Chapter 223: Miracle Water

This time, he was too close. Smoke erupted from his face and he staggered back. Kazi nearly leapt to end the battle but his instincts told him otherwise. A cornered fox was more dangerous than a jackal, after all. He snapped one more Fire Dart and as his instincts proclaimed he slashed it apart. Genji was still in the fight.

At least he would have been if Kazi hadn’t taken his back. The smoke was phenomenal cover fire. “Super Spark Strike—!”

Clang! Stormedge rammed into his blue armour like a bat. His opponent was grounded like a tree and attempted to swing back. Kazi ducked and pointed a finger at his stomach. “Fire Dart—!”

Boom!

Through the smoke created, Kazi realized something was wrong. He backed off—and Kazi was lucky he did because what stormed out were the golden flames of Amaterasu. The chest armour plate took the brunt of the Fire Dart with Genji pushing through for his downward slash. His sheer focus in landing that one single strike, it was almost terrifying.

Almost.

Kazi raised Stormedge to parry and before he was overpowered placed one foot forward and glided along the underside of the katana, hitting the guard. Kazi grit his teeth at the close proximity of the flames and pushed upwards with Super Spark Strike. At such an uncomfortable angle, Genji was forced to backpedal. At the same time, he was geared up for another one of those overhead swings.

“O radiant Amaterasu, mighty goddess of the sun….” Genji was continuing the chant. The Divine Healing Rain was fading and the golden flames dancing alongside his chest began to grow. The sudden pain, the desperation to reactivate Divine Miracle Rain, and his sweaty hands tripped Kazi up and he practically stood still as the katana came down at him. His arms not fast enough, on sheer instinct, he summoned the Ultra Magic Barrier.

Shatter!

It bought him a grand total of half a second. Barely enough time to swerve his shoulder in time. His flesh hissed as the katana ripped through his black garbs, burning the top of his shoulder down to his elbow. “Super Spark Strike—!” The electric sword struck again. Kazi expected to blast him back. It didn’t. Genji was rooted to his spot, his green eyes full of thirst for victory.

Blood leaking from his lips, Genji muttered, “I beseech thee, lend me thy strength in this hour of need…!”

Back, back, back! Run back!

The golden flames were growing stronger, rising to the occasion of victory. But he was too slow. The instant he stepped back, the katana fell down on his shoulder.

Splat!

“Huh—?”

Kazi had given up on trying to defend or attack. It was useless at this range. So instead, he caught it. He caught the katana by enveloping his left hand in Divine Miracle Water. He was able to faintly counteract the golden flames of Amaterasu with Divine Miracle Rain and surmised that if he pooled together every bit of Divine Miracle Water into the palm of his hand and amplified it with Mastered Flow of Mana, he could block it.

Alas, blood gushed out and the katana had dug into his hand too deep for it to be effective again. However…

“Super Spark Strike!”

All armour had weaknesses: the eyes. With an overhead thrust, Stormedge stopped an inch before the blade penetrated the skull. The wisps of blue electricity were reflected in the green eyes of the grandson of the Emperor.

Then, defeat settled in. It was over.

“Victory is yours, Kazi Hossain,” said Emperor Toru. “Take his eye. You won, didn’t you?”

Blood fell down from his left hand, which kept a firm grip on Genji’s katana. The golden flames of Amaterasu had dissipated as did his will to fight. Gone was the single-mindedness. Gone was the hunger for victory. All that was left was shame and fear. The eyes of a boy betrayed by his own forefather.

“Not going to finish it?” the Eternal Emperor asked.

“…I don’t kill children.” Kazi spoke those words despite not wavering in intensity. He could kill him. He would kill him. For Marta.

’For Marta.’

“Ha! I was just kidding! Like I would ever let a son of mine die just because they lost! Right, Lengi?”

Genji didn’t reply. Stormedge was still there. Death loomed. After five seconds, Kazi relaxed himself and released both the katana and Stormedge. The duel was over. It was Kazi’s victory. Genji staggered back and fell on his butt, drenched in sweat.

As for Kazi, the deep wound in his palm prevented him from heavy movement and his arm became limp.

The Eternal Empire smiled, pretty and annoying. “Ah, how about you fight some of the others? They’re probably stronger than little old Benji. I think you’ll have more fun.”

’I figured. He was teasing me. He was never going to give up the prosthetics that easily. He wants me to keep fighting.’

Kazi closed his eyes and opened them with a refreshing smile. “Agreed. Bring me the next one.”

“Ho?” The Emperor matched his smile, excited. “I knew it, you’re holding something back, aren’t you? Come on, come on, show me!”

Kazi flashed him a smile and said in his head, ’Open status.’

[ Status: Kazi Hossain

Class: Sorcerer

Level: 75

HP: 1435

HP/Minute: 148.47

MP: 3349

MP/Minute: ∞

Attack: 547

Defence: 287

Attributes

Strength: 340

Resilience: 287

Agility: 290

Deftness: 1339

Vitality: 294

Magical Might: 497

Magical Mending: 288

Distributive Points: 221 ]

’I’ll need to spend points if I want to keep winning and entertaining this guy.’ Kazi exhaled and eyed his options. The searing pain in his palm wasn’t going away anytime soon. Even with Divine Miracle Water, it was taking time to heal. ’If Genji could overpower me, then there’s no telling about the others. They’re stronger, older, and taller. I need to dump at least a hundred points in my strength stat.’

To rely solely on physical stats would spell defeat. The samurai were, at the end of the day, better trained than him. There was no way he was going to be able to defeat them at their own game. That meant Kazi had to change the game and beat them that away. He clicked on the Sorcerer Class and picked out four skills to learn. In the end, he was left with ninety-one distributive points.

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