Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1556: Coasting Right Along

The road to Charcoal Shell Beach was actually fairly straightforward from their current location.

All the group had to do was to walk along the coast for several hours, avoid a jungle or two because Zhen Liu was honestly sick of jungles, and pass by a place that was labeled as Wicker Blood Village.

When Zhen Liu asked about that name, he was told by Olstenna that the village was actually quite nice and had earned its moniker because of all the wickerman statues that decorated the place.

The moment he heard that, Zhen Liu made the mental note to keep an eye out for horror movie shenanigans...again.

’If this turns into another Marquis de Howlite situation, I am burning it to the ground,’ Zhen Liu told himself and the kaijin.

The kaijin readily agreed.

...

[So, just to be clear, the moment we see some weird sacrificial cult shit or they attempt to shove wicker dolls up anybody’s asses, we’re just going to burn that entire village off the face of the map, right?] Blazejudicator asked. [Just straight up scorched earth.]

[That is the shared sentiment among us and our lord, yes,] Nepherage agreed. [It’s a bit more vicious than our usual modus operandi, but it feels warranted this time around.]

[Seems...heavy...handed...] Frosttusk mumbled.

[Oooh, I just realized that this is the first time we’ve been to a proper beach!] Hurricroak excitedly noted while actively ignoring the topic about being part of yet another horror movie cliché...partially. [Before anybody argues, I am not counting the lakes or the port towns we’ve been to prior. There was no sand, no surf, and we had to bury at least three people.]

[Objection retracted,] Springerdermain capitulated.

[Wait...if we’re not going to be fighting things, then why are we coming along? Isn’t our whole purpose supposed to be geared towards fighting?] Corpsed Doll asked her sister.

[I believe this is part of that whole "finding our Core desire" thing,] Porcelain Doll answered.

[Oh yeah, that’s how it started with me,] Springerdermain commented. [I talked to Patriarch Zhen Shi about life on a boat...]

...

That stated, Zhen Liu’s mortal friends and family seem rather enthused by the idea of this coastal trip up to the beach. Apparently, Zhen Liu wasn’t the only one stressed out by all of the crap that had occurred in the past few weeks.

One could only deal with so many underground conspiracies before losing their mind after all.

That and most of the group consisted of young adults that were romantically inclined.

...

"You think I’ll finally find someone at this beach village or somewhere along the way?" Zhen Tai asked Zhen Xing. "Would be nice to find someone as hot blooded...by the way, how are things with Pai Ling?"

"Going fine," Zhen Xing answered. "I mean...there is the issue of her crawling into my bed in the middle of the night, but that’s less of an issue than you would think."

"..."

"Before you judge me or think salacious thoughts, she crawls into my bed because she has terrible nightmares of me dying before her eyes."

"..."

Evidently, this explanation didn’t make Zhen Tai feel any better.

...

"Alright, you mentioned that this village had a really good curry...how long ago was that?" Antonio asked Olstenna. "Because if it’s more than ten years, there’s definitely a chance that the place had been wiped out by now."

"Jokes on you, I was there five years ago," Olstenna answered with a laugh. "I was part of a warband at the time who were hired for a battle between two elites in the same sect. I honestly forgot the name of the sect and the elites involved, because those fucking idiots killed each other during the battle. So neither of our bands got paid."

"Damn, mutually assured destruction?" Lythero asked.

"Nah, a third party interjected and took them both out like they were nothing. Spared my life though, so fuck it."

"Huh...are there any interesting souvenirs we can find there or on the way to Charcoal Shell Village? I want to find a gift for Kidanna."

"You’re still in contact with her? I figured the distance would’ve cooled that relationship by now." Olstenna commented.

"Nah. Distance makes the heart grow fonder."

"Ah, you’re one of those..."

...

"Oooh, if we’re going to the beach, then that means I’m going to need to bring a swimsuit," Jinju Ren realized. "Oooh, that means we also get to see darling in one too!"

"What’s a swimsuit?" Rianna asked, sounding quite serious about her question.

"You’re kidding, right? It’s a specialized piece of clothing designed for swimming."

"Why would you need to wear clothes when swimming? Isn’t it better to just go in the water naked?" Rianna pointed out, making her intentions very clear.

"...I have underestimated your planning ability and we should definitely make sure that darling’s ability to wear a swimsuit is severely limited as much as possible."

"Wait, what?" Zhen Liu asked as soon as he heard Jinju Ren’s comment about a swimsuit.

"Nothing, darling. We’re just planning on what to do when we arrive to that lovely little beach," Jinju Ren assured Zhen Liu with a disarming smile. "By the way, did you have a habit of swimming back home? I mean, I know about the Jade Forest and Jade Lake, but that place didn’t strike me as somewhere meant for leisurely swimming."

"Oh, that reminds me, I should probably see if I can grab Mini and Tiny. It would make our trip a lot easier..."

...

Either way, there was a tangible excitement buzzing around the group as they got into the swing of going on a vacation as opposed to an expedition, a raid, or anything else that normally ended in a violent conflict for everyone involved and several bodies needing to be buried in a shallow grave somewhere.

Of course, while the mortals and kaijin were only worried about the immediate future and the factors around it, the observers of this little group were busy planning ahead.

Both in a preventative and provocative manner.

...

In the Library of Nowhere, Logos and Pathos were busying themselves putting together a travel itinerary for Zhen Liu and his party.

For the most part, the itinerary was benign.

A couple of pretty sights there, a few villages with notable food here, and maybe a natural treasure or two that might be worth a damn to explore.

However, Logos and Pathos made sure to also include some locations that would be important to the development of the kaijin, their Lord’s mortal connections...and their current Lord himself.

<Alright, so we’re going to have our lord avoid the... Basin of the Ashborn Zombies because of the sheer amount of undead and parasitic things he had been fighting lately, which may or may have not been empowering that [Hammer of the Dearly Departed] of his. >

= I’m fairly certain if anyone other than him had gotten their hands on it, the sheer amount of undead souls inside of it would drive them mad. =

<We’re also going to have him avoid the nesting grounds of the Dragon-Blooded Amethyst Anacondas, because that is just asking for trouble at this point...that said, we will not be dissuading him in the slightest if Mistress Jinju Ren is the one to bring it up and suggest it. >

=I don’t think we have to worry about it because that route is a little ways off from the route our lord has planned. =

<And of course, we need to try and steer him towards...there.>

On a copy of the map that they had given Zhen Liu, Logos and Pathos had circled one location that wasn’t present on Zhen Liu’s copy.

This location had an icon that represented a temple, and the name of this temple was... mildly ominous, to say the least. It also included a note that if Zhen Liu had read, he would realize that the war between the Erupting Dawn Empire and the Sacred Flame Theocracy was beyond silly.

After all, there was another treasured aether flame located right next to the capital of the Erupting Dawn Empire.

[The Brazier of the Beginning.]

=Are you sure we should try and poke around her domain?= Logos asked her counterpart. = I mean, it’s been millennia since we last spoke with her, and I do believe the relationship there was... tense to say the least. =

<You’re the one who pointed out that our Lord has some weird connection to concepts like her, Tiamat, Cipactli, and the like. It’s only fair that we see it through and make sure our lord can become someone truly powerful. Powerful enough to live past...any of our previous Lords.>

=I suppose that’s true...=

After agreeing with Pathos about this course of action, Logos waved a hand over the map and zoomed out from the focus on Dozing Salamander, revealing an atlas that had marked off even more locations.

All with names that were rather ominous to most, all of which were places that would never appear on any map other than their own.

<=...and from the darkness, rose the sun.=>