Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1562: A Classic Hunt

*Bing-Bong*

The hell kind of political intrigue was that? This was a side episode at best!

|I told you I'm not good at that sort of thing. Who do I look like? R.R. Martin? |

Wait, are you even allowed to make that reference?

|Yes.|

That sounded very...wait a minute...OH FUCK THE LIGHT IS ON!

|Oh shit.|

AHEM!

...

We interrupt this chapter to inform the reader we will now be returning to Zhen Liu and his merry band.

However, we would like to warn the readers that we will be dropping in our protagonist while he and his party are in the middle of an activity and we'll only provide a very brief recap of what had occurred.

Honestly, you're not missing much.

We now return to your regularly scheduled chapter, thank you.

...

Alright, back to your ass, why can't you write political intrigue?

|Honestly? It's because it's incredibly...grade school felling, at least, when I write it.|

Ah.

*Bing-Bong

________________________________________

The road to Charcoal Shell Beach, surprisingly, went according to plan with little to no unexpected problems.

As promised by Logos and Pathos, many of the stops along the way there were surprisingly peaceful or just plain lovely.

Zhen Liu and his group were no longer deep in the jungle and were now seeing a bit more variety to the landscapes they were seeing.

There were rolling hills filled with colorful flowers, a trio of waterfalls that was home to a famous shrine, and even a few small villages that were predominantly filled with peasants simply living the quiet life as opposed to the ambitious road of cultivation.

Well, mostly.

Some of these villages had warriors that simply wanted to maintain their humdrum existences, while others told stories about producing young prodigies that went out into the wider world and joined large organizations that had the resources necessary to facilitate their growth and cultivation.

The stories of the latter group intrigued Rianna and Lythero, as they found those fellows more relatable than the warriors who were more or less born into their respective factions.

Well, present company excluded of course.

"Do you ever recall having those kind of grand ambitions when you were younger?" Lythero asked one night.

"No. Most of my days were spent hunting and hiding," Rianna answered. "But hearing these stories is...somewhat comforting."

"Yeah...same."

This pattern of natural sites of beauty and the occasional village was consistent until halfway through their intended route. At which point, Zhen Liu made a declaration that threw everyone present off.

"I want barbecue."

"Uh..."

It should be noted that this declaration was made while they were in the process of roasting a wild boar they had caught over an open fire. Legally, this was barbecue.

"Okay, I should probably explain myself better."

After being caught like this, Zhen Liu proceeded to expound that he was actually craving beef and that he was craving a specific style of barbecue that he "read up on in a book once"

In reality he was telling them about Korean-style barbeque and the various styles the meat was seasoned and prepared.

Unsurprisingly, the descriptions made the party drool.

"So...all we'd need is some beef?"

"Good quality beef, but yeah."

"Hmmm. I think I actually know where we could get some near here..."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Well then, lead the way."

It was this exact moment, this moment of confirmation that Zhen Liu gave to Olstenna that he deeply regretted listening to the battle-hungry Ignarii warrior.

Why?

Because instead of escorting the group to a small little ranch where the rancher had been raising cattle and other types of livestock for several generations, Olstenna had led the group to the pasture of a vicious herd of aether beast cattle.

More specifically, they were Long-Horned Molten Iron Buffalo.

At the sight of the herd of third-tier aether beasts, the group directed a wry look in Olstenna's direction.

"Really? Just…really?"

"You guys wanted beef; that right there is the finest beef on the entire continent," Olstenna explained.

"He's not wrong," Lythero confirmed. "Even those bigwigs in the superior sects eat this stuff. The marbling is some of the finest you'll see in this world or the next. Massive pain in the ass to prepare for cooking, though."

"That is...good to know," Zhen Liu mumbled as he quickly checked with Logos and Pathos if there were any books related to preparing these buffalos that looked surprisingly tasty despite resembling molten iron statues.

Thankfully there were several dozen.

