Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1529: A Hard decision doesn’t have to be done alone

<Our Lord appears to be really troubled by this decision. How peculiar. >

=To be fair, we did reveal that our Lord has a karmic void as opposed to having actual karma. I imagine he must be freaking out over that fact and is trying his damndest to avoid what he considers to be the worst possible outcome. =

<Huh...and I here thought revealing someone their problems was supposed to help them grow as a person. >

=If our Lord's old world media is anything to go off of, no. It doesn't help. =

<Damn.>

[Logos, Pathos. Why the fuck is our lord muting our connection with him?] Nepherage piped up via her connection with the curators.

<=Oh, there's an idea...=>

...Speaking of Zhen Liu...

The Kaijin Lord, at this point in time, still hadn't come to a decision on how he was going to secure the Mother Sun Flame. Hell, he still hadn't come to a decision about whether or not he should just ignore it for the time being in order to focus on resolving another issue first.

Smoking Mirror was still running around like a major asshat doing who knows what, Alain was an indicator that Buzza and the Fallen were still active, and while Zhen Liu wasn't entirely sure about this, he had the feeling that those Shadow Garden guys were probably skulking around Rainbowden. Hell, speaking of Rainbowden, Zhen Liu hadn't even found his predecessor's inheritance yet.

He had initially planned to ditch the inheritance behind due to the presence of Smoking Mirror and Alain, but the zakos he left behind to keep an eye on the city had reported that those two aforementioned assholes were clearing out of the city.

Why?

Because the City Lord they failed to kill and allowed to escape unimpeded had decided to call for help...in the form of an Aether Saint.

Normally, such warriors couldn't be bothered to assist those who were objectively beneath them in terms of power or status. However, that tune changed when the power of [Law] was involved.

From what Zhen Liu had gathered from the zako, the moment that the City Lord managed to provide proof that there was someone capable of using and bestowing [Law] present in Rainbowden, an Aether Saint known as "The Flame who Devours All" immediately flew into action.

Zhen Liu's zakos didn't stick around for fear of being discovered, but they did report that the moment the Saint found the massive hole that was made with [Law], he had let loose a mildly deranged laugh of triumph.

Either way, Zhen Liu figured he could return to Rainbowden once both his enemies and that probably psycho Aether Saint cleared out.

"Okay, that immediately eliminates one choice from the roster," Zhen Liu said to himself as mentally crossed off the option of "returning to Rainbowden" on his mental checklist. "But what about the others?"

[You could just leave it to us.]

"Huh?"

As Zhen Liu continued to agonize over his choices and the myriad of consequences that were sure to follow, he found himself getting interrupted by visitors.

It should be noted that during the entire time he had been mentally gripping over the consequences of his actions, he was doing so in the comfortable isolation of the shared study of Logos and Pathos.

That isolation was now being broken by the entrance of his Kaijin. More specifically, the Ragnarockers featuring Blazejudicator.

"Razorstella, Screamira, Springerdermain, and the twins aren't with you guys?" Zhen Liu asked, slightly delaying the inevitable.

[Corpse Doll and Porcelain Doll wanted to train with Mysticlassic since they have similar origins,] Nepherage answered. [Although, I imagine you've already realized that.]

"Yeah...no...ugh, my head is a mess," Zhen Liu groaned as he dropped his head in frustration. He had wanted to just slam his head on the table, but he was afraid of breaking it.

Besides, there was a good chance that Frosttusk or Blazejudicator would prevent him from injuring himself.

He didn't deserve all of this fussing from them.

'Huh...where did that come from?'

Zhen Liu didn't bother explaining to the kaijin why he had been griping and groaning in the privacy of the study, thanks to their connection, so he skipped ahead to the part where he asked them their opinions.

"So what do you think? Should we go out and cause even more mayhem? Or do you think there's a way for us to get through this without causing even more problems for ourselves down the line? Maybe we could pause it and just deal with everything else? Maybe start burying people alive or otherwise?"

At this last question, Nepherage shot Zhen Liu a look of pure disbelief.

