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

Chapter 1659: Cannon Fodder Tactics

The last time Zhen Liu used this many zakos in such a sacrificial manner, it was against the abomination formerly known as Grub.

The bastard was fat, disgusting, and had tentacles coming out of him that were strong enough to pulverize boulders into sand.

He was dangerous...but he was also incredibly stupid. If the malformed maggot of a monster had actively tried to eat the zakos, he could’ve gained the [Chaos] he needed to regain some semblance of thought.

Prince Lofarro, unfortunately, wasn’t as dumb.

The First Prince of the Erupting Dawn Empire immediately understood that these zakos, these weird monstrous humanoids, weren’t just being used as a means of distraction but as a tool for studying. Lofarro had the distinct feeling that if he used his normal techniques and tactics against these inferior opponents, then the Kaijin Lord would learn too much about how to counter him.

’If it was Galban or Lauvanne in my situation, they would’ve definitely fallen for this trap,’ Lofarro thought to himself as he began to infuse dragon force into his blade. ’I just need to strike with efficiency!’

Instead of using fancy aether arts or techniques that maximized the power of his blade, Lofarro opted to use simple enhanced slashes and strikes to take down the zakos.

However, this attempt to hide his abilities was only partially effective.

Zhen Liu had summoned the zakos to figure out Prince Lofarro’s aether treasure and capabilities and figure out an attack plan, sure, but he had also done so to give Logos and Pathos time to do it themselves.

Also, this was something he was going to take to the grave, but the sudden appearance of dragon force caused him to have an internal panic attack.

Zhen Liu still remembered the electrical burns that Hurricroak had suffered against that Fourth-tiered Thunder Dragon River Otter, and he didn’t want to undergo a similar feeling ever again if he could help it.

Regardless, Zhen Liu continued to watch Lofarro as he used the most basic of sword techniques to take down the zakos one by one, turning the monstrous minions back into the random bits and bobs that they originally came from.

The sight of seeing his zakos fall in such an inglorious manner caused Zhen Liu a small amount of emotional damage, but he understood that this was their purpose.

...Mental Conversation...

’Logos, Pathos. Are you two done with your analysis yet? Also, how much time is left on that timer Jinju Ren insisted on having?’

=Not yet, milord. But we can at least tell you that that dragon force that Lofarro is packing is weak against water, moon, and ice aether/[Chaos]. So if Frosttusk can come to your aid sooner rather than later, you’ll be fine.=

[I’m still busy,] the mammoth-like kaijin interjected.

=Well aware. =

<As for the timer, it’s been about...two minutes. You got another eight minutes to go. >

’Fun...wait a minute, don’t I literally have a really powerful pair of techniques perfect for this moment?’

<=We were actually wondering why you hadn’t busted those out yet.=>

’Shut up!’

...Back to the battle...

"Are you just going to be throwing cannon fodder at me all day, Kaijin Lord?!" Lofarro shouted as he stabbed a zako and lifted the twitching body up into the air. "The legends said that your predecessors were tyrants on the battlefield! Or was that a fabrication of the bards?!"

Zhen Liu rolled his eyes at the obvious attempt at provocation, but didn’t verbally respond. Instead, he surmised that action spoke louder than words at this moment and rushed in before the man had a chance to either throw the impaled zako to the side or run his mouth further.

As he closed the distance, Zhen Liu opted to go for a bit of shock before bringing down the hammer, so he decided to circulate [Chaos] in his mouth to perform a new trick he learned.

[Cipactli’s Feast!]

When Zhen Liu performed this [Chaos] art before, the shadow of a giant crocodile formed around his head as he bit down.

This time around, his [Stigma] actually reformed itself into the form of that giant maw in order to bite down for him!

He didn’t expect this to happen, but it provided enough of a shock factor that it caused Lofarro to visibly jolt at the sight.

Then again, it might’ve been due to the fact that the crocodile-like head forming around Zhen Liu’s head had positioned the man to look as if he had become the throat for a giant beast.

