Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 427: Between Yomi and the Living

Chapter 427: Between Yomi and the Living

The realm between Yomi and the living world was a place of fractured skies and restless shadows. Only the blood lake of the Wendigo paled in comparison. The was thicker and denser. Often, a barrier had to employed to breathe.

Marta Kowalski and Sasaki Kojiro stood on a craggy expanse of blackened stone. They were overseeing what lay above and below. Overhead, the sky churned with dark clouds, jagged streaks of crimson lightning occasionally splitting the heavens in silence. The black ground was littered with skeletal remains of creatures Marta did not recognize.

In the far distance, warped trees twisted upward like skeletal hands. Marta looked over her shoulder. They had already gone through one forest worth of these trees. They were blackened and cracked and exploded upon contact, even air. They were humans. Everything about them was wrong here.

Hiding in the trees and waters and underground were monsters. The guttural growls of the unseen beasts echoed. It never stopped.

"This place," Marta muttered, gripping her staff tightly, "is disgusting."

Sasaki Kojiro, the epitome of a cool samurai. He was a step ahead, foot planted at the peak and arms folded.

"Disgusting? I find it rather poetic. A realm of the forgotten, suspended between life and death. You can’t help but admire its honesty."

Marta rolled her eyes and retreated, her prosthetic legs tapping along and adjusting to the uneven ground. "Admire it all you want. I just want to get out of here."

"Ah, but you won’t leave until the task is complete, yes? After all, your friend is counting on you."

He said in that stupid, teasing tone. Marta didn’t want to snap back even if she could.

"Let’s not jump," she murmured. "Better to walk down and not drag attention."

"Your choice, coward."

She kept her gaze forward, refusing to look at him. Something about the man annoyed her: whether it was his calm demeanor, his infuriatingly cryptic words, or perhaps his relentless ability to remain unbothered in the face of danger.

Down the cliff, the path narrowed and then...the ground growled. The black earth rose and,m they were bordered on either side by jagged cliffs that loomed like the jaws of some great beast. This was apart of the experience for foreigners like them. This land was always changing.

Shadows flickered atop the cliffs, moving too quickly to be natural. Her instincts picked up a warning and she raised her staff instinctively.

"I think we’re being watched," Marta announced.

Kojiro didn’t stop walking but rested his wooden sword on his shoulder. "Of course we are. This is a realm of demons and monsters, after all."

Before Marta could respond, the ground beneath them trembled again. Something was either changing or...

Marta jumped back.

Something was coming out. From the split ground emerged a creature that seemed to be stitched together from nightmares. A grey body that was an amalgamation of sinewy muscle and jagged bone, its face a grotesque mask of snarling teeth and hollow eye sockets glowing with a sickly yellow light. Four spindly arms jutted from its torso, each ending in razor-sharp claws.

This thing...she did not what it was but she did not it viewed her as a threat to be killed.

Marta’s grip tightened on her staff. In this situation, Elena would cite a prayer. Strangely, despite not being very religious, Marta did just that.

"Focus," Kojiro said, already beside her and already stepping aside to give her room. "This one’s yours."

"Mine?" Marta snapped, glaring at him. "You’re the samurai! Why don’t you handle it?"

Kojiro smirked. "Consider it a lesson. Besides, I’m here if you falter."

"I...ugh!"

The grey monster let out a guttural roar and lunged at Marta. The spectacled blonde reacted instantly, raising her staff and summoning her magic. "Super Shadow Bolt!" she shouted. A sphere of pure darkness crackled into existence at the tip of her staff before hurtling toward the creature.

Her activation time was fast. That was not the System, that was Marta.

The ball of purple-black struck the grey beast squarely in the chest, sending it staggering back with a howl of pain.

But it wasn’t enough. The creature recovered quickly and lunged again, swiping at Marta with its claws. She barely had time to dodge, her prosthetic legs scraping against the stone as she stumbled backward.

"B-barrier!"

Shit, that wasn’t it! She had to dodge again and she failed! No longer wearing silver armour, a gash formed across her chest and she gasped.

The wound was lighter than it could have. She got lucky.

Drip.

Until she saw her own blood and froze...!

Clang!

"Marta!" In front of her, protecting her, was Sasaki Kojiro. "You are not hurt. You are afraid."

She gasped. She pressed the hand thay should have been with her staff to her bloody chest. "I...I..."

The terror of pain and suffering. The darkness of Jack. All of it came rushing to her and her shoulders burned her with the memories.

"The water can be cold, wet, and miserable, or it can just be cold and wet. It’s your choice."

Casually, his wooden sword blasted the monster away. Another one came in its place from the underground. Then another.

