"How is it flying?" The sheer energy necessary to lift such a structure into the air..." Richard muttered curiously, overlooking the land below and Que smiled as he explained.

"You're right, for a normal magic stone, the sheer consumption would be immense, and similarly, the magic core of a normal monster couldn't do it.

But kaiju have giant magic cores with enough energy to power a city. A level 1 kaiju core is the size of a dog, and a size 5 core, which is what's being used to power this fortress is the size of a large house. And size 10? Well, it's hard to tell really. We only have one sample of those."

He paused for dramatic pause, showing a teasing smile, before finally speaking.

"It's the size of this building."

Hearing this, Richard's mind went blank, as he imagined the sheer size of sucha structure.

This building was huge!

ANd that core was the size of this entire building?

At this moment, sister Alexandria spoke up. "I've never heard of the Australian federation killing a class 10 kaiju though. You've only ever managed to drive him away."

Hearing this, Richard was left curious. Indeed, where had they seen a class 10 core then? No living creature would ever let another look at their core willingly, for such a thing to happen would mean they are dead already.

Que responded coyly. "Indeed. We do manage to drive out Dominion every time. And how do you think we've managed to do so?" he asked.

This, Richard knew a little about. "I've read about this. Supposedly they have a giant golem called mecha orochi, who only appears to drive out the singular class 10 kaiju Dominion. Wait, you mean...?"

To this, Que nodded. "Indeed, mecha orochi contains a class 10 magic core. He's a well known guardian of the people, and so is the size of his magic core. So you know, not much of a secret. It's a fun fact often taught to children to emphasize the sheer size of kaiju."

"To think so much energy can be produced by a single kaiju core. How many people it could help." Frodo noted thoughtfully, but the commander solemnly responded.

"Perhaps, but it is a salvation paid in blood. A kaiju body contains plenty of tonics, but the cost to deal with a kaiju wave is measured in hundreds of lives.You're lucky that from what we can tell, these smaller holes are nowhere the size as the tunnel in Australia. Because of that, the most powerful kaiju you'll see is a class 5. " The commander's voice brought a solemn tone to the room, reminding them about what was to come, and the cost of such wonderful energy.

"How strong is a class five?" Olivia asked and the commander paused as he thought about it.

"It's hard to measure in your ranks. In Australia, we rank kaiju by levels, 1-10, which are in turn, based on the sheer power and size of a creature. Dominion and mecha orochi for example, are the only class 10 kaiju we're aware of, being hundreds of meters in size. A class one kaiju, conversely, tend to be up to 5 meters in size.

If I had to estimate though, the threat level of a level 5 kaiju would be around S-rank for you. " he said, after much contemplation.

SSSS!

Richard took in a deep breath in astonishment at the claim.

A class 5 kaiju would be considered an S-rank? Then the other 5 ranks would be beyond S rank!

Olivia seemed dubious about the claim as she spoke up. "Really? 'm not trying to dismiss your claim, but to say a mere class 5 kaij could be considered an S-class threat..."she trailed off, and seeing where she was going with the point, the commander explained.

"I say an S-class, but at least half the threat comes from its pure size, which increases the amount of mayhem it can cause, and diminishes the amount of damage small creatures like us can deal to it. Class 5 kaijus easily grow above 50 meters, making the amount of damage one of your a-class adventurers can do is minimal.

I say S-rank because only the S-ranks could do any amount of palpable amounts of damage to threaten such a kaiju.

You also have to consider the fact that during a wave, a class 5 kaiju is often surrounded by class 4s and 3s, increasing the threat they pose.

Over the years we've managed to deal with it by sorrounding the tunnel with our own armaments, ready at a moment's notice to be besieged whenever a surprise wave occurs.

Even then, some manage to slip the net.

Do not underestimate the kaiju."

Hearing this, Olivia nodded, her questions answered, only to leave her more solemn than before.

After all, this would very much be their problem soon.

Richard didn't think they were in any real danger.

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Sister Alexandria was here after all, and as a creature that scared even the gods, he was sure she was strong enough to protect them.

But that was the problem with the kaiju.

They were huge, behemoths of destruction.

According to the commander, class 5 kaijus can easily hit 50 meters, which spoke volumes as to how large these beasts can get. After all, that was only a class 5. What about class 6? Class 7?

He was glad they would be facing a minimum class 5, but even then, he had to consider the amount of destruction this class 5 would cause.

He felt... partly responsible.

After all, the man behind all of this was his father. Even if he did not regard him so.

Whatever the case was, ultimately he decided it was partially his responsibility to help as many people as he can.

Before he could speak up, the commander spoke instead, looking at them seriously.

"I know that it'll be dangerous, but I have to ask: would you be willing to help us? Frankly, there's no guarantee this wave will happen, but we have to be prepared for the worst.

And we could use all the help we could get."

Richard stepped forth, choosing to volunteer. "If I can, I'm willing to help."

"Well, guess I'm in." sighed one large rat and Olivia and Frodo were not far behind, volunteering their aid.