"Oh shit!"

Sensing the danger coming from the artificial maw about to bite into him, Lofarro immediately pointed a palm directly at Zhen Liu’s face in the alligstor’s maw and fired a jet of golden flames.

The flames didn’t do anything against Zhen Liu’s face, as [Cipactli’s Feast] made him temporarily immune to anything and everything that would enter his maw, much to his immense relief.

However, it did provide Lofarro the thrust he needed to launch himself back away from Zhen Liu as he snapped his artificial mouth shut around the flames.

The golden flames infused with dragon force made Zhen Liu feel as if he had just ate a dumpling straight from the steamer. His throat felt like it was on fire, but he was more or less able to tough it out and partially absorb some of the power of these golden flames. Not only that, but he was able to identify what the fuck was being in slung in his direction.

"This taste..." Zhen Liu muttered before raising his voice like a proper demon lord. "This is the taste of the [Golden Dragon Crow Sun Flame]. How did a little princeling like you manage to get your hands on something as rare as that?"

Lofarro didn’t shirk at being called out like this, instead, he seemed to be impressed that the Kaijin Lord was able to identify one of his secret weapons through such an absurd method.

"Before Father was injured, he once took me and several of my brothers on a hunting trip. During that trip, I managed to secure an essence crystal originating from the Golden Dragon Sun Crow. It almost destroyed me, but then I pulled this sword out of the vault and allowed me to control its power," Lofarro answered.

To emphasize his point, Lofarro swung the golden sword in his hand and caused it to become alight with even darker flames of gold.

"And now I’m going to use it to burn the legendary Kaijin Lord into cinders."

"Yeah...no."

Zhen Liu pointed one of his hammers in Lofarro’s direction and fired off a golden fireball that felt somewhat similar to the golden flames that Lofarro had just used to show off his sword.

Lofarro was about to scream indignation about one of his trump cards being stolen before his eyes, but stopped when he realized that it wasn’t a one for one copy.

Something had been replaced in this golden flame, something fundamental.

Compelled by this feeling, Lofarro swung out his sword in response and sliced into the fireball with his own flaming sword.

He was expecting to slash through the flame, instead, both his sword and the golden fireball repelled each other like magents of the same polarity being forced together.

"Heh. Interesting," Zhen Liu muttered as he watched the fireball get knocked away.

Lofarro, on the other hand, was a bit more...incensed.

"What the fuck did you do to my [Golden Dragon Crow Sun Flame]?!" Lofarro yelled. "Why did it feel wrong against my senses?!"

"Yeah, so fun fact hot stuff, but you were actually right on the money about dragon force being something I am somewhat vulnerable to," Zhen Liu freely admitted. "So ’A+’ on figuring that out."

"..."

Lofarro should’ve felt elated over this revelation, but he felt that there was more to the Kaijin Lord’s words so he kept his mouth shut.

"But that little mouth trick of mine, innuendo fully intended, allowed me to partially absorb and analyze that flame of yours. I couldn’t replicate it down to the dragon force due to the feeling causing my insides to quiver and metaphorically melt, so I replaced the dragon force bit with that little something special that makes me, the kaijin and zakos tick."

As soon as Zhen Liu said that last part, "zako", several of the remaining zakos moves to stand between himself and Lofarro.

"And now, you get to see something really cool."

Zhen Liu made a devil horns gesture and summoned two golden fireballs at the fingertips before aiming it at a stone zako and a skeletal zako that were standing directly in front of him.

Without saying a word, he released the fireballs into the chosen zakos and infused them both with the copycat flame that he was now mentally labelling as [Golden Sun Chaos Crow Flame].

The two zakos became engulfed in the fire, but they didn’t die or explode.

Instead, they began to evolve and mutate.

...

<Weren’t you going to use [Tiamat’s Dance] here?>

’I got caught up in the moment, shut up.’

<Fair enough.>

’Also, why am I feeling a torrent of rage coming from Hurricroak?’