There were two of these four-armed grey monsters.

"I ask again: what is your choice?"

"My choice? Why does that even matter?" Marta snapped, throwing up her staff to block another swipe. The two heavy grey claws jarred her arms and she gritted her teeth.

"It means," Kojiro replied, leaping back to avoid his own grey monster to watch her struggle, "that you can let this fight overwhelm you, or you can accept it and adapt. You can feel rage or focus, or just focus. The choice is yours."

With Sasaki Kojiro no longer there to occupy him, the second grey monster went for Marta. They would finish the blonde off, together.

No. She was not dying. Not here. Not now.

Marta growled and channeled her anger into another spell. "Super Spectral Snare!" Dark tendrils shot from her staff, wrapping around both creatures’ limbs and holding them in place. The four-arms thrashed and snarled, claws claws raking the air as they tried to break free.

For a moment, Marta felt a surge of triumph. "Gotcha," she muttered.

But one creature’s eyes flared with yellow light and it let out a deafening roar. The tendrils began to fray, the magic unraveling as the beast’s raw power overwhelmed it.

"Oh no..." Marta’s heart sank as the creature broke free, one arm at a time. Once all were out, the monster lunged at her with renewed fury.

"Damn it!" she hissed, raising her staff to cast another spell. But before she could, Kojiro stepped in, his wooden sword moving with blinding speed. A single strike sent the creature reeling, its snarls turning into pained whimpers as it was incinerated by the sheer speed by which they rocketed off.

The second four-arms was about to escape. Marta whacked it in the side with her staff and then pointed her staff it. "Darkness, My Old Friend. Aid me. Shadow me." Her own shadow disappeared. "Shadow Dark Bolt."

This was different. This was for close-range like a shotgun. The energy stronger and deeply focused, the four arms was incinerated. Marta levelled up.

The blonde glared at him, her pride stinging. "I had it under control."

Kojiro was amused. "Of course you did. And I only stepped in because I wanted to stretch my legs."

"Right, and that makes you a Sword Saint, right? I don’t see a saint here and I certainly don’t see someone smarter than a sword," Marta muttered, turning away.

"Perhaps," Kojiro said, so light and cocky, "but you’re still standing, aren’t you? You’ve fought well so far. That spell you casted at the end was strong. Just don’t let your pride trip you."

Marta scowled, refusing to acknowledge his compliment. She hated how easily he seemed to handle everything, how his words—infuriating as they were—seemed to strike at truths she didn’t want to admit.

They continued forward. No more cliffs, thet returned to ground once they dispatched two more duos of four arms. This was a flat plane and in a kilometer they would reach the forest. Yet danger never went away. Not for a second. Marta felt the strain of the journey wearing on her, her legs aching and her magic reserves dwindling. But she refused to complain, refused to show any sign of weakness in front of Kojiro.

"Tell me," Kojiro said suddenly, breaking the silence, "why are you really here?"

Marta frowned, not looking at him. "What kind of question is that? I’m here to help."

"Are you?" Kojiro probed. "Or are you here because you feel you have to be?"

"I don’t see the difference," Marta said curtly.

Kojiro chuckled softly. "You are not needed? You feel that you do not think yourself worthy to join this cause? That you will contribute nothing? When you pick up one grain of sand, you also move the ones around it. Your friend is expecting you, Marta. I am expecting you."

Marta stopped walking. She turned to face him, her expression conflicted. "Why do you care?"

Kojiro’s gaze met hers. "Because I’ve seen too many warriors fall to their doubts. Emotions are emotions, Marta. Just don’t become them. Anger is normal—just don’t become angry. Jealousy is normal—just don’t become jealous."

Marta stared at him, her frustration bubbling to the surface. "You talk like it’s so easy. Like you have all the answers."

Kojiro laughed proudly. "You want answers, go to Miyamoto Musashi. You want training, you go to Musashi. You want to understand combat you got to me. I do not have all the answers. But I’ve learned a few things along the way. And one of them is this: you are stronger than you think."

From the skies...

Bam!

Descended a hulking ten-foot creature. Made of jagged scales and what seemed to be dark smoke which were locked and kept together by those scales. Its eyes went yellow and darker than ever before.

It saw its target. It found the target.

Kojiro swung his wooden sword and it did not feel that the air stirred. "I’ll take this one," he said, his tone casual.

Her pride warring with her exhaustion. Eventually, she relented and backed away to let him handle the beast. As she watched him move with effortless grace, striking with precision and power, she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of admiration beneath her irritation.

Maybe, just maybe, there was something to learn from him after all.