"Of course." Ellie said straightforwardly. Sister Alexandria merely quietly nodded, while Achil said nothing at all, playing with Alexandria's tail distractedly.

But it was enough.

The commander smiled in relief upon hearing their affirmation.

They would need anyone they could get after all.

"I appreciate your participation." the commander said with a grin, before explaining.

"We're going to need help at the periphery. The greatest danger isn't the frontline, but ensuring none of them escape into the civilian landscape. WIth kaiju, the only thing we're ever short of is people."

Que decided to speak as well. "We've already began collaborating with the dwarves to prepare for the worst case scenario, so preparations have already begun, but its less than we hoped.

After all, we weren't even sure it would play out in the first place. It was hard to convince the dwarves to begin, though less difficult once we told them we could build unique structures for dealing with kaiju.

They became more enthusiastic after we showed them the designs."

"I'm surprised you're willing to show them such valuable designs." Olivia commented, to which Que responded seriously.

"When it comes to kaiju, we put interests second to safety. I wouldn't say we are the most united group in existence, but the overhanging threat of kaiju can't be ignored. Besides, we may have given them some useful info, but nothing above class 6 anti-kaiju technology. That's the kind of stuff the big families aren't willing to part with easily."

No one in the room found that particularly surprising. It was already amazing that the federation was willing to devote this much effort to helping foreign territories with little to no connection with them.

Not even the tower, a major organization of magic with unanimously supported the empire, would be willing to fork over their greatest trade secrets.

This was already a great show of faith on the federation's part.

"Then we the empire owe you a great deal." Lysandre said sincerely, and Que merely waves his hand.

"Nonsense. This is to our benefit as well as yours. The more people who are aware of kaiju, the better. That way, we can better understand them." He said with a great sincerity, and even eagerness.

Hearing this, the commander chuckled. "Que is part of the faction who believes that we should focus more on studying the kaiju and their unique nature. I don't disagree of course, the better we understand our enemies, the safer we are. It's just that no one's ever been able to get to the core of it. It's basically a hopeless endeavor." He said, the last part said with a sense of hopelessness.

It was understandable from Richard's perspective.

He hadn't read much on the hollow earth, but anyone who has read up on it would understand the hopelessness of such a study.

It was said to be a tunnel that extended hundreds of miles, if not thousands downwards into the kaiju lair, with no idea of when another wave would erupt.

To be caught up in the midst of a wave would be death.

Que responded with a smile. "Indeed, no one's ever been able to determine why the kaiju are the way they are so deviated from the nature of qi type beings or monsters. For that matter, we don't understand why they keep emerging from the Earth in waves, and what's actually going on down there.

But I think it's important to always wonder about it and to speculate about it. As much as we hate them, much of the Federation is built upon the kaiju. Dare I say it, without the kaiju, our refuge ancestors all those years ago may have easily began fighting one another and failed to form the federation of today without such a dangerous threat as well as valuable resource.

Much of our current labour force is maintained by low level kaiju we've domesticated, which has dealt with much of our labour costs as well as resources.

And just as they were what allowed the nation to exist, I believe they are also the key to our prosperity. They are the key to our future." he summarized with confidence.

"Oh, so he's just koo koo for kaiju then." Panda jabbed and Que laughed.

"I suppose so, yes. I am as you put it, koo koo for kaiju. Perhaps you will feel similarly once you've seen a few in person." he said, with a hint of teasing, causing the squirrel to perk up in curiosity.

"... Do you have some?" He asked, genuinely curious and the commander responded with confidence.

"Of course! One of the best ways to deal with kaiju are other kaiju, so of course we've brought some to help reinforce mountain city. Whether or not we'll sell them or not is a whole other thing entirely. The ones we've brought this time happen to belong to one of the great families.

Drop bears. Not the strongest kaiju out there, but they are quite adept, nimble, and decently strong. A valued resource to be sure, especially since the strongest in recorded history have hit the 5th level.

But if you just want to see them, that's easy. Que here can take you to see some of them.

In fact, his very own drop bear is on this ship."

Even sister Alexandria looked curious as she got up, and Achil reluctantly followed.

The rest of the group were like eager children as they got up, much to the commander's amusement.

"Que can take you there to meet his drop bear. It's rather tame compared to most of his race." he said, volunteering the writer wholeheartedly.

Though he didn't volunteer verbally, he didn't seem against the idea either.

Even with the impending danger of a kaiju wave, the curiosity of what a kaiju looked like itched at the group.

Nay, perhaps it'd be more accurate to say that the approach of a kaiju wave drove that curiosity.

Lysandre still asked. "Are you sure? Surely Que must be a bit busy right now with the upcoming wave..."

The commander interrupted and denied the statement. "No, Que is more of a scientist. For the next part, his role is far less. And you know," he said, leaning in and whispering. "He could use a distraction from his wife, so you know, feel free to distract him with some drop bear time, hmm?" he asked quietly.

This made the suggestion even more appealing.

After all, they had participated in the rescue operation, and knew of her poor condition.

Something to further distract the writer Que from his troubles was not a bad thing.

Well, and they wanted to see these kaiju.

What were "Drop Bears?"