Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?

[Well now, it appears Old Smoky has finally bitten off more than he could chew. I wonder if he's going to run or fight?]

...

^By the grace of—! Wait...I'm alive? I'm alive!^

In the span of a few seconds, Abbott Longhorn had to face the same specter of death twice in a row.

When Zhen Liu fired off that initial blast of energy, Abbott Longhorn could immediately yell that he wasn't at all ready nor built to defend himself from such an attack.

At best, he could weather it and become the victim of a follow-up attack. The worst-case scenario would be that the attack would evaporate the top half of his body.

Which is why Abbott Longhorn was incredibly thankful that the being that had managed to protect him from this horrific end had done so twice.

However, he was not expecting this second attack to carry more power than the first attack.

^Master Smoking Mirror, I have to thank—HOLY SHIT!

When Abbott Longhorn finally turned his attention towards his protector, Lord Smoking Mirror, he was expecting the deity to stand proud and tall again after deflecting this second blast. He wasn't expecting the revived deity to be missing an arm after having done so.

"Bahahahah!" Smoking Mirror laughed in a deranged manner. "It appears I have severely underestimated just how stable this new body of mine truly is. Safe to say, fighting you and your Kaijin may not be the best idea right now."

With a surge of energy, Smoking Mirror restored the arm that had been destroyed by the deflected [Godoku Cannon] blast, but anyone with decent enough senses could tell that this limb was noticeably weaker than before.

"By the way, Abbott, I suggest you clear out before you get caught in the fallout."

"Corpse Doll! Porcelain Doll! Are you two okay?!" Zhen Liu shouted, ignoring Smoking Mirror's commentary.

"Then again, perhaps you may not need to."

Granted, anyone who could take advantage of this display of weakness was a little busy at the moment.

Despite their incredibly impressive display of redirecting the attack and looking physically fine, Porcelain Doll and Corpse Doll had essentially burned up whatever energy they had in their bodies in doing so.

[Yes, Caretaker...]

[We're just a little...tired.]

[Bleh!]*2

"Whoa!"

If they were normal Kaijin, they wouldn't be as drained. But since they were proto-kaijin, they were now running on fumes.

As such, the twin doll Kaijin essentially passed out as they fell into Zhen Liu's arms and transformed into their portable doll forms in order to conserve energy and recover.

Once they were in his hands, Zhen Liu placed the two of them inside of the wooden box backpack that was originally Corpse Doll's coffin.

[Wait...we can still fight...] Corpse Doll complained as she tried to move her tiny limbs.

[I...concur,] Porcelain Doll agreed while also flailing her tiny porcelain fingers.

"You two rest up in here. Leave the rest to your older siblings," Zhen Liu assured the proto-kaijin twins as he patted their heads to mollify them.

Surprisingly, Smoking Mirror didn't use this opportunity to attack Zhen Liu while the latter was essentially distracted.

Which was something he brought up after he got to his feet to face the fragment of a god.

"Well, color me surprised; I figured that you'd try to pop my head while I was making sure the twins were cared for."

"I may be a god of conflict and trickery, but I am also a warrior of honor," Smoking Mirror shrugged. "Consider it my gift of momentary mercy for the impressive display."

"Appreciated, yet… I can't help but feel insulted at the same time."

"As you should," Smoking Mirror retorted. "Regardless, I know that you have two other Kaijin on your person but that they're rather drained as well. So, [Chaos Shaper], I will give you the grand opportunity of surrendering and swearing fealty to me as I bring about a new age of-"

"Hang on a minute; what did you just say?" Zhen Liu asked as he mentally processed an odd thing Smoking Mirror had said regarding the number of kaijin present. "Did you just say…two?"

"I am well aware of your ability to make kaijin of even the simplest of stones," Smoking Mirror answered prematurely. "But I believe that requires powerful desires to be present, and yet I don't really sense any of that."

"Huh…" Zhen Liu trailed off as he ignored Smoking Mirror's provocative tone to make a semi-wild conjecture. "You can sense [Chaos]; you made that obvious when you called me out on it earlier… but I get the feeling your ability to do so is rather…limited, yes?"

