Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1508: System Shock

Retreating isn’t dishonorable; surrendering is.

Not many people understand this difference.

-The words of a tactician who lost over a dozen battles...before winning an entire war in a single one.

...Note that the Chapters following this one will be told from the perspective of our protagonists....

"Oh...I completely understand why I am currently able to use Zhen Liu’s body now. This is bad."

"What the actual fuck?"

When Jinju Ren and Anton (who was still using Zhen Liu’s body) entered Axer’s workshop, they were expecting to see the rest of their friends and allies laid up with injuries. This was an assumption with some merit to it due to the fact that neither of them had seen any of them out on the battlefield by Lythero’s side as he was getting injured as well.

Once they saw that their allies were actually just in the middle of a nap, though, they were completely caught off guard. Then again, their shock might’ve come from the fact that there was a giant hole in the wall that led directly to the shattered wall of a neighboring building, where the twitching foot of an unfortunate victim could be seen like a carrot growing out of the ground.

Jinju Ren briefly popped her head out of the said wall to assess the damage and see who exactly got sent flying into the neighboring building.

"Okay, this hole is definitely Rianna’s handiwork..." Jinju Ren muttered while looking over the hole. "And I’m going to guess that guy over there is related to these tied-up motherfuckers ..."

Laying on the couch in a cuddle pile were Lyona, Taurna, and Rianna. The three of them looked surprisingly at ease with sleeping atop one another, but it made sense once one took into account that the former two were formerly slaves who only had each other for sources of warmth, while the third wasn’t used to cuddling quite yet and actively sought it out.

On the floor flanking this cuddle pile, the snoozing forms of Zhen Tai and Zhen Xing were sitting guard. While they were technically less than useless at this point of time, due to their unconscious states, the gesture was at least appreciated.

Axer was found to be lying across the dining table, while the shrunken and snoozing forms of Nepherage, Frosttusk, and Hurricroak were sleeping around him.

It was kind of adorable, like watching a young toymaker fall asleep amidst his latest creations. Granted, the actual maker of these "toys" was actually asleep, but he wasn’t lying on the table. He was being piloted by an ancient drunken veteran.

And last, and certainly not least, there was a set of triplets that were clearly prisoners of battle, given that they were all tied up together like a bundle of hay. Anton didn’t know who they were, but something about their faces made him want to punch them.

As Anton looked over the slumbering young warriors and the captured prisoners, the zakos who had vacated the area before him had just finished settling Alicia and Bellona in place as well. Surprisingly, neither the explosions nor all of the jostling had awakened the two young maidens.

This revelation was mildly comforting but also rather disturbing.

Once the girls were settled in, Anton directed his attention towards Lythero. As Anton debriefed the situation from Lythero, Jinju Ren went to go and check on whether or not she could help to resolve the unnatural sleep affecting her friends.

"Alright, run it by me, what the fuck happened that led to this?"

"I’m going to be honest, I don’t know either," Lythero admitted. "When I came back here, Taurna and Lyona were the only ones that were barely awake at best. Also, Rianna and the Ragnarockers were the first of the group I found to be unconscious. I’m guessing this might be a [Chaos]-related issue?"

"If I had to guess," Jinju Ren called out as she noticed and picked something up off of the ground, "I think it has to do with this thing."

In the princess’s hands was a bronze bell about the size of a baseball. Anton and Lythero only had to briefly glance at the bell to realize that it was an aether treasure.

"Man, when Zhen Liu told me that people who cultivated [Chaos] were weak to aether-enhanced music, I thought he was exaggerating."

"Small correction: mortals who cultivate [Chaos] and Kaijin are vulnerable to aether-enhanced music. Not weak."

"What’s the difference?"

Before explaining himself, Anton looked about the room before finding a bronze zither.

This zither was actually a bronze-tiered aether treasure like the bell in Jinju Ren’s hand. Unlike the bell, though, this zither was crafted just this morning by the hands of Axer and Alicia.

"The difference is that aether music laced with debilitating effects is twice as effective against warriors like me. "Mild confusion turns into full-blown madness, drowsiness knocks us the fuck out, and queasiness turns into projectile vomiting," Anton explained. As he elaborated on these negative effects, he continued to tune the zither on his lap.

"That...tracks." Jinju Ren nodded as she thought about how, when she was younger, she had once caught sight of the Inked War Goddess, Zhen Xun Tian, occasionally flinch during the performance of a famous musician. She didn’t think much of it at the time, but the added insight on [Chaos] explained this behavior to a tee. "Wait, then why are you fiddling with that zither? Isn’t that bad for you?"

"Because, young dragon," Anton paused as he adjusted the zither a little longer. "In the same vein that negative effects are amplified, positive effects are equally amplified. Besides, any kaijin lord worth their salt will eventually figure out a way to counter the major weaknesses in their own way."

"Ominous...wait a minute..."

It took a few moments for Jinju Ren to completely understand what Anton was implying with these words, but once the implication was made, she proceeded to take a large step backward. Lythero followed shortly after, once he noticed Jinju Ren’s actions. Coincidentally, Anton finished tuning the zither as well.

"Personally, I found that overpowering the original effect with its opposite did wonders," Anton stated as he lightly strummed the zither, feeling the note he just plucked lightly shaking his core. Funnily enough, everyone else in the room who had an inkling of [Chaos] flowing through them also lightly twitched.

"Now, this particular note will not only wake up everyone in this room, but make it feel as if chilli peppers and electric eels had been shoved into very single orifice," Anton warned as he began to channel his innate [Chaos] and aether into his fingers. "I think this will probably wake up Zhen Liu too, so...be ready for him to scream in agonizing pain."

"I think that’s actually considered normal for him," Lythero commented. "Granted, that’s what he tells me and not what I’ve seen so far."

"Either way...have fun trying to get the fuck out of here with a bunch of cracked out young bucks."

"Wait, what?"

Before Lythero could even wrap his head around Anton’s choice of words, the drunken veteran proceeded to pull the metaphorical trigger.

...Meanwhile...

^Guh...what the fuck? Why does my head feel like it’s been filled with feathers?^ Olstenna complained.

^Better question. Antonio, why are you carrying us?^ Alice asked once she processed that Antonio was carrying her over their shoulder.

^Short answer: Y’all got stunned by [Law] related to birds. Long answer: so much bull shit that I don’t want to talk about it until we get somewhere safe.^

^...fair enough.^

[You two feeling any more energetic?] Screamira asked her fellow Kaijin.

[No,] Razorstella flatly replied.

[I feel like I’m about to pass out for the third time today, so...no,]

The moment the pillar of [Law] blasted through the ceiling and several layers of earth back to the surface of Rainbowden’s streets,Screamira and Antonio made a beeline towards this newly minted exit.

Their original entrance and exit was much too far for Screamira’s liking, and her instincts were telling her that exiting this hole was a better route back to her friends and the Producer.

And as luck would have it, Screamira’s instincts were right on the money.

The moment they exited out of the hole, they found themselves standing right across the street from Axer’s workshop.

Screamira looked delighted at this turn of events, while all of the mortals with her were utterly flabbergasted.

Smoking Mirror’s stronghold was right below their feet, and none of them even realized it.

At this revelation, Lythero, Olstenna, and Alice all shared looks of disbelief as several questions populated their mind.

Questions that could be resolved by a very quick conversation.

"Did...did Zhen Liu know that Axer’s workshop was above...all of that?" Antonio asked.

"I don’t think so, he made it pretty clear that this was the first he’s ever been to Rainbowden," Alice answered.

"So...I guess we can conclude that Zhen Liu is probably some kind of cursed?"

"I mean...yes."