[Milord… you and I both know that isn't how you think in the slightest,] Nepherage pointed out. [You're an adherent to the belief that people deserve a second chance, and you're not a ruthless killer. So why stop doing that now? ]

"Because now I'm dealing with the realization that my lack of ruthlessness is being tossed into a karmic void," Zhen Liu replied. "I'm fairly certain that my lack of dead enemies is what is leading me to deal with them alive and work with other past or future enemies."

[I don't think that's the case,] Hurricroak snorted in disagreement as she pointed a finger towards her froggy self. [Take it from someone who came back from the dead for sweet, sweet vengeance.]

[Uh…didn't you…come back…because…of…Draigo?] Frosttusk pointed out.

[Hush you.]

"Pfft."

This was the first time in a while since Zhen Liu and his kaijin had a chance to just talk like this. Normally, there were other people present.

Other enemies to fight.

This was…kind of nice.

"But seriously, though, what do you guys think we should do?"

[If it was up to me, I would get both leaders of the Sacred Flame Theocracy and the Erupting Dawn Empire into the same room and force them to both present their cases to me and the Mother Sun Flame,] Blazejudicator suggested first. [At which point, the flame would be awarded to the person with the strongest claim. Also, we could take a portion of it during the judgement as payment, or the ensuring chaos that would follow from one side feeling jilted over the other.]

At this plan of action, Zhen Liu shot Blazejudicator a wary look.

"Did you get that idea from one of the archived videos of judge-based reality shows?"

[Partially.]

"Boy…"

Out of everyone in the room, Blazejudicator had the most to gain from the acquisition of the Mother Sun Flame…since he was made of aether flames. That stated, Zhen Liu had no idea whether or not this new flame would play nice with the other aether flames that were currently inside of his body. Hell, he had no idea if it would play nice with the [Flames of Vice and Virtue].

[If you ask me, I think the Sacred Flame Theocracy should be the ones we throw our support behind,] Nepherage suggested after looking over the pros and cons lists that Zhen Liu had left out. [They do the most good for people and seem to be careful stewards of the flame. Otherwise, why else would it keep choosing an avatar?]

"Fair point."

[Bah, religious types are always hiding something shady,] Hurricroak retorted as she looked over the list herself. [Even says so right here that there are rumors floating about that the theocracy's church is the reason why people keep disappearing in their cities. Besides, the Erupting Dawn Empire would literally erupt if you didn't help them.]

"Also true…"

[Both sides…justified,] Frosttusk rumbled. [Erupting Dawn…wants revenge…for…past crimes. Sacred Flame…regret…actions…but…are now trying…to redeem…themselves.]

"So to sum up, y'all are equally divided on what we're supposed to be doing?"

[Basically]*4.

"Great…"

Someone once said that two heads were better than one when it came to decision-making, but the people who said that clearly didn't actually try to coordinate with people before. That, or they were lucky enough to have someone constantly agree with them.

"Hmmm."

Zhen Liu continued to mull over the decision, taking in the opinions of the kaijin…until he focused on a portion of what Blazejudicator had stated earlier.

Literally on the word "portion."

"Wait..."

Thanks to Pathos's meddling all that time ago, Zhen Liu had gained the ability to absorb the power of aether flames by literally swallowing it. However, there was an…unexpected interaction because of how his body was built/the power he cultivated.

Most powerful and rare aether flames could only be absorbed if a warrior found a "source" flame and spent time and effort adjusting it to their specific formula's foundation.

Zhen Liu, on the other hand, could technically cheat it by simply absorbing an attack empowered by an aether flame and then fueling the embers inside himself with [Chaos], thus creating his own version of that flame.

He hadn't learned this until later, more specifically, when he utilized [Ghost Flame] once in front of his family and they asked him when and where he absorbed such a ghastly power.

When he told him that he learned how to do it after absorbing the power of that bomb that almost went off in Willow Scale City, they looked at him like he was a freak of nature.

Well, a bigger freak of nature.

"You…you do realize what you explained is basically impossible, right?"

"Say what?"

The resulting lecture and explanation from Logos and Pathos made Zhen Liu realize that his fire-drinking ability was horribly underutilized.

"I think I know what to do now..."