Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?

[Wait, milord. Allow me.]

'Huh? What are you…"

Before Zhen Liu could finish his question and waste precious time, Nepherage had taken this as an opportunity to separate herself from her charge and go over to the Voyager-1 probe, which was still somewhat submerged in mud.

Using her abilities, she willed the liquefied earth to harden and levitate, allowing her to carry the Voyager-1 Probe behind her.

[This way we don't have to worry about accidentally losing to a cave-in or worse.]

'Brilliant!'

Buoyed by this moment of cleverness, Zhen Liu proceeded to go towards the source of the crashing sound in order to determine its origins.

Unfortunately, what he was about to see was going to cause him to freak the hell out.

"OH COME THE FUCK ON!"

...Wait, what got Zhen Liu all freaked out? ...

Despite the collective carpet bombing, after both the rebels and the kaijin managed to collect their breaths and slightly recover, they proceeded to go back to fighting one another.

However, this was probably the worst idea possible for either side.

Why?

Dante's deliberate bombings had severely damaged and weakened the ground in the main cavern, to the point that massive holes were now pockmarking the terrain.

This wouldn't have been an issue if there was nothing but several dozen feet of stone and dirt beneath them, but that wasn't the case.

The entire main cavern was actually separated from the old main cavern, a place that was used for years up until the last rebellion happened, by about eight feet of solid stone.

Now, eight feet of solid stone, especially ones made to hold aether minerals, was usually strong enough to deter most attackers, explosives, and pests at the Aether Grandmaster and below, and Aether Lords too if that stone was reinforced with cursed energy...like in the [Mines of Malevolence].

However, if the unthinkable were to happen and a breach were to occur not just in one place but in multiple places simultaneously, then any additional stress could very well collapse the ground and lead to a catastrophe.

Unfortunately, the only ones who were aware of this possibility were Maggie, Taurna, Lythero, and Antonio. In other words, a group of warriors that could technically get people to listen to them outside of battle, but not during.

Especially when the Kaijin and zakos were making things absolutely impossible for any orders to be given.

That stated, it didn't stop the group from attempting to at least try and call for a retreat.

^Alright, who do we even try to convince to retreat first?^ Antonio asked. ^In battles like this, people tend to listen to the most powerful fighters for the sake of survival.^

^We can't do that,^ Taurna immediately shut down. ^None of us got the capital to get those prideful bastards to listen to us. Hell, they begrudgingly listen to the Zhen Clan scions and Lyona because they can wield [Chaos] better than the kaijin.^

^Then what about just convincing everyone else?^ Lythero suggested. ^The crowd effect has a tendency to pressure people into moving in certain ways.^

^That's not wrong,^ Maggie admitted. ^But it also makes them more vulnerable for follow-up attacks from the enemy—^

OMINOUS CRACKING NOISE!

^Shit.^

Unfortunately, before the group could go about and warn the others of the impending disaster, it was far too late.

^Die, you—oof! What the hell?^

The ground beneath the fighting warriors had begun to crack and stick up in ways that messed with the footing of some of the aforementioned combatants.

Making it worse, several of them could see through the forming crevices and directly into the cavern beneath them.

The cavern that was hiding their friends and family in relative safety.

Needless to say, panic began to sink into these perceptive fighters.

Not fear for their own lives, though.

They were afraid for the lives of the ones they cared about.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

<<We have to get someone to stabilize the ground before->>

CRACK

^Damnit, NO!^

Without being able to do even the slightest action to change the outcome, everyone in the main cavern began to free-fall down with the floor into the old, lower caverns.

Much to the surprise and shock of several dozen non-combatant slaves…who were about to get crushed to death like a bunch of little ants.

…Now back to our protagonist…

'Oh…fuck. Where are the others?!'

[Busy fighting Dante and his fucktwat knights.]

'SHIT!'

The moment Zhen Liu had entered what he surmised to be the main cavern of the old part of the mines, panic rocked through his mind, body and soul.

The floor of the main cavern, where all the fighting was happening, had fully collapsed at this point, and chunks of stone began to fall like damned rain.

Mixed amongst the rubble, Zhen Liu could see flailing rebels, confused zakos, and multiple kaijin with annoyed looks on their faces.

And staring up at all these falling, flailing fools was a whole mess of slaves that had no business being involved in this battle.

Zhen Liu's current position was a bit too far where the problem area was going to be, and he wasn't fast enough in his current state to do anything preventative.

Not only that, but all of the kaijin that could probably assist with this moment were busy fighting Dante and his [Demon Knights]

In a moment, this aforementioned group was going to be nothing but pancakes.

At least, it was supposed to take a moment.

'Oh no, oh no, oh… wait a minute… what?'

Falling from on high to the ground should've taken mere seconds in reality, but for some reason, from Zhen Liu's perspective, it looked like it was going to take hours.

To be more precise, Zhen Liu was now under the feeling as if everything was moving at a snail's pace.

'What the hell…wait…'

And oddly enough, Zhen Liu knew the reason why.

No, not "knew."

Feel.

'So the [Chaos] that normally gives me my absurd strength is now affecting my perception of time and thinking ability… why the fuck did it kick in now, though?'

Awhile back, Zhen Liu once asked Logos and Pathos why he was stupidly strong despite not using any aether or [Chaos] to enhance his muscles or anything like that.

Evidently, that question was based on faulty information, and the answer was that his strength was due to [Chaos]; more specifically, it was a perk of the [Chaos Body Forge] formula.

When not being actively used to enhance specific body parts or used to make channels, the [Chaos] in Zhen Liu's body would actually settle in the muscle, skin, and nerves of Zhen Liu's body.

Supposedly, this meant that Zhen Liu could redirect these unconscious enhancements to other parts of his body to strengthen their inherent functions. However, whenever Zhen Liu attempted to practice this enhancement function, it would just be the standard [Chaos] enhancement.

But now, with a major disaster about to unfold before him and having no kaijin to act as his fixers, something in Zhen Liu's brain finally clicked.

'Looks like the [Chaos] in my veins decided to reroute to my brain or something like that...[Chaos]-infused adrenaline at its finest, I guess? Gods, I hope I remember how to do this after this moment.'

Either way, Zhen Liu's brain was now thinking fast enough to the point that time itself seemed to slow down.

'Alright, looks while I can think faster, my ability to move isn't as fast...on the plus side, I'm able to calculate the time it would take me to fail in rushing in and throwing up a massive shield,' Zhen Liu sardonically chuckled. 'Alright, this is clear a body problem. I need more kaijin. Good thing I have—WHOA!'

Turning his attention towards the Voyager-1 probe, Zhen Liu could now see it was glowing with a weird aura that he had never seen before now, but could feel instinctually that it was something that he was quite familiar with.

Sort of.

'This aura...is this the potential power of the material for a Kaijin? Now I can see it?!'

For as long as Zhen Liu knew Logos and Pathos, he had asked for a way to determine the potency of a kaijin's material that was a bit more academic beyond gut feeling.

All he was told at the time was that they had no method to do so, and that every lord eventually figured it out for themselves.

Evidently, this was that moment.

Surrounding the Voyager-1 probe was a dark gold aura that felt dense with [Hope], a clear indicator to Zhen Liu that the material was so powerful that whatever [Core] he slotted in would be supercharged.

'Alright, this confirms to me that this is the perfect vessel for my next Kaijin. And will probably be able to fix whatever is...hold on...what's that?'

Before Zhen Liu could go through with his decision, an entirely different aura caught his eye.

One that seemed usually wild...and strangely chimeric.

'What the hell?'