…

'Weird question, but you've parsed through my brain and know that I'm craving Korean-style barbecue… can y'all come up with a way to—'

<Way ahead of you, milord,> Pathos interjected. <However, we will be requesting payment for the first time ever in exchange for this information. >

'Dare I ask?'

=We would like you to send at least three prepared buffaloes for consumption. Jasper and Janice have been showing remarkable progress in their [Chaos] cultivation, and we would like to reward them for their efforts. Also, Axer and the former slave girls are feeling homesick, and we figured this would be a nice way for them to get a taste of home. =

'Oh…say less.'

…

"Alright, the curators just gave me the lowdown on how to prepare these weird melting oxen into a glorious feast. Do we want to take these beasts down in a systematic manner or do we want to make this into a competition?" Zhen Liu asked his compatriots and the kaijin on his person. "And don't worry, for the sake of this little contest, I will not be using the kaijin. Instead, they will be their own teams."

"Say what?"

[OOOOH, BBQ TIME!]

As soon as Zhen Liu stated that the kaijin were going to have free rein to do as they please for this competition, they all immediately summoned themselves from the various accessories that decorated his body.

Immediately, the kaijin formed into their usual battlegroups and waited for further instructions. Well, except for Blazejudicator, Corpse Doll, and Porcelain Doll.

That particular trio just wanted to relax and opted to set up the picnic area that everyone else was going to be using after they acquired their buffaloes.

Shortly after, Jinju Ren, Rianna, Olstenna, Lythero, Antonio, Zhen Xing, Zhen Tai, and Zhen Liu also formed into groups.

"Wait, shouldn't we join up with the kaijin and make two groups of seven?" Antonio asked once they noticed the breakdown of the teams. "I mean, isn't it kind of unfair that we're going to be competing against a bunch of super soldier monsters? No offense."

[None taken,] Nepherage replied. [Also, you won't need to worry about that, because we're going to be using this opportunity to practice something that we've been neglecting.]

"What does that—"

Before Lythero could even finish his question, the six participating kaijin—Nepherage, Frosttusk, Hurricroak, Razorstella, Springerdermain, and Screamira—all took on their human forms.

The sudden transformation was mildly jarring to the group, as they were actually more used to these guys looking like monsters as opposed to people. That stated, this was extra awkward for Zhen Tai since he had once tried to confess his love to Razorstella, back when they didn't know about all of the Kaijin Lord stuff.

Zhen Tai hadn't exactly gotten over that moment, as evident by the fact that the man blushed and turned his head away once he saw Razorstella's human form. Then again, it was kind of hard to not stare at someone who had such sharp yet beautiful features.

"We're going to be essentially moving and fighting like regular aether warriors, so you don't have to worry about us having any unfair advantages because of our builds or innate abilities," Nepherage explained. "Our only advantage will probably be the fact that we have additional persons in our groups."

"Wait, does that mean you guys aren't going to be using your [Chaos] abilities either?" Zhen Xing asked once he processed Nepherage's words. "You're just going to use aether arts and that's it?"

"Yup."

"Huh..."

When Zhen Liu initially stated that the kaijin were going to be participating in this impromptu hunting game, his mortal companions weren't exactly thrilled at the idea. They were more than familiar with the fact that the kaijin were apocalyptic disasters in humanoid form, and understood that something as simple as a hunting competition would end with them getting absolutely rolled.

However, that hinged on them using [Chaos] and this inhuman physiques. Now that it wasn't a factor this time around, then that meant they had a chance.

Needless to say, they were now much more enthusiastic over the idea of this hunting competition.

"Okay, so what are the rules? Is it based on number of kills? Size? Time?" Olstenna asked as he already began eyeing up the buffalo in the distance.

"To keep things fair, we're going to do it based on size and time," Zhen Liu declared. "We're going to have Blazejudicator and the twins keep track and score. That cool with you guys?"

[Of course, Executor.]

[Sounds fun.]

[Where did we get the blanket?]

"Alright, then...on the count of three. We go.]