Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 419: Students of Miyamoto Musashi

Chapter 419: Students of Miyamoto Musashi

The students of Miyamoto Musashi had split apart. Now, they were back, all four of them. Who found who?

Mikonosuke, the de facto head and most traditionally samurai, was found by Booker Davis Jr. Arms crossed and garbed in a dark red hitatare kamishimo, he paid full attention to his surroundings.

Iori was found by Skullmask. Eyes and lips sealed shut, the samurai had claw marks running across his face and unclassical shoulder-length hair in a classical chonmage. He and Skullmask and had fought. Who won was unclear.

Kurōtarō was found by the bloody-lipped, pink-haired Astrid Yngling. Several sections of the burly samurai’s armour were broken. Once again, it was difficult to presume who won. Kazi suspected with how the noble hummed in her seat that the battle had been interrupted.

Yoemon was, of course, found by Kazi Hossain.

Everyone was either standing or on their knees in the throne room of Matsue Castle. Lord Mosuke himself had not yet arrived.

’Marta isn’t here either,’ Kazi thought. ’My messages aren’t going through. Could it be...?’

The larger the gate and the world within, the more secrets and objectives lay within. So large were some gates that players could get lost. In Marta’s case...getting lost was highly probably. Slowly but surely, she had gathered her strength in new ways. Finding Sasaki Kojiro should have been within her means and yet losing her was also mighty possible.

’Was it too much? Should I have send someone with her?’

The front door opened and striding inside was Lord Mosuke. His grandson was not here. Only him, the saint of Matsue. The students of Miyamoto Musashi bowed.

"The only one who remains is Sasaki Kojiro," said Lord Mosuke as he sat down.

"There is no need for him," Kurōtarō proclaimed haughtily. "We will settle."

"You who were harmed by a woman?" Lord Mosuke questioned. Astrid Yngling, cross-legged and rocking to and fro, flashed a smile.

Kurōtarō scoffed. "She is an oni, that is what that woman is."

"Thank you!" Astrid beamed. "I appreciate that."

"My father and Sasaki Kojiro are the only samurai alive capable of slaying that beast," Mikinosuke stated politely. "And father...he is gone."

"You don’t know where Lord Musashi is, hm?" Lord Mosuke said, closing his eyes. "Then we have no choice. We must ambush the Bake-kujira before it lays waste to our lands."

"My sword is with you," Mikinosuke declared.

"As is my sword, My Lord!" Kurōtarō exclaimed.

"Me too, me too!" Astrid bounced to her feet and drew out her sword. Kaz’s left pulsed.

’What is that thing?’

A pink sword whose mana swarmed itself. It was alive, living and breathing and exuding a thrill for battle. Not malice, oh no, it was pure exhilaration. Any swordsman with a good eye could see it for what it was: a tool to play and kill.

As if remembering something, Astrid went on one knee, placed the tip end on her palm, and bowed her head. "I will fight for you too!"

The unexpected respect earned looks from the guards of the lord. Hotoke no Mosuke, the saint that he was, smiled and bowed in turn.

"Thank you, Astrid Yngling and the students of Lord Musashi. Your efforts mean the world to me."

"My Lord, if you do not mind, let us start planning out our strategy." Samantha did not want to play around here. Her strongest comrade, Skullmask, brought Iori. Trust was earned. And by detailing a successful plan, she would gain further trust.

She stood up. Her friend Dee brought laid out large map and illustrations of the skeleton whale on the floor table.

"Here we have us in Matsue. Here we have Shinji Lake to our west..."

Lake Shinji, a giant pool of water with various hots prings along the coastline. To the east of the lake was Matsue, thereby making the lake their current west. So vast it was that it could be viewed from Matsue Castle. The smell, the fish and aquatic life, the brackish water, Lake Shinji was a core aspect to everyone’s lives here. Without it, they could not live for long. Matsue had a season of reserves and by now they had spent a majority of those reserves.