Smoking Mirror wasn't entirely sure why, but this line of questioning made him feel rather...uneasy.

"I do not appreciate the caginess of your time. Aren't you aware that's my thing?"

"Okay, then allow me to be as blunt as the stone club I'm about to use to smash your mirror into pieces. I brought more with me, bitch!"

Immediately after that insult, a surge of [Chaos] that resembled a burning star appeared above Smoking Mirror's head.

[Guillotine Star!]

"Whoa there!"

The man made of jade propelled himself backwards as Razorstella dropped down from the heavens like a guillotine, blades legs first.

Despite missing, though, Razorstella maintained an impeccably calm face...and a tongue as sharp as steel.

[As a fellow being associated with the night, I consider it both an honor and a privilege to send you back to Xibalba. I'll try not to shave too much off your stony hide!] Razorstella roared as she launched a side kick into Smomong Mirror's face, only to miss as he juked his head to the side.

[Well, aren't you a show stealer!] Smoking Mirror praised him as he threw a punch towards Razorstella, prompting her to counter with her claws and bend backwards. [But you should know that even the brightest stars dim. Umbral Claw!]

Empowering his hand with aether until it was encapsulated in a claw of shadows, Smoking Mirror struck forward with the aim to decapitate her.

Instead, he found himself punching through an illusion that dispersed into green and purple smoke.

"What's this?!"

[Ya know, dim lights always make for the best tricks. Wouldn't you agree, master trickster?]

HISS!

The smoke reformed into a pair of illusionary snakes that wrapped around Smoking Mirror's arm and dragged him down to the ground in order to get him to bow his head.

Once he was down, Springerdermain appeared from a different smoke cloud and attempted to land a hammer blow to the back of his head with a pair of phantasmal limbs that resembled his old arms.

Unfortunately, Springerdermain's fists ended up hitting nothing but smoke as they passed through Smoking Mirror's body.

[Did you really think that the "smoking" part of name is just for show?] Smoking Mirror's voice echoed as the smoke trails that were his body reformed directly behind Springerdermain. [You remind me of a snake; do you have the same weakness as them? Jaguar's —eh?]

Before Smoking Mirror could strike forward and jam a hand into the back of Springerdermain's mechanical neck, a distinctly red-and-black skeletal woman with massive horns and a mane of white hair appeared in front of them and began to channel a fuckton of aether into her throat and lungs.

Once she was certain that she wasn't going to hit Springerdermain, Screamira let loose a concentrated scream of death and sound.

[Banshee's Riot!]

"Oof!"

As Screamira's attacks ripped through the underground chamber, the remaining mirrors in the palace began to vibrate something fierce as they released high pitched notes but didn't shatter.

As for Smoking Mirror himself, he found that his jade-like body didn't appreciate being impacted by a screaming missile to the stomach that smashed him into a wall.

"Oof! That smarts."

The force of this attack was so great that not only had Smoking Mirror found himself with a body that was absolutely covered in cracks but also that his newly reformed arm had essentially shattered into pieces.

This time, Smoking Mirror was in no hurry to reform his arm because he had another idea in mind.

That stated, the kaijin trio known as the Mysticlassical Squad didn't give a shit about any of this.

Instead, Razorstella, Springerdermain, and Screamira began to gather around Smoking Mirror, aether and [Chaos] circulating around them in a threatening manner.

They didn't know what else the shard of a god had up his sleeves, but they were ready to strike at any time.

[What's this? I thought the kaijin were bloodthirsty warriors who had no mercy. Is this influence from the current Shaper?] Smoking Mirror mocked while performing a series of hand seals behind his back.

[Oh, we do plan to kill you,] Screamira replied. [We're just deciding who gets to do the deed.]

[Really? Who'd you decide on?]

[Me! Spring Cannon!]

Springerdermain proceeded to launch himself headfirst towards Smoking Mirror, ready to shatter him into pieces.

Unfortunately...he was a little too slow.