Tragedy has a tendency to strike when you least expect it...unless it was planned by someone else. Then, itâs just cruelty.
-The musings of a philosopher, who ruined his rivalâs life.
...
"Seriously, what are they doing up there?"
"I donât know, but I donât like it..."
As Gumba and Oizys floated above the rebel warriors, they brought their palms together and began to channel their [Chaos] in the space that was between them.
The two energies then began to combine and condense into a more liquid form, once again forming into that weird tar that Dante had used earlier.
However, the property of this newly formed tar seemed simultaneously more viscous and liquid all at once.
In the eyes of a certain Otherlander, they were reminded of a substance they played with as a child called oobleck.
"Uh oh..."
Once a decent amount of this new, gooey substance had formed, Gumba and Oizys proceeded to pour it down on the rebel warriors and their loved ones below.
And thatâs when the true sadism of Oizysâs plan began to reveal itself.
"Huh?"
"What just fell on me?"
At first, not many people reacted to the sudden downpour of strange liquid. Emotional outbursts have a tendency to make people forget or neglect things such as sudden changes in the environment.
However, as this sticky black rain continued to pour down, down, down upon the rebels below, they soon began to notice.
Especially when they noticed the liquid seemed to fall everywhere, but on the people themselves.
Oddly, this included the people who were more or less left laying on the ground.
"Eww. What is this stuff?"
"Why does it feel so...sticky?"
The pitch black liquid first covered the ground and began to pool in such a way that everyoneâs feet became slightly submerged.
Whether a person was barefooted or wearing shoes, it didnât matter, they were all subjected to this sticky substance that was making it increasingly harder and harder for them to take even the lightest of steps.
Once the tar started rising past their feet and touch their ankles, thatâs when the real panic started to sink in.
"Oh no...oh no!"
"These sadistic fucks...I think theyâre trying to bury us!"
"Donât you mean drown?"
"Shut the fuck up, weâre about to die!"
"I canât move my leg. I canât move my leg!"
"Cycle your energy! Fly!"
Some of the more powerful warriors in the rebel army attempted to circulate aether and [Chaos] to escape the tar and achieved varying results.
The ones using just the former ended up being unable to do anything due to the [Chaos]-infused tar negating any aether abilities, while the ones using the latter could barely extract themselves from the growing tar pool.
"Phew! Managed toâ"
BAM!
"HUH?!"
Unfortunately, they werenât able to stay out for too long.
The kaijin that were floating alongside Gumba and Oizys werenât there just to look pretty; they were crowd control.
Whenever one of the rebels attempted to fly out of the pit, they would immediately launch bursts of [Chaos] and aether that knocked them out of the air and sent them tumbling back into the pit below.
None of the knocked-down warriors ended up in a situation where they landed back into the pit in an awkward position, but they definitely ended up in situations where the tar was about to reach places it shouldnât.
Eventually, once this knockdown event occurred about a dozen times, the rebels stopped attempting to escape their sticky pit.
Instead, they started worrying about how they were going to survive what was about to come next.
"Mommy, the tar is starting to cover my waist!"
"Donât worry, baby; mama is going to pick you up now and keep the tar off of you."
"Big brother, what is this stuff? I canât move my legs."
"I donât know, Sammie, but Iâm going to protect you. Donât worry."
"This stuff is starting to get a little high for my liking..."
"Point your face to the sky. That way, you can at least keep the tar out of your mouth and nostrils."
The level of tar in the pit kept rising and rising, to the point that it had reached a depth of about two feet.
Now, this depth wasnât enough to drown the rebel army in black tar, but it was enough to limit their ability to move by a massive degree.
A majority of the entrapped rebels and slaves were simply annoyed and a little freaked out over the idea of being trapped like this.
However, there was still a sizeable number of warriors who understood that this was just a prologue to something much worse.
... What else could they do?! ...
[Okay, thatâs enough tar and mud. Gumba, you can stop now.]
[Awww, I wanted to drown them...]
Following Oizyâs lead, Gumba stopped channeling [Chaos] and put a stopper to the muddy [Chaos] flowing out of his hands.
[Well... I had my doubts, but now I see what you were thinking,] Obsidious commented. [How cruel.]
[Thank you.]
When Oizys and Gumba started flooding the pit below them, Danteâs kaijin had their doubts evident on their faces.
They had thought all of this tar was unnecessary pageantry, but the longer they watched the rebels struggle and freak out, the more they understood why Oizys did what he did.
By simply trapping the rebels in the mud-tar mixture, they had managed to inflame a very different type of despair that stemmed from an emotion they were never able to stir up before.
Hope.
Despair and pain originating from hope and despair and pain orginating from hopelessness felt very different to the senses of the kaijin.
The former felt warm like a freshly steamed bun, while the latter was refreshing like frozen juice.
Both were quite nice, but Danteâs kaijin were suffering from ice cream headaches at this point in time, and they needed something a little more warm.
As such, they couldnât help but ask Oizys about whether or not they were going to take advantage of this moment.
[Now are we going to punish these slaves?]
[Screw punishment, we want executions!]
[Patience you rowdy monsters, patience,] Oizys ordered the lesser kaijin. [If youâre going to inflict maximum pain, then you need to be more selective with your targets. For example, whose brain should I blow out?]
As he posed this question, Oizys aimed a pair of fingers down towards the pit, lazily aiming them at multiple possible targets.
[Should we aim at the father holding his two little brats in his arms, trying to keep them from suffocating under the weight of the tar? What about the lovers who promised to marry each other once this war ended?] Oizys asked, the casual tone of his voice making it sound as if he was picking out a chunk of meat for dead.
[No, how about we separate the siblings that had just reunited,] Oizys eventually settled as he aimed his fingers at a pair of brothers, deciding whether to aim for the older or younger sibling.
[Eenie, meanie, minee, moe, whoâs going to watch the other go...you!]
And with that declaration, Oizys fired off a shot of concentrated [Chaos].
... An unfolding tragedy...
When the tar finally stopped rising, the trapped rebels and slaves immediately began to try to either escape or bring comfort to own another.
"Fucking hell, this tar is deep! How the hell are we going to get out of here."
"I donât know..."
"Hey, keep it down over there! Iâm trying to comfort my kid here!"
Amongst these voices, though, a pair of brothers were busy having an emotional moment. One that had been in the making for quite some time.
"Sammie, are you truly back? Are you feeling okay?" Kyle asked, the hope in his heart creeping into his voice.
"I am, big brother. I am," Sam answered with childish courage. "For a really long time, I felt like I was in a fog. But I never got lost for some reason...but now I know why! Because you were there to guide me! Thank you, big brother. Thank you!"
"Sam..."
As the brothers continued to have this lovely heart to heart, they had done so unaware that tragedy was just about to strike.
In a few seconds, a projectile made of [Chaos] was about to go through Kyleâs skull and splatter his brains all over his little brother Sam.
This moment would then go on to scar the young boy for the rest of his short life, as the sight and sounds of his brotherâs death would drive him into madness and then suiâ
...FUCK THAT!...
"Oh no, you fucking donât! [CHAOS], REVERSE!"
BANG!
"Bwah!"
Before a projectile of [Chaos] turned Kyleâs grey matter into a grey splatter, Zhen Liu had moved in ahead of time and proceeded to use the [Veteranâs Bone Club] to knock the attack away.
Not just away, though.
Having been sickened by the way Danteâs Kaijin were acting, Zhen Liu made sure to launch the attack directly back in Oizysâs direction.
"EAT THAT, MOTHER FUCKER!"