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

Meanwhile, inside of Zhen Liu's head...

[Ooooh, so this is the Smoking Mirror you were talking about. I figured he would be taller," Corpse Doll commented to her twin.

[To be fair, he is inside of a boy no older than our Caretaker,] Porcelain Doll retorted. [Wait, maybe I should call him Curator?]

[I feel like we're ignoring the bigger picture here,] Blazejudicator interjected in order to get the rest of the kaijin back on to focusing on the current situation. [Nepeherage, you're our only line to the library right now and the other kaijin. Can you share any updates?]

[Still in the middle of that,] Nepeherage readily admitted. [Although, Logos and Pathos did explain something important about this Smoking Mirror.]

[Oh?]

[Well, partially.]

________ Now back to real space __________

^ I am Smoking Mirror. And you will be the key to my descent to Valresta,^ the spirit leaning into Zhen Liu's face growled with conviction.

The moment this name was shared, the entire room felt as if dropped several dozen degrees all at once.

^Smoking Mirror...^

^That name...I never heard of it and yet...^

^They must be an ancient Saint or perhaps even—!^

[...huh.]

When Porcelain Doll manifested, she had casually dropped the name of "Smoking Mirror" when she explained how she had come into existence.

Zhen Liu recognized that name, but he was in denial about any connection that name had to his previous life.

After all, the last time he was in a wandering ruin with a name he recognized, [The Vault of Hel], that turned out to be a red herring. At least, Zhen Liu never really explored the place after the competition, so he had no idea if there was more to the place than meets the eye.

Regardless, even though this spirit before him claimed to be Smoking Mirror, he couldn't help but be a little skeptical.

Granted, the amount of times he had Logos and Pathos just casually drop the names of deities around him was concerningly high, to the point of being suspicious.

'Damn, I wish I had Logos and Pathos with me to help...hold up.'

...

'Nepherage, real fast, can you—?'

[They say it's only partially him.]

'The fuck does that mean?!'

[Well... they're saying he's either a spirit posing as the Lord of Night, or he's a fragment. They can't tell which because of your fucked up senses.]

'Ah...'

...

^Well? Are you fully impressed by my divinity?^ Smoking Mirror asked as he sat back down on his throne, retracted the unnatural darkness he had caused and shot a bemused look towards Zhen Liu's direction.

Zhen Liu would've actually been about more intimidated by this display if he hadn't already been through hell and back on multiple occasions.

But the bigger reason he didn't really care of Smoking Mirror's display was for one crucial reason: this dude was more smoke than mirror.

At least, that's what Nepeherage informed him.

[Tezcatlipoca.]

^Yes?^

[Shit, I figured that you were faking it, but whatever,] Zhen Liu cursed under his breath once he heard the acknowledgement of that name. [At least that helps narrow down what you are exactly.]

^Oh? Then what am I exactly?^ Smoking Mirror asked with a sardonic giggle at Zhen Liu's expense. Evidently, this question also caused Duke Diamoro and Alfonzo to perk up out of curiosity.

^And before either of you get any ideas, please know that I can and will pop you both like grapes if you try anything,^ Smoking Mirror stated immediately after the aforementioned duo had perked up.

^What?^

^We weren't—^

^Oh please,^ Zhen Liu interjected as he pointed a finger at Alfonzo. ^From what I heard, you betrayed Kidanna's old man when you established your company. And that the duke over there bankrolled the entire thing. It would not surprise me in the slightest if y'all had a whole museum of backstabbed corpses somewhere.^

^...^

The sheer audacity of Zhen Liu's words were enough to shut up Alfonzo and Duke Diamoro, but he also most definitely earned their ire in the process.

Off to the side, Kidanna and Lythero were doing their best to suppress their laughter.

