Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1499: Fighting with a Handicap...technically.

Someone once said that a swordmaster without their sword is like a flightless bird... I’m ninety percent sure that guy had never seen an ostrich or a penguin before.

-The words of a swordmaster that learned to turn anything into a sword.

...I wonder why the opening quote pertains to weapons...

’Okay, my win condition is to either rescue or wake up Alicia and Bellona. Beating these guys is just extra. I’ve fought worse odds before...right?’ Lythero asked himself before tossing several metal marbles to the side and bringing his full attention to the battle before him.

This battle was going to be the first in a long time that Lythero had to fight without the assistance of his masters’ swords. While this could be considered a moment of growth, it could also be considered a worst-case scenario.

Especially since he was obviously outnumbered but only possibly outmatched.

Not that Lythero had a chance to actually sense just how fucked his current situation was.

[Smashing Iron Fist!]

Not wanting to give Lythero a chance to attack back or even have a chance to fully assess the situation, one of the Redoxa Aether Grandmasters charged ahead of his fellow warriors to launch an aether-enhanced fist at Lythero’s face.

The warrior’s fist shone like polished iron under the sun, but even an average bystander could sense that the power behind it was enough to punch a hole through steel door.

In response to this clearly merciless strike,though, Lythero didn’t move. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

At least, that’s how it looked to his attackers...

^Die!^

SWISH!

^Wait, what?

...up until Lythero disappeared like a ghost as soon as the iron fist went through his skull.

[Trickster’s Fang Copy!]

^Where did you-?!^

[Rising Dawn Strike!]

Immediately after the illusionary copy had its skull caved in, the real Lythero appeared directly above the attacking warrior’s head. And before the aformentioned Redoxa warrior could even curse Lythero out for his sudden appearance, the latter proceeded to perform a circular slash with a kukri-shaped [Astra].

The angle in which Lythero attacked, though, meant that it wouldn’t lead to a decapitation strike. Instead, it would lead to him slicing through the bottom of the warriors jaw and all the way up to the bottom of his opponent’s brain.

Well, if he was using a straight blade or a saber.

Due to the kukri’s curved designed, the blade ended up notching itself in the [Regalia] of Lythero’s current opponent. As such, instead of slicing through and leaving a nasty wound on his opponent’s face, Lythero ended up accidentally throwing the poor bastard forward with his momentum.

Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Following closely behind the iron-fisted Aether Grandmaster, two other ones were about to crash into Lythero as a follow-up.

[Black Acid Palm!]

[Cyan Finger Spear!]

’Oh shit.’

In the split second that decided whether or not he was going to get stabbed by a set of fingers moving at speeds fast enough to cause lighting sparks, or get smacked by a palm of dripping black acid that seemed to melt the very cobblestone, Lythero chose to deal with the latter by throwing the bastard he caught on the kukri into him.

Unfortunately, he only managed to throw him in such a way that attack only fizzled out as opposed to hitting someone else.

On top of that, the warrior about to impale him with the [Cyan Finger Spear] was about to make contact.

’No big deal, I just need to...wait, right, fuck!’

And it was in that moment, Lythero remembered that he had only one sword at his disposal.

His original plan to counter this second attack was to make use of Master Tortoise’s [Black Iron Slab] to knock away the opponent while using the copied version of the [Trickster’s Fang Pack Kukri] to disappear.

Lythero had committed his movements to this usual plan of counterattacking, so much so that he ended up swinging his other arm like he was still holding the [Black Iron Slab].

This allowed Lythero to narrowly Dodge the incoming strike, but it also threw him of his balance and forced him to use his current copied blade to try and disappear.

Emphasis on the word, "try".

^Well, isn’t this fortuitous. Looks like I’m your worst match up possible. Zarken, aim your attacks three feet to your left.^

^As you command!^

[Sequoia Splitting Kick!]

BANG!

