Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 442: Human Intervention

Chapter 442: Human Intervention

"A divine intervention!" one of the samurai shouted, awe-struck. "A gift from the gods! Go, go, go! Attack while the whale is vulnerable!"

The cry rippled across the fleet. Shaken from their disbelief, the warriors redoubled their efforts.

"Row faster, brothers!" came the orders from Remmy, who had taken the helm of a smaller boat. "Get us closer!"

Still maintaining the colossal water bubble, Kazi made a subtle motion with his hands, his fingers curling like a conductor. Streams of water split from the bubble, snaking outward to form smooth, glistening pathways. These liquid roads extended toward the Bake-kujira and were perfectly crafted channels for the boats to row through.

They didn’t question it. Another sign of the gods.

Blinking rapidly, Booker looked over at Kazi, whose focus was unwavering. Whose abilities seemed divine than it had any right to be. To even think he was human...

Booker had experienced this kind of inhumane only once before.

"I’m not going to question whatever the hell this is," Booker said, reloading his gun with a click. He did not move though. Kazi had not signalled him to do so.

The boats surged on the water paths at astonishing speed. Kazi managed to accelerate the currents too. He could control every aspect of the waters. He created gaps everywhere for them to do battle comfortably. Warriors shouted battle cries. Weapons were locked and loaded and ready. Arrows, spears, and bullets rained down on the Bake-kujira.

An arrow that strayed was whipped back toward the Bake-kujira by the water. It was as though it was alive. It was not. Kazi Hossain was simply observing and conducting everything.

This was the most pivotal moment of the battle. This was the climax. If a mistake was made, he would correct it.

The steam attempted to strike back. It was feeble. Weakened from the plague it had sent out. Close-quarter combat was now open for everybody.

Astrid let out a sigh. She rolled her sword behind her palm and grabbed it with her other hand. "Guess it’s my time to shine again!" She raised her pink blade, the markings on it glowing crimson once more. She proceeded to run to the spine of the Bake-kujira. "Sovereign Spark Barrage!"

Her sword erupted with energy, sending a barrage of explosive strikes down the Bake-kujira’s spine. The Bake-kujira shifted ever so slightly in annoyance.

Lightning truly was effective.

Meanwhile, the students of Miyamoto Musashi led the charge from the boats. Mikinosuke and Iori coordinated an attack at the ribs. Kurōtarō slammed his giant blade down on the skull, down on the crack Astrid had already made.

Yoemon’s blade glowed blue. He struck at the temple. The attack that fell so many trees was now being concentrated solely at the left temple.

More boats closed the gap and warriors leaped onto the Bake-kujira’s ribs. Swords and spears hacked away at the bone surface. Yet even with all the attacks, the damage was negligible. The bone was too hard and dense. The skeleton was nearly impenetrable—until a lone effort began to shift the tide.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Crack!

Yoemon had found done it. On a boat, he attacked, he attacked, and he attacked until a tiny crack formed. This was the power of a blade powered from the soul.

Clang!

Yoemon gasped for air and kept going. He could not stop. A small insignificant crack...

"It must become significant!"

Clang!

Yoemon and the boat shifted a couple feet back. That final clang and the impact behind it forced him back.

"Hold on! Yoemon, take a breath! Everybody else, fire!!" Remmy shouted. In one snap, ten arrows sank deep into the whale’s left temple and exploded.

There was plenty of space. The skull was worth thirty men in height.

Another breakthrough came from Mikinosuke and Iori—who alone and with their blades coming as one—snapped a rib in half.

The Bake-kujira shrieked.

At last, a critical injury. They were doing it.

Samurai and players on the left side targeted the bone structure of the Bake-kujira’s massive head. This was different from the ribs, this was not just critical, this was vital. If they could destroy this, they rationlized, they could achieve victory. Arrows, swords, and axes hammered the same area again and again, the attacks never stopping; Remmy aiming and firing and coordinating with Yoemon. All of them doing so much and yet so little.

It was only a crack. Only a crack. They needed more.

The Children of Athena on the left wing followed up and launched more light attacks. Although clearly not a Heavenly Spell, the point was that they were of light elements, different in shape, and they struck.

Still not enough. Yoemon’s young arms were growing tired and weaker, so who else could widen this minor bone cut...?

