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

...Meanwhile, a pair of weird observers make their comments...

[Huh...I guess this is actually the time something different will occur for once,] Snatcher noted with a smile on their face. [It feels weird to be hopeful for our chances for once.]

[Agreed,] the box-sheep nodded. [But it's still important for our protagonist to stick the landing. Otherwise, this play will end in tragedy...again.]

[Hear hear.]

...

"Is...is this a dream or a nightmare?"

"Neither. This is just...what a battle between high-tiered warriors looks like."

The battle between Zhen Liu and Dante didn't end in a quick, decisive manner as they had both hoped.

Instead, it had become a bit of a slugfest.

A slugfest accompanied by explosive flashes of light, concussive sounds that echoed throughout the cavern, and vicious blows that would've killed the average aether warrior three to four times over.

Granted, that last little facet was due to Zhen Liu and Dante using mostly [Chaos] as opposed to aether when they finally engaged in battle in earnest.

Although, they both made use of the features that made aether warriors so deadly at their level.

[Hyrda's Frenzied Lashing!]

=Incoming whip strike!=

'I see it!'

Dante's whip-like [Astra] transformed into a collection of eight long serpents that began to surge towards Zhen Liu, with the purpose of ensnaring and envenoming the warrior from another land.

In order to counter the attack, Zhen Liu made use of [Senbazuru] and fired off eight paper patches that he transformed into origami eagles and decapitated the surging vipers in the process.

"Ha!"

This, however, turned out to be a bad idea.

<Wait a minute, didn't he say that his attack was related to hydras?>

"Fuck!"

True to the attack's namesake, the decapitated serpents had regenerated and doubled, making it so that Zhen Liu was now being chased by sixteen vicious snakes instead.

'Why do I have so much bad luck with snakes? This is like the third time I've almost been murdered by serpents!' Zhen Liu mentally cursed as he retracted his patches and opted to dodge the incoming attacks.

Well, not just dodge.

'Alright, new plan.'

Manipulating several more patches, Zhen Liu covered his feet with a pair of skates made of [Chaos]-enhanced paper. On top of that, Zhen Liu began to manifest temporary aether channels in his legs that were designed to facilitate the circulation of ice aether.

=Milord, what are you doing?= Logos asked out of pure confusion.

'Just watch,' Zhen Liu replied while mentally giddy about being able to live out a childhood fantasy of his.

Not that Dante could appreciate such whimsical thinking.

[Die already!]

The moment one of the hydra heads rushed towards Zhen Liu, the latter proceeded to dodge in such a way that the momentum caused him to spin in place and push him forward.

Riding this motion, Zhen Liu proceeded to slam his skates against the hydra's extended neck and create a thick layer of frost.

'And go!'

With the proper surface now in place, Zhen Liu proceeded to literally skate down the hydra's neck, much to Dante's utter confusion.

[What the fuck?!]

Due to the velocity at which Zhen Liu was skating down the hydra's neck, Zhen Liu didn't have to expend any energy in sticking to the bastard. Instead, he had to worry about accidentally making a wrong turn…and the commentary from Logos and Pathos in his head.

=Milord, wouldn't using normal roller skates work better in this situation?=

<Hell, wouldn't having Razorstella possess you work even better?>

'Technically yes, but she's still injured after her dust-up with that weird kaijin calling himself Oizys,' Zhen Liu replied while leaping off his current hydra path and riding down the neck of one that tried to bite him.

Thanks to his connection with his Kaijin being restored, Zhen Liu could once again feel the overall status of his loyal creations in a more granular manner. That stated, he could now could tell that the Kaijin that had faced off Oizys were actually much worse than how he initially thought.

The freaky tar man's attacks didn't do much external damage, but the internal damage they did was surprisingly severe.

If Razorstella and the others didn't have metaphysical [Cores] instead of those weird golden ones, it was very likely that they would've been slain.

'Speaking of, do you guys know what the fuck is up with that guy? He's been setting off my danger instincts worse than any other of this guy's kaijin.

<To be completely honest, we're lost too,> Pathos admitted.

=Our scanners are working fine, before you ask, but there's something…weird with the guy.=

'Fuck it, I'll explore that idea later. For now, let's just send Dante on his journey to the Inferno.'

