Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1176: Ominous Coffin
"One man’s forbidden knowledge is another’s basic textbook."
-The musings of a scholar who dove too deep.
...
In the very back of the Cortez estate’s treasure room was something that stood out, not because it was particularly valuable, but because it looked incredibly out of place.
To be more specific, Zhen Liu saw that a coffin was being kept locked down in place via several heavy looking chains that were absolutely covered in aether array seals. Making the whole thing weirder though was that the coffin in question was crafted in the Roaring Tide style.
^Seriously, what is with your family and demonic boxes? One is understandable, two is just begging for questions to be asked,^ Zhen commented while staring directly at the three Grandmasters of the Cortez Family.
This would’ve normally been the part where Logos and Pathos would swoop in provide Zhen Liu with the knowledge he needed to understand why there was a coffin with a whole bunch of seals and chains on it, but they weren’t accessible right now.
Instead, Zhen Liu had to make do with the guys who owned the damn thing. Unfortunately, they didn’t know what the deal with the coffin was either...at first.
^...^
^Really? Y’all ain’t gonna say anything in regards to what this thing is, why it’s here and what’s inside of it?,^ Zhen Liu asked while gesturing towards the coffin in an even more animated manner. ^Wait, Lythero, do you have any idea what’s the deal with this coffin?^
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^I do not, it does remind me of being in a graveyard though,^ Lythero replied while keeping a vigilant eye on the coffin and a hand on his sword hilt.
^Hmmm. I’m gonna open it.^
^WAIT! DON’T!^
^Oh, now you speak. Did you get your tongue back from the local cats?,^ Zhen Liu chided the screaming Grandmaster.
Surprisingly, the one who decided to speak up before Zhen Liu did anything with the coffin was Rama, the security head.
^Alright, I’ll bite. Why can’t open this coffin? Do you guys have an ultra powerful cursed aether treasure in there or something?^
^Yes!^ Rama answered before elaborating further. ^Inside of that coffin is a [Cursed Corpse Blood Puppet]!^
^Oh, shit.^
^What the fuck?!,^ Lythero exclaimed in surprise while drawing his sword.^Why do you have one of those things?!^
Lythero’s reaction to this piece of information was actually rather appropriate given the nature of the "item" in question.
The world of aether cultivation was vast and it was composed of a whole multitude of practices.
As a wise sage once said,"there were a thousand roads to immortality, but a billion sidepaths as well."
And some of those aformentioned side paths led to rather dark discoveries.
Making aether puppets out of corpses has been practice since time immemorial, but how one processed and acquired these corpses have been an ethical debate for centuries. Especially when it came to aether warriors.
Powerful materials made for powerful puppets, and the corpse of a high tiered aether warrior was no exception.
Some groups had the practice of turning their deceased ancestors into puppets in order to defend their family and friends beyond death, while others used their defeated foes as materials, enslaving their bodies for years to centuries.
But amongst these questionable corpse puppets, there is type that is considered incredibly vile yet incredibly powerful.
[Cursed Corpse Blood Puppets].
The process to make these puppets were lost to the annals of history, for most people, but the general details are known as a taboo amongst aether puppet makers around the world.
To truncate the details and skip out on the more gruesome bits, [Cursed Corpse Blood Puppets] could only be created by taking a living person and then slowly and methodically replacing their body parts with ones harvested from the corpses of people who were born cursed and/or aether beasts that are known to have inborn curses.
The resulting aether puppet would become a force of destruction so powerful and violent that not even the controller of it could be considered safe from its abilities, due to it being able to effectively weaponize the curses that once marred the people in life.
To most people, a [Cursed Corpse Blood Puppet] was something to fear and a source of contempt.
To someone like Zhen Liu though, they couldn’t help but find this puppet a little...funny.
For two reasons.
First, personal reasons.
