Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1501: Freaky Birds

^You know, Lord Tezca had some hope in you lot being actual mercenaries that we could hire and make use of for his grand endeavours, but the fact that you’re all potential sacrifices works out for us as well.^

"Is now a bad time to mention that I completely forgot his name?" Antonio whispered to his allies in a [Chaos]-cloaked whisper.

"No, because I don’t think he actually gave it to us," Alice assured him.

^Then again, It would probably be bad manners for me to kill you without actually introducing myself, no?^

"See?"

The subordinate, who had escorted Alice and her friends to this freaky underground complex in the first place, had entered the fray with a swagger to their step that didn’t match their otherwise weedy appearance. However, as the subordinate got closer to his own bird-headed allies, he began to undergo a transformation that made his swagger look more appropriate and made him appear more and more in lockstep with them.

Accompanying the peacock, the macaw, and the hawk masks, the subordinate’s face began to transform into a strange mask-like construct that resembled that of a condor’s. Not only that, but the man started to grow in size until he was at least twice the height of the others, and his aura also became stronger too.

^Oh boy.^

^This ain’t good...^

As seasoned warriors, Antonio, Olstenna, Harriet, and Alice knew that this condor-masked weirdo was anything but a simple opponent.

^You may call me Condorado,^ the transformed subordinate said with a sweeping bow as the shadowy aura of wings briefly appeared to make his bow more visually appealing. ^My fellow birds of prey here are Peacocina, Macawdo, and Halcon. We four are just a handful of Lord Tezca’s handmade warriors and are in charge of enlightening the masses of Rainbowden to his will. ^

After making this sweeping proclamation, Condorado’s aether suddenly flared up before condensing into a pair of wicked claws around his hands. At the same time, the other three bird-headed weirdos summoned thematically appropriate weapons as well.

These weapons came in the form of a peacock feather fan, a strange-looking axe with a macaw’s head, and a hawk-winged blade.

^Now with that out of the way...die!^

With that brief word of warning, Condorado took the lead by practically flying through the jaguar-masked mud warriors and swinging a heavy claw towards Antonio’s head.

^Antonio!^

^Dammit!^

The speed with which Condorado moved was unlike anything the others had seen before, and to make matters worse, it was with a type of energy that Antonio could sense wouldn’t break apart on contact with [Chaos].

Instead, he could feel that this energy was something meant to match [Chaos] blow for blow, and that this attack to his dome was going to hurt a lot.

Unfortunately, the ones meant to intercept if things went sideways were in the middle of fighting off a wave of drowsiness still.

Meaning that Antonio had no choice but to try and handle the incoming attack by himself.

[Condor’s Crushing Claw!]

BAM!

^WHOA!^

Antonio managed to bring up his defenses in time to block the hit, but it felt as if his arms were just impacted by a wild rhino, and he was forced to take several steps backwards in order to steady his footing.

As Antonio was being forced to step back, though, Olstenna and Alice used that moment to counterattack.

They didn’t offer words of concern because they knew Antonio was made of sterner stuff, and that hesitation meant death in tense situations such as this.

[Caustic Cutter!]

[Ignition Knuckle!]

However, before either of these attacks could land, the other birds of prey intercepted them.

More specifically, the macaw and peacock decided to take up the role of defense.

Peacocina had intercepted Alice’s scythe with their fans, while Macawdo used the bulkier part of his axe to block Olstenna’s fist.

^What the hell?^

^This energy feels...weird.^

As Alice and Olstenna attempted to overwhelm their respective clash partners, they couldn’t help but notice just how odd these weapons felt against their senses.

To be more precise, the energy inside the weapons felt odd.

They knew from how Antonio reacted earlier that this energy was something that opposed [Chaos], they just weren’t entirely sure what it was.

It wasn’t aether or anima because there would be a sense of conflict brewing if that was the case.

It wasn’t [Chaos] since their aether wasn’t being nullified while in the process of pushing back.

If anything, they felt as if their energy was just...doing nothing.