<Boo!>

=Bad joke!=

'It was a reference at worst!'

After much skating, Zhen Liu eventually got to the source of the hydra whips and was now in kicking distance of Dante.

The false Kaijin Lord looked so surprised by Zhen Liu's actions that the latter could almost feel the blank stare of wide eyes being pointed in his direction.

[How the—why the hell did you do all that?!] Dante shouted in confusion.

[Because I wanted to,] Zhen Liu simply replied moments before launching his attack.

Once he was certain that he was close enough, Zhen Liu leaped off of the hydra whip and launched a flying kick into Dante's chest.

During the process, he manipulated the blades on his feet into becoming incredibly thick spikes in order to focus all the force behind into concentrated points.

Power dispersed is great for bruising, however, focused power is great for causing true damage.

[GRK!]

Which is why, when Zhen Liu's attack was about to make contact and puncture Dante's heart, the latter was actually forced to block with his arm.

The sound of crushed bone and blood splattering was enough for Zhen Liu to know that his attack was actually quite effective.

Unfortunately, this attack also left Zhen Liu in a somewhat vulnerable position.

<=Milord, look out!=>

'Oh, balls.'

Zhen Liu was in the process of retracting his legs and getting out of Dante's strike zone, but was a little too slow.

[You're going nowhere!]

Before Zhen Liu could retreat, Dante grabbed his legs with their other hand and prevented the former from escaping.

This, in turn, created an opportunity where Dante's Kaijin could follow up for their own attack.

[What are you waiting around for?! Get him!]

[Of course!]

[As you wish, master!]

'What the fuck? Where were they at this whole time?!'

Zhen Liu didn't know this due to keeping a close eye on Dante during all of the fighting, and getting slightly information overloaded by the Kaijin fighting by his side again, but Obsidious and Oizys had actually hidden themselves instead of fighting Blazejudicator and Nepherage.

The kaijins of [Hate] and [Despair] were ordered by their master to recover their energy and wait for an opportunity to attack at not their opposing Kaijin, but the enemy lord instead.

Evidently, they were quite thrilled at finally being able to do just that, as they hated waiting around without causing someone to suffer.

[Obsidian Hell Saw!]

[Tar Hammer!]

Making matters worse, the bastards even whipped out [Taboo] in order to make sure that Zhen Liu had received life threatening wounds.

Thankfully for him, he had a means of defending himself.

He just needed to be reminded of it.

'Oh, I am so fucked!'

=No, you're not, you just need to swap out Senbazuru with Alf Layla Wa Layla.=

'Oh, right!'

Following Logos's words, Zhen Liu dismissed his [Astra] and summoned his personal [Taboo] instead.

Immediately, Zhen Liu could feel the resistance on his feet giving away to relief, while his multipatterned scarf transformed into a cloak resembling a starry night sky.

[Misdirect!]

Twisting in Dante's grasp, Zhen Liu presented the cloak in the direction of the attacking kaijin and released a flash of light that was infused with [Chaos].

[Bah!]

[My eyes!]

Stupefying attacks such as this would normally never work against kaijin like Obsidious and Oizys, but that was only the case for light made with aether.

Due to the sudden case of temporary blindness, Obsidious and Oizys were forced to stop their attacks. Otherwise, there was a very real chance that they would hit their creator instead.

[Guh, my eyes!]

Speaking of him, Zhen Liu sudden light show caused Dante to flinch and cover his eyes, forcing him to release Zhen Liu in the process.

Now that he was free, Zhen Liu immediately got out of range of Dante, in case the man managed to recover sooner than anticipated and wanted to retaliate.

'Alright, I won that little exchange, but I definitely need to end this soon,' Zhen Liu mentally planned. 'I just need a little power boost in order to—'

[Milord!]

[Are you alright, Executor?]

'Perfect timing!'

Just as Zhen Liu was trying to figure out his next move, he found himself being joined up by Blazejudicator and Nepherage.

A little past them, Zhen Liu could see the injured forms of most, if not all of Dante's lesser kaijin.

'Excellent work guys...ready to bring an end to this?'

[Of course!]

[Ready, Executor.]