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

Chapter 1642 - 1642: Coincidences are a pain

The musings of a cartographer who once mapped the world....

Have you ever noticed that the smaller the focus of a map, the more intimate the features are named?

I'm not talking about the big features that would become landmarks in their own right on much larger maps, but little things.

Take for example, a small pond.

On a map focused on the general region, that pond would be nameless and be nothing more than a blue dot in a mass of green and brown.

On a map of a village close to that pond, though, that pond may be named something like "Starry Sky Pond" or "Turtle's Rest Pond."

To the wider world, that pond is nothing more than a puddle.

But to the ones who live next to it, to them, that pond is way more.

They're memories.

They're moments.

It's something impossible to replace and replicate.

And that's why I love maps and why I believe that there is no such thing as a place of no importance.

________________________________________

Shortly after Zhen Liu had sent out those challenge letters, he made sure to update his friends, family,lpp a conflict? Why?"

"To be fair, you have been trying to actively avoid conflict, but you always seem to get embroiled anyway," Jinju Ren pointed out. "Maybe you starting one may have the opposite effect. Besides, are you aware of how dashing you look when you're in the middle of a fight?"

"No?"

"Well, I am, and I promised the others to get pictures done. So there," Jinju Ren informed her beloved while pinching his cheeks.

"Huh…wait when did you get a camera?"

Of course, after reporting this to the people he cared about, he made sure to give Serena an update as well about everything about to go down, including the location.

Evidently, Zhen Liu may have done an oopsie in regards to that latter bit.

"Mister Zhen Liu...are you aware that the hill you chose has a deep spiritual significance to the faith?"

"No...I just picked it because it was close."

"Huh..."

When Zhen Liu sent out his not-so-subtle letter of challenge, he had chosen the meeting place to a little clearing that was about an equidistant mile away from both the city of Emberona and the weird mirage-like grove that the Erupting Dawn Empire was hiding out in.

Coincidentally, that same site apparently had some deeply religious significance to not just Serena but the whole fucking theocracy.

"This clearing is known to the people of Emberona, and the Theocracy, as the place where the [Sacred Flame] was discovered. The story goes that in ages past, the [Sacred Flame] fell from the sky and landed right here, only to be discovered by a humble herdsman. That herdsman would go on to establish the First Church of the Hearth Tender and...well, I think you can guess the rest of the history from there."

"Really?"

"Yes, and the fact that you chose this place to be the battleground by pure coincidence is just... incredibly baffling."

"I suppose..."

Zhen Liu looked over a bunch of historical records up until this point and recalled that, by a massive technicality, the Erupting Dawn Empire's founders were the ones to originally find the [Sacred Flame], which had a different name at the time, and that the Theocracy's founders were the original thieves.

At the time, Zhen Liu found the irony that they had swapped roles over the course of centuries to be somewhat hilarious.

However, it should be noted that the sources that he referenced were only from one side of the historical tapestry.

He didn't have access to the Theocracy's side of things...until now.

Granted, he was still skeptical over whether or not Serena knew the story.

"I know that look," Serena flatly remarked as she noticed Zhen Liu's expression of disbelief. "You're one of the people who read the Empire's propaganda about how they were the original owners of the [Sacred Flame], right? That the Theocracy's founders stole it like marauders in the night?"

"Kind of hard to call it propaganda when it comes from the written works of several accredited scholars from well-known universities..."

"You say that, but even I know some of the officials beneath have been paying off scribes and historians to make themselves look better in the pages of history," Serena snorted.

"...fair enough," Zhen Liu capitulated.

"Besides, as someone who is considered the highest authority in the church, I think I know what I'm talking about when I say that this clearing was once sacred ground," Serena continued. "That is, until the great schism happened."

At the mention of the word, "schism", Zhen Liu's ears perked up.

He was still preparing for the battle that was to come, but he was now paying a little more attention to Serena's words.

"Schism...I recognize the term. You mean to say that the Sacred Flame Theocracy and the Erupting Dawn Empire were once the same tribe?"

"Yes," Serena answered without hesitation. "Actually it would be more accurate to say they used to worship the same flame too."

At this comment, Zhen Liu actually paused his work to stare in Serena's direction. Evidently, he was picking up what Serena was subtlety suggesting with surprising ease.

"So this whole offshoot thing happened before?"

"It has," Serena answered with a sigh. "To be more exact, our Theocracy's flame was the offshoot of what was originally known as the [+_;#!$(;]."

"What the fuck?!"

Being unable to comprehend certain facts of the universe wasn't unusual to Zhen Liu, since he had also done the same whenever he had to relay his own understanding of [Chaos] to others. However, this was the first time it had ever happened to him.

Needless to say, the sudden turnabout of comprehension was... unsettling.

"Let me guess, you have hard a garbled mess instead of the actual name, right?" Serena asked with a sad yet amused tone. "That was to be expected. Even though I learned about it's real name, I can't seem to share with others. Which makes it even harder to convince people that the Erupting Dawn Emperor has the original holy fire that ours separated from."

"Whoa, what?" Zhen Liu exclaimed with genuine surprise at the revelation. "You're kidding me."

"I'm not," Serena sighed. "As learned as you are, Kaijin Lord, that means you're more than aware that the Erupting Dawn Emperor wanted the flame to breakthrough to the next cultivation rank, only to now need it to treat a 'wound on the battlefield'. However, that's only half of the truth."

"Of fucking course it is," Zhen Liu grumbled, realizing that this straightforward issue just became complicated…again. "Let me guess, the real reason for his injury is because of this garbled mess of a flame."

"Exactly."

"Fuck."

Serena proceeded to regale Zhen Liu with the fact that the reason why the Erupting Dawn Empire managed to get to where it was was due to the power of an ancient aether flame that would jam itself into the ruling emperor and their descendants like a proof of leadership.

This flame would empower the wielder to incredible heights...but there was a catch.

The flame would, inevitably, consume the Emperor in a grand conflagration before moving down the line and bestowing the heir with immense power.

This little succession of self-immolation had been going for a long time with no clear end in sight...until the current Emperor.

The current Emperor had learned about the true origins of the [Sacred Flame] and he figured out a solution to this hereditary problem.

He figured that if he could get his hands on the [Sacred Flame], he could use it to stabilize the flame inside himself and use the immense power of both of these ancient flames to become an Aether Deity, never having to fear death ever again.

That, or the flame inside of him would get removed and he wouldn't have to worry about dying from self-destruction.

That wasn't an ideal outcome, but the emperor was certain that he could handle traitors and outside enemies a lot easier than his own internal ticking time bomb.

Either way, the motives of the Erupting Dawn Emperor were now a touch a less greedy than what Zhen Liu had initially thought and now a touch more desperate...but it also gave the young Kaijin Lord some ideas about how to proceed going forward.

At least, if the curators had an idea of what to do as well

...Curator Talk Time...

'Logos, Pathos. Why the fuck was that name scrambled? I thought I was like...above that sort of shit?'

<=Tabiti.=> Logos and Pathos answered simultaneously with the certainty of someone who looked up the answer sheet to an exam. <=It's because of Tabiti.=>

'Ta-wait, I know that name. Why do I know that name?'

=And incredibly enigmatic because that's their whole fucking schtick.=

'Of course...well, on the plus side, I think I know where I'm heading to next...maybe.'