Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 353: Akihiko & Kenzo

Chapter 353: Akihiko & Kenzo

Without another word, Akihiko and Kenzo launched their attack. Akihiko was fast. That armour must have amped his speed to lightning-like speed because his katana flashed and nearly struck Kazi’s midsection. Kazi parried effortlessly, the sound of clashing steel ringing through the hall.

"Solid power," Kazi complimented without realizing. Clang! Clang! Clang! Several swings came at him and he blocked them all with a smile. He already knew what they were doing. He could have stopped them before they ever happened with his left eye. He didn’t.

From behind, Kenzo appeared and followed up with a sweeping smite of his staff, attempting to trip Kazi. Kazi could afford another Foresight. Yet strangely, his heart didn’t want to.

Kazi’s foot stopped the staff and kicked off of it to flip over Kenzo and a few feet away. Regardless of result, their coordination was impeccable.

"Phew." Kazi rolled his shoulder. Meanwhile, Akihiko and Kenzo exchanged looks. "That was some good teamwork."

"We didn’t expect this to be easy," Akihiko said. Kenzo nodded in agreement.

Kazi didn’t even look. He just knew.

Akihiko walked, limps thrumming with mana, and then initiated his next attack again. This next move...

’Flow of mana...!’

Akihiko ran and gathered momentum and went faster. He blipped from one place to another and then struck from multiple angles. Kazi’s eyes darted left and right as if keeping up with a fly. He deflected each blow effortlessly, his sword a seamless extension of his arm.

"You have the Intermediate Swordsman Class," Kazi noted. Clang! Clang! Clang! Akihiko went faster. Attacked faster. "And you’re using Blink Lv. 1. So you probably chose the light element—"

"Super Light Slash!"

Clang!

This time, the sword came at him stronger. He wasn’t fazed though, continuing to smile. Akihiko seemed surprised that it didn’t do anything. He pulled back and then rolled to the side.

Kazi saw darkness.

"Oh wow."

Truly impeccable coordination. There wasn’t a millisecond between them.

Casually, Kazi uttered, "Super Spark Strike," and slashed the Super Shadow Bolt in half. Kazi half-expected Kenzo to be shocked. He wasn’t. The teen with the staff simply sent out another, this time adding the chant, "Great darkness of the world, come rain down on us — Super Shadow Bolt!"

"Super Spark Strike—"

He was prepared to slice it in half. Akihiko had predicted that. He was keenly aware of Kazi’s casual superiority and had circled behind him. His katana shined brightly.

"Faith of the Week!"

Akihiko’s katana whistled. Kenzo’s chant-amplified Super Shadow Bolt was nearing dangerously.

’This is a pickle, huh?’

He spoke the thought so nonchalantly. The Faith of the Week, the final skill within the light element of the Amateur Swordsman Class. A skill that began with the sword raising up high, charging up mana, before coming down in a sweeping beam of light. With a step back, Kazi angled himself and his arm to narrowly avoid the light blade and have it crunch into the ground. The sword was buried into the polished floor for half a second, the automated combo ready to keep going.

Kazi, unfortunately, was too fast a thinker.

He hooked his arm down and over Akihiko’s two-handed grip. The butt of his sword slammed into his face and Akihiko grunted and stumbled back, the katana leaving his grip. Kazi then scooped it up, fueling the katana with his own mana, and throwing it forward. The momentum and power was too much and the katana ripped the Super Shadow Bolt apart and sliced Kenzo’s cheek.

Silence befell them.

"I hope that wasn’t your trump card," Kazi remarked.

Akihiko didn’t respond and used the Blink skill to dart over to his katana which had lodged itself into the throne room entrance door. Kenzo wiped the blood off his cheek, scowling.

"Akihiko," said Kenzo.

"I’m going forward."

Kazi tilted his head. The staffed Wizard, regardless of his skillset, wouldn’t be able to fight close-range against him. ’Especially after what I just did. He has a plan.’ His left eye ached. He very easily could have glimpsed into the future. He didn’t.

He should have. Lives were on the line. Players and fishermen were going to kill each other. So why was he doing this? Why was he putting up with this when he said he would kill Princess Otohime as fast as he could?

Before he knew it, Kenzo was charging at him. His staff suddenly began to vibrate.

’Oh?’

Clang! Kazi had been operating at Advanced Flow of Mana. He wasn’t at full power yet against a staff, he expected an easy deflection. That was not what happened. Kazi’s new B-rank blade was instead blown back, nearly slipping from his fingertips.

A screech penetrated his ears.

’What the—?’

The wooden staff attempted to strike him again. His speed significantly superior, Kazi went to block it again. His Flow of Mana wasn’t at maximum but he certainly didn’t intend to let his blade and body be exposed.

Yet it was.

This was a surprise.

Suddenly, he sensed Akihiko was behind him. Faith of the Week couldn’t be used as stated in its condition. He was too far for close-range combat too. What else could he—

"The Spread of Light!"

Akihiko impaled his sword into the ground and formulated a magic circle with it. From below Kazi’s feet, light creeped up. ’An attack from below!?’

A blast of yellow light hurled upon him, great enough that Kenzo retreated. The light consumed Kazi’s form.

The light began to fade.

A tinge of light-blue remained. A sphere of magical energy, the Ultra Magic Barrier. The two were stunned.

"No way, you can’t have..."

"A spell that combines sound and wind to catch me off guard, and finishing with a spell with a long-range magic circle. Sheesh, they sure teach you a lot at Mage University."

Kenzo charged. Akihiko gained some distance. They were trying again.

As if Kazi would let that happen.

Kazi threw his sword at Kenzo who smacked it away. His reaction time was fine. The issue was that his staff swung too far away for the deflection. Kazi was already there, a finger pointed at the Wizard’s chest.

"Fire Dart."

Bam!

Kenzo was sent blasting into the throne room doors. His staff rolled from his fingers, useless.

Light began to emerge from Kazi’s feet. The long-range magic circle. Too slow. Kazi disappeared and reappeared in front of Akihiko who surprised him by predicting his move. Not that it mattered. His sword wasn’t fast enough and Kazi countered with a swift kick to Akihiko’s midsection, sending him stumbling backward.

His sword still in hand, Akihiko raised his blade in a defensive position. Kazi cocked his head and his fist stopped an inch from the blade.

"You’re about to use Light of Reflection, aren’t you?"

Akihiko froze. The next thing he knew, a disgusting kick rattled his temple and a kick punched his lights out for good.

"That’s a skill better used in the heat of battle, not at the end. It absorbs attack power for five seconds, then sends it back in a beam of light." Kazi wiped the tiny bit of sweat from his brow, grinning. "Still, not too shabby, you two. You would have killed Jackson, Kibiwott, and Remmy."

But not Kazi. Winner: Kazi Hossain.

Touching the throne room doors, he was faced with a warning.

[ Warning! Boss in vicinity! ]

[ One inventory item allowed! ]

His inventory suddenly appeared in front of him. "Oh? Only one weapon or armour piece?" For Kazi, there was only one he wanted on his person.

"Stormedge."

Stormedge in hand, he sheathed the stolen weapon, opened the doors, and went inside without a speck of fear.

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