"...and the resting place of the Bake-kujira." Tap, tap. Samantha emphasized Lake Shinji. "What happened to make it go there? Exhaustion and damage from those that came before us."

The students of Miyamoto Musashi—no, everyone recognized it was not as it sounded:the battle was equally fought.We exhausted and damaged it.

That was not the case. The deaths on the side of humanity. The contributions on the side of humanity. Without mention of Sasaki Kojiro, it was a flawed mention.

No one corrected her.

"I have collected theory and evidence to gain a clearer picture of the whale’s abilities. First is its fire breath, so bright that the people could see it and so powerful that despite being aimed the other way, large spears flung over and struck the homes here."

It was aimed the other way because of Sasaki Kojiro. It clashed because of his fan. Kazi almost snickered seeing the scowls on Mikonosuke and Kurōtarō.

"The time of preparation has been estimated. Ten seconds to gather energy and recollect the monsters it swarmed out, four seconds to open the mouth, and a whole minute of intense flames."

"You did your research," Mikinosuke acknowledged.

Samantha flashed a pretty smile. "I do my best. Alas, I could not for the life of me figure out a surefire method of blocking the flames. My estimation is that we would need at least a thousand strong water spells."

"A thousand!?" Astrid whistled. "Is it seriously that strong?"

"It’s a Class Five yokai. A living calamity that carries thousands of smaller monsters with it. It has appeared twice before in the history of the Heavenly Games. Both times, players failed to kill it in time."

"Ooh! Class Five. The strength level indicator!"

"Not exactly," Kazi interrupted. "Class Identification is specifically for scouting danger level."

"What’s the difference?" Astrid asked.

"Let’s start from the bottom-up," Kazi said kindly. "We have Class 1A which is a non-threat and Class 1B which is a human threat. Guns, players that just started out, the best trained fighters on Earth, and mages come here. Those are what are in 1B. We move up to Class 2 which can threaten a sizable human or demon population. A village, for example. A Class 2 could definitely take care of a village whereas a Class 1 couldn’t, which is why there is a distinction there. Class 1 can kill ten people at max; Class 2 can kill two hundred."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh." Astrid looked like she had heard this before except in an uninteresting, super technical way. It was a flaw of nobility; they were too up their own asses. Kazi explained it in a normal, fun way. He explained it better.

"Jumping to Class 3, another big distinction. We go from people to locations. A Class 3 individual can destroy houses and buildings. Small towns wouldn’t stand a chance. By my personal estimate, modern weaponry would start losing its effectiveness. Bullets, missiles, that sort. You’d need a nuke to take them out. You’d need a nuke to take out the next class too." At least by his own personal estimates and research. "Although survival might be possible. See, Class Four is where we tap into the mythical acts. Where wizards and the average cultivator lay. Dangerous curses and plagues that can wipe out hundreds of thousands—that is what Class 4 is about. And Class Five? That is the beginning of the gods; of miracles that can aid cities and islands, create rivers, or destroy mountains. Class Five is where natural disasters like the Bake-kujiri are."

"Ohhh! I get it now!" Astrid crossed her arms, smiling brightly. "Hey, did you know? The System was apparently not meant to make humans go past Class Five."

Kazi tilted his head cutely. "Oh?"

"Yeah, it’s true! It’s what my new family told me! Exceptions MIGHT get to Class Six but nothing more. It was a stipulation the gods asked but, hehe, humanity went beyond it. We have quite a few that have gone beyond Class Six."

"As amusing as that sounds, it does not change our circumstances. We have a weakened Class Five entity to kill with a flame that can and will wipe out Matsue," said Samantha. "I have thirty players under me and Lord Mosuke has two hundred samurai and a hundred men willing to fight too."

The odds were not in their favour. Now that they were in Gate 25, players did not have to work together. They could go to other gates. They could train at Valhalla’s Colosseum. They could wonder and wander. Inferring from the size of Matsue, there were plenty of side-objectives and hidden objectives. Shrines to pray to and demons to hunt.

So how were they going to make a plan to kill this lake monster?