^Grk!^

Thanks to his instincts as a warrior, Lythero was able to block the incoming kick at the very last second by transforming his blade into a copy of the [Black Iron Slab] he didn’t have anymore.

However, the kick to the blade was still strong enough to send shockwaves through it and shake up his internals.

If he hadn’t blocked and donned his [Regalia], the attack would’ve been strong enough to pulverize his ribs and liquefy his intestines

^Interesting! So that [Astra] of yours has multiple forms! Yet the way you move seems to suggest you’re used to using two blades. How curious.^

’Of course the enemy Aether Lord was going to be the biggest pain in my ass,’ Lythero grumbled as he ignored the guy who had just kicked him several feet backwards in favor of the bastard who directed the attack in the first place.

The Aether Lord in question, and the guy who was obviously the leader, was a thin bastard whose [Regalia] made him looked like the bastardization of one of those noble scholars from Roaring Tide.

Crowning this ensemble, Lythero could see a weird third eye embedded in the man’s forehead. A quick sweep with his senses confirmed this eye was the enemy Lord’s [Astra].

^I can see you’re trying to determine what this eye of mine does, so allow me to elucidate. My name is Convad Redoxa and my [Astra] is known as the [Eye of Truesight]. With its power, I can not only serve as a master strategist and direct my subordinates on how to best take down their opponents, but I can also use it for myself to accurately assess your weak points.^

While making these statements, Convad produced a bow and arrow from thin air and prepared to fire it at Lythero.

^For example, that big sword of yours makes you vulnerable to attacks like this. Zarken, charge in!^

^At once!^

[Oaken Hammer!]

[Crescent Arrow]!

Following Convad’s orders, Zarken proceeded to charge forward like an angry bull while charging up his fists with enough wood-aligned aether to turn them into giant wooden constructs.

At the same time, Convad fired off an arrow wrapped in aether directly at Lythero, despite one of his aforementioned subordinates being directly in the line of fire.

’That has to be a trick.’

VWIP!

’I HATE THAT I CALLED IT!’

The arrow flew in a straight line up until it had reached the halfway point of its travel distance. Once there, the aether infused in the arrow caused the projectile to suddenly move in an arc-like pattern and position itself in a way that it would hit Lythero directly in the back.

’And I can only block one...’

Under normal circumstances, Lythero would’ve just blocked both attacks with his [Astra] and one of the swords belonging to his masters.

However, since he only had the one sword, Lythero decided to take a page out of the slapdash book that Zhen Liu and the kaijin use when they get into a fight.

’Fuck it, reckless rampaging it is.’

Lythero had a small gap in time that could be used before he got his face smashed in at the same time he would get pierced in the back, so he decided to make use of it.

[Unrelenting Piercer Copy!]

^GRK!^

Transforming his [Astra] into the giant sword-lance that Master Razorback once used to puncture a mountain wall, Lythero charged forward and slammed the blade right into Zarken’s abdomen.

But he wasn’t done yet.

^What the fuck?!^

Lythero’s goal wasn’t to simply just slam into the giant bastard before him, but to slam that giant bastard into the three-eyed fucker behind him.

And he had to be quick about it too, because there was an aether-enhanced arrow flying right behind him.

’Either it hits me first or I hit him first...LET’S FUCKING GO!’

...Meanwhile...

As Lythero continued to fight the Redoxa Family’s warriors, Alicia and Bellona were still snoozing away in the cart that the latter had brought in order to kidnap them.

However, they weren’t going to be left there for long.

Earlier in the day, Zhen Liu had bestowed upon members of each group a small baggie of zako marbles. He had done so, not because he didn’t trust them or the kaijin, but because he knew that having several little sneaky minions on hand was just a good practice to maintain.

Evidently, he wasn’t wrong.

The zakos that Lythero had sent out had maintained their shrunken forms and were in the process of getting close to the cart that the Redoxa warriors had brought with them.

Clank, clank?

Clank, clank!

Assuming nothing unpredictable happened, they would be in the clear to escape... probably.