Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 224: Blessed I

Chapter 224: Blessed I

The Eternal Emperor and the Japanese Imperial family possessed magical, material, and political power. The samurai of the Minamoto Clan understood that power and gave them the respect they deserved. From the day they were named a part of the Minamoto clan, they trained till their bones broke. Kazi faced these warriors one after another, unofficial and still in training.

Clang!

The curve of the Husnü’s Stormedge caught and deflected the enemy samurai’s katana down to the ground. The left armour of the Sorcerer was limp and the next swing that came upon him was too fast to deflect.

Clang!

To compensate, the Ultra Magic Barrier appeared like a steel wall. The protection it offered encouraged another hard swing.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

His barrier expanded ever so slightly and within the confines of the Ultra Magic Barrier, Stormedge was pointed at the samurai. "Ultra Aqua Bolt."

The samurai was fast and narrowly avoided the steel-incinerating bolt of water. Even a surprise sword strike failed to catch him. This samurai was not like Genji. He was older, more experienced. He was better trained. Even so...

"He’s using spells from the Sorcerer Class...!"

"How is this possible?"

"The conditions for the Sorcerer Class is a plague for players..."

No one else but Genji wielded the golden flames of Amaterasu. Thus, the ordinary samurai of the Minamoto clan, no matter how close or fervently they went on the offensive, did not concern Kazi Hossain. A limp arm could be fully replaced with the methods of the Sorcerer; with the Ultra Magic Barrier and the mighty mid and long range offences.

So far, across the many samurai he had defeated, Kazi counted seven styles. The samurai in front of him wielded a katana with a longer hilt and an emphasis on raising the blade high. He was the same as Genji, slipping into the same raised high stance. According to the spectators mutterings, this overhead technique was the Kamae of Heaven . The accompanying style was called Yagyū Shinkage-ryū. From pure observation alone, the way of the sword was what made it a fearsome opposition. Not footwork, although that was a key component, but everything was aimed to hit their target.

If Kazi had not faced Genji early on, this nameless samurai might have posed an issue.

While his left arm was unusable, his right was not and that was all Kazi needed. He sniped three additional Ultra Aqua Bolts, always accompanying it with a chant. The samurai in black gained some distance and dodged them. Unlike the Fire Darts Genji faced, these were impossible to deal with. His prior two opponents could attest to that. The samurai ran and circled around, hoping for an opportunity.

Kazi stopped and feigned a wince of pain.

’There it is.’

The samurai charged at him. How predictable.

Three feet away and nearing, Kazi sent off another Ultra Aqua Bolt. The samurai swerved around it and kept going, his honed instincts kicking in. In that instant, Kazi deactivated his Ultra Magic Barrier and also charged in, thrusting forward with Stormedge. The samurai hurled his blade from the side. Both blades came close to ripping flesh. The katana to Kazi’s neck and Kazi to his stomach.

However, Kazi’s Fire Dart landed first and blasted the face of the samurai. From there—

"Super Spark Strike!"

He dropped down and cleanly slashed at the knees. A weak point within the armour of the samurai. The samurai dropped to the ground, the electrical shock affecting him mentally as it did physically. Stormedge arrived at his neck, flickering with lightning.

Kazi looked down at his defeated foe, then Emperor Toru.

"Next."

Emperor Toru had nothing but applause. "Ha. Unfortunately, I’ve run out of samurai to throw at you."

He gestured to the seven samurai that he had defeated. Some were burned, others were electrocuted at a particular opening. None were healed by the Emperor. "Good thing I haven’t put these men to work yet. They definitely need a couple more years of training if they want to serve me. Ah, and I sent my personal guards at Valhalla’s Colosseum to hunt for the tails of a kitsune."

Right. These were the Minamoto Clan’s samurai in training. The weakest of the weakest. The ones that could not act without a supervisor. The ones that did errands and were forced to prove themselves at every waking moment. The ones that were below the palace samurai and leagues under the Emperor’s personal guards.

The ones that, although specializing in archery, were forced to use swords against him. Kazi had felt the stiffness in their strikes. They were trained to fight with swords. They did not master it. Indeed, like most archers, there were calluses in their dominant hand, their bow hand, specifically in the palm below the middle, ring, and pinky fingers. Accounting for the Minamoto Clan’s historical penchant for archery, the shared bigger sternocleidomastoid muscle, thicker fingers, and somewhat strange definition of arm and shoulder muscle, and there was no doubt in Kazi’s mind.

’My opponents were all archers; and the Eternal Emperor forced them to fight as swordsmen.’

Kazi’s left arm ached. He did not want to think about the so-called elites he was referring to. He didn’t want to think about how much stronger these weak samurai would be if they had their bows. He did not want to think about the Eternal Emperor’s treatment toward his own family. Kazi wore a happy smile and did a curtsy, arms spread. "I hope that was entertainment enough, Your Highness."

Emperor Toru’s smile was big, interrupted only by his chewing of Japanese soba with Chinese ground chicken meatballs. "You certainly lived up to the hype. Skills from the Sorcerer Class, not to mention fresh from Ascension...this is certainly a first for me." He swallowed his soba and pointed his chopsticks at him. "Mm, you should get that arm fixed."

Kazi had tried but failed. Healing spells applied to one’s self were half as effective. More importantly, the flames of Amaterasu burned deep.

"One more word of advice since you’ve entertained me so vigorously: join the Old Mage Tower. Apprentice under a real Sorcerer." Emperor Toru slurped on some more soba. "Mm, if not, then enroll in the University of Magic. Go for their accelerated program. The semester will begin soon, I believe."

"Haa...haa..." Stormedge disappeared and Kazi touched the deep cut on his cheek. The fourth samurai had nicked him with an intense lightning-coated katana. Still, Kazi remained smiling. "I will consider your words."

From the depths of the palace, two servants carried a large box. The box was opened, revealing a full set of flame-coloured prosthetics. Upon his third victory, the Emperor asked for the measurements as if he had already decided Kazi deserved them. He forced another four battles simply because he wanted to. Kazi knelt down and checked their quality. There was no doubt about it. The second his finger touched the surface, the difference between what he made versus this...it was as clear as day.

Kazi took each prosthetic and placed it in his inventory. How many millions of points and gold coins was this worth? Kazi did the math on his time.

’Better not to linger on it.’

"I’m looking forward to your development. You appear quite blessed, my friend." The Eternal Emperor smiled. "Bye-bye!"

Snap!

His vision blurred. Suddenly, Kazi was outside the palace again, his left arm wounded and burned, his face cut in two different places, and his legs shaking. He exhaled and dropped to his knees. "Mmmph...!" He slapped a hand to his mouth, nearly vomiting his lunch. "Ha...ha...haah..."

He had never felt so weak in his life.

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