^Pfft!^
^Huh? Are you laughing?^
^No, it’s just...kind of reminded of something I dealt with not too long ago. I fought a guy who tried to do something similar but has trying to make the perfect wife out of people who were deeply in love,^ Zhen Liu partially explained. ^Weird time, I burnt his ass into ashes afterwards.^
^Oh...wait, what the fuck?^
Second, and more importantly, it was because he knew the reason why this technique was developed in the first place.
It was done in a vain attempt to copy what he could naturally.
’I knew those lessons would come in handy,’ Zhen Liu thought while he mentally patted himself on the back.
During his bouts of studying in the library, Zhen Liu had come to learn that factions and sects all over the world had attempted to copy what the [Chaos Forge Body] could do through their own understanding of aether.
Results varied in a multitude directions with a couple successes in creating things that weren’t necessarily kaijin but were their own category of beings, but a vast majority failed in rather explosive manners.
The [Cursed Corpse Blood Puppet] fell somewhere in-between success and failure, in the sense that it was sentient fighting lifeform. But the materials were questionably sourced at best and the puppets wasn’t able to use [Chaos]...yet.
’This puppet is supposed to be like a...proto-proto kaijin, right? Well then, I guess I can skip a couple of steps,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself as a devious smile began to form on his lips.
This shift in demeanor didn’t escape the notice of the Cortez Grandmasters or Lythero, and needless to say, both became rather worried.
Especially when Zhen Liu began to walk towards the sealed coffin, with his hammer drawn and [Chaos] circulating around it.
^Uh...dude? What the fuck are you doing?,^ Lythero asked with genuine concern.
^Congratulations, Cortez Company,^ Zhen Liu declared as he got close and closer to the sealed coffin. ^I’m about to relieve y’all of one cursed white elephant!^
As he kept walking, the Cortez Grandmasters began to panic.
They began to beg, plead, make offers for treasures that were anything but this [Cursed Corpse Blood Puppet].
After all, it had gone haywire decades ago and was an active danger ever since!
^By the ancestors, this guy is a demon and we’re being dragged into hell!^
^It took three Aether Emperors to get it locked away in the first place over fifty years ago! It may have weakened by then, but-^
^This seems like a really bad idea,^Lythero commented while drawing his sword in preparation.
^Meh, it’ll be fine,^ Zhen Liu answered while also waving his hand in a manner suggesting to not worry.
Unmoved and uncaring to the protests of all save Lythero, Zhen Liu kept walking closer to the coffin until he was striking distance.
^Now then...break!^
It only took a couple of seconds to swing his hammer and break all of the chains sealing the coffin.
^And done!^
The moment Zhen Liu broke the last chain, a sinister aura immediately filled the room alongside a distinct metallic smell that was reminiscent of blood.
^Oh no...^
^We are so fucked...^
Shortly after this aura filled the room, the coffin began to slowly open...
^Alright, let’s see what makes this puppet so-^
POW!
But before Zhen Liu could finish his statement, a bandaged covered fist that punched faster than lightning has struck him in the face.
If it was any of the other warriors in the room who had done what Zhen Liu did and take the blow the way he did, their heads would’ve been blown into bloody mist by now.
"Not bad, that almost tickled."
^What the fuck?!^*4
Which is why all four of the Dozing Salamander native warriors present couldn’t help but be absolutely stunned over the sight of Zhen Liu still standing despite the fist in his face.
Making the moment even more absurd, Zhen Liu began pushing the fist back with his face.
"Now then, are you going to stay in there the whole time? Or are you going to grace us with your appearance?," Zhen Liu asked as if he was talking to an actual person and not a puppet. Needless to say, he was greeted by silence.
"..."
"In that case, I guess I’m dragging you out!"
Shortly after making this declaration, Zhen Liu grabbed the outstretched arm of the puppet and pulled.
... Meanwhile...
[Huh...I know we’re supposed to be getting ready to leave right this instant...but quick bet guys, guy or girl?]
[Guy.]*2
[Girl.]*2
[Our lord knows he’s already getting flak for the predominantly female membership of his kaijin...]
