh!>
...
<=Nepherage, Razorstella, Screamira! Haul ass from there, now!=>
"For the Glory of the Fallen!"*3
"Wait, what?"
[We gotta bail!]
[Move, move, move!]
[Go!]
[Executor, get down!]
Before Zhen Liu could fully comprehend what was going on, all three of the Kaijin he had just sent out, simultaneously turned back into balls of energy and retreated into Zhen Liu’s being. At the same time, Blazejudicator summoned a shield of flames that encapsulated his person.
’What the f-’
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
’Holy shit!’
One after the other, all three of the Grafted Warriors self-destructed as if their bones were made of dynamite, releasing a huge wave of force and bone shrapnel that scattered everywhere.
The cells were still in-tact due to their construction, but the aformentioned sharpnel had almost perforated Zhen Liu like he was a wild boar in the forest of a hunting noble.
Thankfully, Blazejudicator’s fire shield managed to reduce the sharpnel into harmless pile of bone ash.
Once the explosion had died down, Zhen Liu had Blazejudicator dismiss the shield so he could see what had just transpired.
"What the fuck was that?!"
"What hap-WHOA!"
Needless to say, Cornilues and Zhen Xun Tian had decided to investigate once they heard the explosions.
They were all set to ask Zhen Liu about what had occurred, until they noticed he had the same stupefied expression as they did.
Ergo, they decided to change their question from "what did you do" to "What happened?"
To which Zhen Liu replied with the following, after being informed about the details from Logos and Pathos.
"The Kaijin were just about to get to the memories about who exactly gave them the parts and how they did it, but it triggered a failsafe in response. It caused their desires to overpower their self-preservation instincts and...well... you’re smelling them."
It was in this moment, Zhen Liu was reminded of the terror of blind devotion...or whatever the fuck this was.
________________________________________
*Bing-Bong*
|There it is.|
What the fuck man?!
|Let it be a life lesson. If a deal sounds too good, check for seams.|
I...I really don’t think that’s the lesson...
*Bing-Bong*
