Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 354: Princess Otohime

Chapter 354: Princess Otohime

The doors to the throne room swung open. The tiles stretched across from him were glistening blue as if wet from magic. At the far end of the room, atop a raised throne made of coral reefs, sat Princess Otohime.

The princess was as regal and royal and divine as humanity would expect. Long, flowing black hair with the blue and green strands shimmering like the ocean at a majestic dawn. Silken brilliance that no human could ever attain. Divinity blessed her being in every moment. Her eyes were like pools of the purest water. She wore a half-blue, half-red kimono that consumed her goddess flesh and was decorated with a dark blue sea turtle pattern, the fabric so fine it seemed to ripple with the tiniest movement.

Kazi walked slowly, his gaze fixed on the princess. The throne room was thick with tension, the weight of their destinies pressing down on them. Princess Otohime’s eyes met his, and a faint, melancholic smile curved her lips.

"Odin’s Eye," Princess Otohime said softly, her voice echoing through the chamber like the gentle lapping of waves against the shore. "I have been expecting you."

"Have you now?"

His left eye ached, yet not on his own. Kazi walked until his foot stepped at the base of the platform.

The princess sighed, a sound filled with centuries of regret and longing. "Do you know the tale of my precious Urashima?" she asked, her eyes searching the ceiling. "He was a beautiful man, much like you. He saved me when I was most vulnerable, and in return, he was brought to my palace beneath the sea. We spent so many days together, days that felt like years. But he grew homesick and wished to return. I gave him a box to protect him, to keep him safe from the passage of time."

Her voice grew softer, edged with sorrow. "I told him never to open it, but my dear Urashima did not heed my warning. When he returned to his world, he found centuries had passed. Everyone he knew was gone. In his despair, he opened the box, and it took his remaining years from him." Her eyes closed. She opened them when she gazed upon Kazi again. "It was to protect him from harm. To keep his youth, to bring him back to me. But he didn’t listen."

"Why did you give him the box, knowing what it would do?"

Princess Otohime’s eyes flashed with anger. "To protect him from harm! The journey to the safe surface was not easy! Mortality is not easy!"

Kazi cocked his head.

Princess Otohime drew in a deep breath and tried again, "To shield him from the pain of losing everything he loved. I told him opening it would bring harm. It was a gift, a test of faith and trust. We goddesses do not serve humans! We do not bless mortals with our great powers for mere satisfaction! We give! We take! We love! We feel! If the promise is kept, we all prosper. If it is broken, we are all cursed."

She rose from her throne, the kimono fluttering. The arms of the kimono were in the shape of a sea turtle’s front legs. "I asked the heavens to bring me here, to allow me to make amends for the pain I caused. But they hated me. They cursed me to this island, where I must endure endless attempts on my life from those who seek vengeance for...for a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding...?"

"I do not want this conflict," Princess Otohime continued, her voice breaking. "I want it to end. But they won’t leave me alone." An arm full of the kimono was raised, pointed at him. "But with those eyes...I can. I can leave. I can escape."

Kazi narrowed. "The Architects told you."

"Architect? What nonsense do you speak of?"

Logically, the creations of the Architects shouldn’t have been aware of their existence.

’Then how did she know that I would come? Why...why do I feel something is off?’

Princess Otohime’s expression hardened, a fierce determination replacing her sorrow. "Behold, mortal with the eyes of time. Die."

Standing proudly, in a graceful motion, her long paddle-like kimono arm summoned a purple wand of coral. Her grip could not be seen within the guise of her kimono. Kazi’s left eye pulsed. What he saw was an impossible blue future.

’What the hell—’

The roof of the throne room shattered with a deafening crash. Massive chunks of stone and wood fell and a torrent of water flooded down, engulfing the entire room. Kazi braced himself and experienced the sheer force of the water’s impact. The chaotic mash turned into a large sphere and the sphere slowly became smaller and smaller. She was harnessing her control over water like it was nothing. She was bending what was tens of millions of gallons of water as if it was origami.

Princess Otohime the daughter of Ryūjin, the Dragon God of the Sea. The sea was her, the sea was always her ally, no matter where she was.

The water swirled around him, shrinking and pressuring. Forming a massive, undulating sphere that pulsed with her magic.

"You think you can challenge me, mortal?" Princess Otothime thundered. "I will drown you in the very essence of my power!"

To her shock, Kazi floated and remained in the sphere of water, unaffected by the deluge. The water cascaded off him harmlessly, his body utterly resistant to its effects. There was a reason Kazi had been sure of his victory. He was aware of her lineage. He was aware of her penchant with water.

However, Varuna’s Boon, the first gift he earned from the Heavenly Games, made him impervious to water attacks.

"For a million years, my noose will not kill him. I shall also endow him with protection from my and any others’ water."

A goddess’ water was no different. No matter how pressurized the water become, no matter how much steel she could compress into nothing, it meant nothing to Kazi Hossain.

’Super Spark Strike!’

Slash!

Otohime’s eyes widened in disbelief as her sphere was vaporized. He did not drop to the floor, however. He hovered on top of a small piece of mana.

Kazi dashed toward her.

The battle had only just begun.