Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1517: Karmic Contrast

In Zhen Liu's experience, whenever Logos and Pathos used the term "weird tingles", it was usually accompanied by an explosion of pain or awkward sensations running up and down his body like a million spiders.

This happened whenever Logos and Pathos forcefully downloaded information into his brain, and it happened every time he and his Kaijin over exerted themselves.

And now, being told that his very soul and being was about to be deeply scrutinized by a weird array called the [Karmic Connection Array], Zhen Liu prepared himself for the worst tingles he was ever going to feel in this life or the next.

Except...that didn't happen. In fact, nothing happened for several long minutes.

"Huh..."

Zhen Liu had wanted to comment on the silence, bring it to attention to Logos and Pathos, but he could see that the curators were quite aware of the problem.

<Alright, this is...weird. did we make a mistake in the array somewhere?> Logos asked her counterpart. <By the way, is that my demon dancer form?>

=First of all, no. I don't make mistakes, do I look like a mortal or a deity?= Logos answered with a hint of snark while blowing a lock of hair off of their face. =Also, yes. You weren't using it and I wanted to give it a spin.=

<Your verdict?>

=The outfit is a bit breezy.=

<Prude.>

After this short exchange of barbs and critiques, Logos and Pathos continued to look over every portion of the array to make sure that nothing was missing or that anything extra was accidentally added.

After all, one small mistake can change an array meant to produce pudding into one that strips your skin and sinew in an instant.

It didn't take that long for Logos and Pathos to look over the array and realize that nothing was astray...but that just made things even more frustrating.

<Alright, this is getting us nowhere,> Pathos noted. <We need someone else to use this array on.>

=An excellent idea.=

"Wait, what? Why?"

At the mention of someone else being dragged into this insanity, Zhen Liu couldn't help but to finally perk up and ask a question. Granted it was a very vague question.

However, Logos and Pathos understood what Zhen Liu was getting at anyways. While they were answering, they still activated some mysterious panels in the background.

=The Karmic Connection Array should've created a manifestation of all of your accumulated karmic choices leading up to this very moment,= Logos explained. =Every questionable choice, every altruistic decision, all of it should've formed into a totemic representation.=

<Every bad decision makes it more monstrous looking, every good decision makes it more beautiful to look at,> Pathos added. <Of course, such surface level interpretations only applies in this scenario. I've met too many ugly people who were actually saints, and too many beautiful primadonas turning out to he grade-A bitches.>

"I... see..." Zhen Liu slightly nodded. While he was doing so, though, he noticed that there was a sizeable hole that suddenly manifested on the ceiling and that it was slightly to the left of his current position.

From this hole in the ceiling, he could hear the subtle sounds of someone screaming while sliding down a windy tunnel that suddenly opened beneath their feet.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah, bah!"

Moments later, Zhen Liu was greeted by the sight of Zhen Xing landing next to him.

"Hey cousin."

"Xiao Liu! Why did the curators decide to...why are you strapped to a doctor's table?"

"I don't know; I just stopped questioning what Logos and Pathos do to me at this point," Zhen Liu answered in a serious tone that didn't mesh with the situation in the slightest.

Once again, Zhen Xing had it hammered into his head that Zhen Liu acted the way he did for a damn good reason.

<Oh, don't be so surprised at that being the method in which we summoned you,> Pathos chided Zhen Xing as she floated over to their side while in the form of a genie. <You're the one who accepted the call. >

"You two just made an announcement over that 'PA' system thing that you needed volunteers for some sort of experiment involving Xiao Liu," Zhen Xing retorted. "And I didn't expect that to mean you would pull the ground from under me. Seriously, that can't be…wait…why am I complaining about a minor inconvenience? I literally dance with death as an aether warrior!"

"[Chaos], baby," Zhen Liu commented as he laid back down on the table. "Is it safe to assume that you guys are going to be using the array on Zhen Xing?"

<= Already done. =>

"What?"

Yip!

"Bwah!"

Before either Zhen Liu or Zhen Xing could fully process Logos and Pathos's words, a small spectral fox had suddenly appeared right above Zhen Xing's head.

The fox in question had this ugly-cute quality to it that made it oddly huggable but also strangely repugnant at the same time.

"Wait a minute…"

As Zhen Liu stared at the fox, he could make out faint illusions depicting his past, tense relationship with Zhen Xing that were then replaced with more modern ones of them actually getting along.

<As you can see, this karmic construct is showing how you two had bad karma that was then replaced with more positive karma,> Pathos explained as she floated and used some of her [Chaos] to showcase other memories extracted from Zhen Xing's fox-like construct.

In these illusionary bubbles of memories, Zhen Liu and Zhen Xing could see all of the latter's worst and best choices.

"Huh…this is…oddly nostalgic and painful to look at at the same time," Zhen Xing commented as he saw the moments he acted like an absolute bastard being contrasted by the times he actually acted heroic. These moments were made before and after Zhen Liu kicked his ass in, respectively.

=Alright, that's enough of that. Thank you for your participation,= Logos declared as they snapped their fingers and dismissed all of the illusions alongside the karmic fox totem that popped out of Zhen Xing. =As recompense for this presumably emotional moment, Pathos and I have prepared a special aether art for you.=

After this grand statement was made, a strange fire-covered scroll appeared from out of nowhere and floated directly into Zhen Xing's hands. Needless to say, his eyes went wide once he ran his senses over the scroll.

"I-How-what the…"

<Okay, now git.>

"Bwah!?"

With another snap of their fingers, Pathos sent Zhen Xing out of the room and back into the greater library space.

Once Zhen Xing was gone, Zhen Liu decided to address the newly minted emptiness.

"Alright, while that was entertaining and proved that your array works, what the fuck did all that mean for me?" Zhen Liu asked. "Why isn't there a tiny demon popping out of me? Er...a tiny demon that isn't a Kaijin, I mean."

<=...=> 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Logos and Pathos stared at each other, an awkwardly tense silence generating between them.

"Okay, the silence is starting to propel me past feeling nervous to just being fuckshit mad, what the fuck is causing you two to pause?" Zhen Liu asked, becoming more and more annoyed at their enigmatic behavior.

It had been a long day, and he was very tired of being yanked around as of late.

=Well…the good news is that we finally know what has been causing you to attract fortune and mayhem like a magnet through iron sand,= Logos began to say to help ease Zhen Liu's mind before absolutely ruining the attempt. =The bad news is that we can't fix it…at all. =

"Okay…why?"

<To put it as bluntly as possible, milord, you're kind of a… well this is a term I didn't think I would ever use…you're a karmic void,> Pathos answered.

"A what?"

To better explain themselves, Logos and Pathos produced a pair of diagrams depicting two people who made very different life decisions growing up.

<=Your old world had touched upon the idea of karma, while here in Valresta, aether helps to reinforce karma,=> Logos and Pathos began to explain in unison while gesturing towards the diagrams. <= People who tend to do good accrue positive karma, which will eventually help them at some point in their lives, while those who do evil accrue negative karma, which will eventually bite them in the ass. =>

To help illustrate their point, the diagrams began to perform cartoonish acts that eventually led to them getting punished or rewarded for their efforts.

Zhen Liu thought this was a touch silly, given that he knew of some evil bastards that had been unjustly rewarded…then again, he had also been the one to punish them for their misdeeds, so perhaps there was truth behind the karma.

<=However, none of this applies to you, milord, because you are a karmic void.=>

Through their coordinated efforts, the diagrams of the two people went away, only to be replaced with a picture of Zhen Liu.

<And before you ask, this doesn't mean your actions have no consequences...it means that the consequences you deal with are even worse. >

"Huh?"