"Kehehe! All this darkness was great to consume!"

The scyhte.

The Reaper of the Children of Athena.

Skullmask jumped and delivered the final blow. His scythe was stronger than ever and for the briefest of moments, it appeared to have increased its size by a hundred fold. The very sky turned black for the briefest of moments.

Perhaps it was a phantom or a showing of his true power. Perhaps a figment of Booker and Kazi’s imagination, for only they saw it.

Crack!

The scythe struck and the bone gave way. A section of the creature’s head collapsed inward, a massive spray of steam and blood spraying into the air.

An explosion in the inner jaw.

A crack atop the skull.

A snapped rib.

Damage along the spine.

And now, a bloodied hole at its temple.

The Bake-kujira’s mouth went wide open. This was not pain, this was agony.

Skullmask cackled, the metal of his scythe in the temple, and leapt jumped into the mouth. He dug his scythe into a razor sharp tooth. Nothing.

Crack.

Until Yoemon joined and stuck that very same spot. Skullmask cackled and struck. Three, four, five, seven, ten...

The tooth collapse.

Together, Yoemon and Skullmask were unstoppable.

On the other end, Astrid zig-zagged and dragged her blade along the huge spine. The arcs of pink lightning weren’t being created by her, the natural particles in the air had built up from her and Kazi’s magic that it was naturally arching off the spine.

"Can’t believe I get to use this!"

At the point between the tail and the spine was a point of stability. Where ahead was solid ground to stand on and behind was a trashing limb wanting to strike at its opponent and unable to. Calmly, as if what was behind Astrid could not cleave her in half, the hilt of her sword aligned with her face. Slower than ever, calmly and with a smile, a magic circle manifested.

All the lightning that was arching and conducting itself through the water and into the Bake-kujira—all of it was suddenly sucked by the magic circle.

"This one is an Astrid original! Yngling Sigil Circle: Greetings of the Storm!" The pink sword was supercharged for the second time, not from Kazi’s will but her own. She grinned. "Suck up all that lightning and now...Yngling Sigil Circle: End of the Storm!"

Seven magic circles appeared along the blade, flat and slowly merging with the sword. Lightning ran along the blade and the pink current rose till it doubled her height. "Hahaha! Here it is!" She jumped, dashing along the spine, and let the blade drag along the bone. A light touch was all she needed for an immense strike. A light tap, a light bounce, and a huge arc of lightning followed.

So many bursts. The world seemed alight with roses.

This attack was meant to amplify and add her pink lightning to her blade; imagine Super Spark Strike except twice as powerful and thirty times as enduring in length. Super Spark Strike could only last up to five seconds. Super Spark Strike had to be cast again and again.

End of the Storm did not. With End of the Storm, upon every attack, it did not deactivate, it reactivated. It grew stronger. So being able to drag the blade along like this was perfect. Every second, every step, it increased what she did.

She reached the peak of what she could handle at the same time that she arrived at the tail. Grinning, she slammed her blade down.

She did not come close to slicing off the tail but she did manage a crack. These cracks, these injuries, they were piling.

They were doing it. They were winning.

The Bake-kujira let out an unearthly roar. Its battered form trembled, steam rising off its bones. It couldn’t keep up with Astrid on its spine, the two samurai on its ribs, the giant samurai on its skull, or Skullmaks and Yoemon who were hacking and slashing away at its teeth. Three razor sharp teeth had caved in. The plague was not working either.

The Bake-kujira changed tactics.

The Bake-kujira mustered its trump card.

Deep within its massive frame, a faint orange glow of fire began to flicker and grow. Skullmask could feel the sudden increase in temperature within the mouth. Yomeon sensed a beat after and his eyes widened.

"RUN!"

Yomeon had already leapt out. Skullmask glanced at him, puzzled, until he saw red within rising within the gallows of its throat. He too jumped. He had hardly experienced the heat and yet as he flew out, the Reaper of Athena and his cape were smoking black.

"Tch!"

Unable to fly or catch a boat, Skullmask crashed into the water. Whether he made it onto shore was unknown.

The water started to boil.

Of all men, it was Kurōtarō and his animalistic instincts that flared up the strongest. "GET ON THE BOATS!" he roared. "GET AWAY! IT’S ABOUT TO UNLEASH FIRE ANNIHILATION BREATH!"

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