At the same time, though, they felt as if nothing was happening to their energy.

It just felt...[Stagnant].

^What’s the matter?^ Peacocina mockingly asked. ^Feeling sluggish?^

^Feeling like everything is starting to slow down?^ Macawdo added on with a snicker.

After they had asked these questions, the fourth member of their group decided to use this moment to take an attack of opportunity.

^Time to take out the healer!^

Sensing an opportunity, Halcon leaped over the fray and prepared his blade to strike at Harriet, who had been hiding in the back for most of this battle due to being a support type.

^Harriet!^

^No!^

^Shit!^

Olstenna and Alice couldn’t intervene because they were dealing with the freak birds in front of them, while Antonio had taken several steps back more than anticipated.

Even if he was closer, though, Halcon would’ve been able to overpower him anyways.

Time seemed to slow as Halcon got closer and closer to Harriet, ready to take her life in one fell swoop.

Timing, however, was a funny thing.

Because, up in the hidden portions of the compound, a certain trio of monstrous warriors has finally gotten their shit together.

Well, one out of three at least.

...Meanwhile, in the eaves directly above the freaky birdmen...

[Shit...things are looking—*yawn*—bad...]

[Gee...ya think?!]

[We gotta...get involved now...stop complaining!]

[Don’t you mean, we have to stop complaining so we can...get involved?]

[Same thing!]

Springerdermain, Screamira, and Razorstella were still in the midst of recovering from the sudden bout of drowsiness that had surged through their connection with Zhen Liu and the other kaijin.

Logos and Pathos had already informed them that the Ragnarockers got absolutely rocked by a weird aether treasure that could cause sleepiness, so they understood what was affecting them. That stated, just because they knew the reason for their issues didn’t mean they knew how to resolve them.

From their hiding spots, the Mysticlassical kaijin could see that Harriet, that friend of Lady Alicia and Lady Alice, was about to get her head lobbed off by some freaky-looking bird thingie that rubbed their senses in all of the wrong ways.

As it was their job, they knew they had to intervene before the worst played out.

The only problem was that they weren’t in the best of shape to do anything about it due to their extreme drowsiness.

Thankfully, crisis and possible tragedy did wonders in making one’s brain work at lightspeed. And yes, this applied to those who didn’t even have physical brains.

[Wait a minute... I just had a thought,] Springerdermain proclaimed to his sister kaijin, [what if we transferred our drowsiness to each other?]

[What?]

[That makes no sense], Razorstella retorted. [How would swapping our sleepiness make it so that we can—]

[Not like that,] Springerdermain interrupted. [I mean, one to two of us take on the sleepiness of the others so that we can have at least one to two able-bodied fighters down there and dealing with those freaky birds.]

[Oh...that makes sense,] Razorstella capitulated. [But there’s still a massive problem with this plan: how do we determine who goes down there and fight the birds? Because if we’re burying bodies, I should go. But if we’re trying to escape, one of you two are better at that sort of thing.]

[Is that a jab at us not being as lethal as you?] Screamira asked with a sour expression.

[No, it’s a fact of the matter that I have knives for limbs,] Razorstella answered while wiggling her knife-fingers. [Not exactly good for leaving a scene without causing casualties.]

[Fair point.]

[That’s... actually a fairly easy question to answer,] Springerdermain replied with ease. [We just need to ask ourselves, what would the ringmaster want us to do.]

[You mean our comatosed producer?]

[Yes.]

[Ah, well...I think we already know the answer to that then...]

...Suspense because why not?...

Halcon was mere inches away from taking Harriet’s head at this moment, as his blade was already bearing down on her neck.

To her credit, Harriet tried to mount a defense, but she was a touch slower than the freaky falcon-masked warrior.

However, both of them turned out to be even slower than the kaijin who had finally decided to intervene at this very moment.

[Miss Harriet, cover your ears!]

"Huh?!"

From above, a crimson skeletal woman with shocking white hair appeared out of nowhere as [Chaos] condensed in her throat.

[DEATH WAIL!]