Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 434: The Great Seal

Chapter 434: The Great Seal

Kazi waited.

And waited.

And waited.

His left eye pulsed and glimpsed deep, deep into the waters. The damage was done. The Bake-kujira was asleep. Unconscious.

Temporarily incapacitated.

"Damn monster..." Both of his arms were functionally useless. Even still, he had to do something. The boiling water was gone. He had an opportunity to do something before it awoke again.

Like with Gargantua Super Strike, like with the Ultra Divine Healing Circulation, creativity and form in the mind, spirit, and body were ultimately what created them. Kazi Hossain created them. Not the Left Eye of Odin, Kazi himself.

Godly Shape Control was born by him. Ascendency was achieved by him.

To Ascend meant to understand one’s self and become one with the System. The fundamental point of incantations was focus and resonating with the meaning of the chant.

Yes, ever since his fight with Princess Otohime, he understood himself and what he could and should be capable of.

Visualize it.

Think of it.

A seal.

"A divide! A conjunction!" Kazi inhaled sharply, blood still trickling down the corner of his mouth. His arms hung limply by his sides, the nerves too fried to even twitch.

He fell, he fell, he fell, until his left foot touched the water.

Arms were but an extension of his soul. "There is no need to limit himself to them."

His right foot touched the water too and suddenly, the waters of Lake Shinji churned violently. Around the epicenter of the Bake-kujira’s unconscious form, the water bubbled and frothed, steaming increasing rapidly. It was a fight of wills and Kazi’s will was stronger.

Right now, killing it was impossible. Yes, in this moment, it was about containing the very essence of the monstrosity, cutting off its connection to the lake, to the land, to the world itself.

His voice grew louder, carrying across the lake. The wind stilled. The earth stopped trembling, as if holding its breath. "Seal! Great Waterfall Barrier!"

With those words, the waters of Lake Shinji obeyed.

At first, it was subtle—a ripple that expanded outward from where the Bake-kujira lay. A beat forward and like a massive inhalation, the entire lake seemed to contract. Kazi’s eye flared brighter, veins bulging across his forehead and neck as he drew upon every ounce of his remaining strength to guide the seal.

The water around the Bake-kujira surged upward, spiraling into a towering column. The skeletal form of the beast, massive and ancient, was lifted entirely out of the lake by the force of the swirling torrent. Its unconscious body hung suspended, surrounded by a cyclone of water so dense it shimmered like polished glass.

The volume of water feeding the seal was unimaginable. Streams and torrents from every corner of Lake Shinji raced toward the column, siphoning off its once vast expanse. What had been a sprawling body of water now visibly shrank, its shoreline receding as the lake’s very essence was pulled into the towering barrier Kazi was constructing.

Sweat poured down Kazi’s face, mixing with the blood that streaked his skin. His arms might have been useless, but his mind and spirit burned with clarity. He didn’t merely guide the water—he commanded it, shaping it with the precision of a master craftsman.

The same the Bake-kujira turned the lake into a boiling cauldron, so did Kazi Hossain.

The swirling column began to condense. Layers upon layers of water compressed into a solidified barrier, an unyielding prison. The Bake-kujira twitched faintly within, its enormous skeletal tail flinching as if instinctively sensing the trap closing around it. Kazi’s eye flared again and the water tightened hard. Whether it was steel or the bone of a mythical creature, he would not allow resistance. He suppressed even the faintest hint of it.

"Stay down," Kazi growled through clenched teeth.

The seal took on a new, stronger shape, spiraling downward into a tightly coiled sphere. The pressure was immense—so dense that the very air seemed to warp around the barrier.

The water level of Lake Shinji had dropped drastically, exposing vast stretches of muddy shoreline that hadn’t seen the sun in centuries. Kazi could feel the strain on his body, his mana reserves dangerously low, but he didn’t relent. The spherical barrier needed to hold. The Bake-kujira had to stay contained.

Finally, with a final push of his will, the seal locked into place. The sphere pulsed once, then stilled, its surface smoothing into an almost mirror-like finish. The Bake-kujira was trapped within, its skeletal form barely visible through the layers of water and energy.

Kazi staggered back, his legs barely able to support him. He glanced at what remained of Lake Shinji—still vast, but significantly diminished. The seal hovered above the lake’s surface.

One hour, Kazi Hossain estimated.

One hour until the Bake-kujira broke free.

Kazi Hossain felt his eyes go black.

"Kazi! I got you!"

And felt an arm grab before he fell into the darkness.

***

He refused to let himself fall completely. He stayed away in the small way his soul would allow him. When he went faster, he felt it. When they descended, he felt it.

When he truly fell from the world of the living, he felt it.

"I’m back here."

Beneath his feet—ripples of water.

One foot ahead—a well.

Across from him—a person.

A bow in hand, broad-chested, a dark complexion, coppery red eyes, and curly locks of hair hanging over a missing face. He was strong and beautiful like a lion. Casually ferocious like an elephant.

Kazi Hossain stood as his equal even though he should not. Indeed, it was not often Kazi met an individual whom he deemed an equal.

From the well, Kazi heard an echo:

"—had said that he would consume all our foes in a single day. Proud of his heroism, he did not, however, accomplish what he had said. Hence has he fallen down."

From one ear out the other. It did not make sense. Kazi could always remember. This time, he did not. His brain locked him to the bowman opposing him. "Who are you?" Kazi asked.

No ripples, no shift in air. More voices poured out from the well and Kazi suddenly realized what was happening. For once, his brain was receiving too much information. For once, he could understand all that was within the well and therefore not understand it all.

The well did not make him dumber. The well was keeping this sealed in a tightly wound portion of his Inner World.

This knowledge, these words and voices, they were forbidden.

"I am the greatest hero of my land. What are you?"

Except for this bowman. He spoke with clarity in his Inner World.

"My name is Kazi Hossain. I am nobody."

"You did not fight. Why?"

Why did he choose to stun and seal the Bake-kujira instead of fighting it with everything he had? "Because victory is only possible with allies."

"You walk amongst them. You talk amongst them. But you are not them. You do not consider yourself them. You use them like puppets."

"I help them, they help me."

"One desirous of prosperity should never indulge in such sentiments. You only help? You do not lead? Will you create lakes for these horses to drink from and not just bathe?"

"Don’t lecture me, hero of a bygone age. I know what this is. This is the remnants of Odin attempting to warp me while in a time of need." Kazi reached out his left arm. "So predictable. Allow me to say this once and only once: this eye is mine. Not yours—mine. I see fit how I fight. I see fit how I help. Now...begone."

Kazi squeezed his outreached arm into a fist and saw light again.