^As I was saying, you're not really Tezcatlipoca. You're like...part of him. Not in a patchwork sense, but like a mirror shard sense of him,^ Zhen Liu explained after that minor bump in the conversation. ^Hence why you need to possess someone?^

^An astute observation!^ Smoking Mirror praised with a singular clap. ^I am incomplete. But once I finish the ritual, with the assistance of these fine gentlemen here, I shall be in my fully glory. As well, it will allow me to properly reward these fellows for services rendered and then some.^

^T-thank you, Lord Smoking Mirror!^

^You honor us.^

'Oh please...,' Zhen Liu mentally groaned while rolling his eyes. Once he had finished that little bit of emotional catharsis though, he went back to the matter at hand.

^I'm just going to take a wild guess and say that this ritual of yours require the souls of the people slain at specific locations and some kind of treasure located at each?^

^Oh that was the original ritual, yes,^ Smoking Mirror nodded. ^That is, until you showed up.^

As soon as Smoking Mirror said that last statement, Zhen Liu felt as if he was now standing in the cross hair of a cannon.

^You see, my original plan was to use one of you as my brand new body because my current vessel cannot handle my full power,^ Smoking Mirror began to monologue like a cheap supervillain. ^I was even considering backstabbing the Duke here for that purpose because he's the most powerful one here.^

^I...thanks?^ Duke Diamoro responded, incredibly confused and concerned.

^But then you showed up and I realized, why settle for a used vessel when I can use you to make myself a brand new one that's been tailor-made for yours truly,^ Smoking Mirror finished while sounding absolutely giddy. ^And before you try to refuse, you should know that I have already sent people to capture your consorts.^

^I was wondering why they weren't here...should take a wild guess that you couldn't pull them through the mirror in time?^

^By the time I realized that they were cloaked in [Chaos], and made the appropriate adjustments, they had already left the Flayed One's garden,^ Smoking Mirror admitted.

^Yes, my men should be back at any minute,^ Alfonzo followed up with pride.

At this point in time, Smoking Mirror expected Zhen Liu to fall into despair or angrily spit at him for dating to harm his loved ones, well, more of his loved ones.

Instead, Zhen Liu took a deep breath and a released heavy sigh.

^What the...^

^Question,^ Zhen Liu interrupted. ^How many Kaijin did I have on my person?^

^What?^

^Just answer the question.^

^Two,^ Alfonzo answered after a moment. ^You came here with a pair of brawler-type Kaijin in the form of those bracelets.^

^Yeah...follow up, how many did you think I actually came with?^

^What are you—^ BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

^What the fuck?!^

As soon as that chorus of explosions went off, Zhen Liu gave everyone in the room a viciously sinister smile.

^I reiterate, how many Kaijin do you think I actually came with?^

________What happened outside...________

Shortly after the girls left the [Garden of Reflective Orchids], tragedy struck.

A whole bunch of Aether Grandmasters and Masters associated with the Silver Jungle Dragon Shipping Company had ambushed them, then taken them captive.

It was a quick yet bloodless affair, due to the simple fact that they managed to capture Harriet before the others and use her as a hostage to stop and further acts of violence.

Which is why, the girls of Rainbow Phoenix Academy found themselves being forced to march...back to the fountain they were heading to in the first place.

There was a weird sense of irony bubbling in their bellies at this time, but they couldn't verbalize it due to the gags that were placed in their mouths.

However, this situation wasn't going to last too much longer.

Hiding in the brushes of the jungle, several little Kaijin figurines were positioning themselves to strike in one perfectly coordinated moment.

...

[Three.]

[Two.]

[One.]

[HIT IT!]

...

BWOOM!

^What the-?!^

In one brutally fast moment, a whole fuckton of violence occurred.

Springerdermain had managed to send two enemy warriors flying with a dozen phantasmal punches, Screamira blew out the eardrums of three other enemy warriors and Razorstella had torn the tendons and ligaments of the remaining six.

None of these opponents were killed, just in case that they had any treasures or traps that triggered at the time of death, but they were definitely not gonna be able to fight anytime soon.

Especially with [Chaos] infesting their wounds and making their healing abilities more or less useless.

[Okay, coast is clear,] Razorstella concluded after making sure the last of her victims' tendons were fully severed. [Good luck healing from that, jackanapes.]

[Baller, let's cut the girls loose and go rescue the director.]