Chapter 357: Urashima and the Turtle

A near three-hundred-fifty foot turtle loomed over him. A behemoth of a creature standing on all fours that saw him as an ant. Even the players on the other side of the island, army versus army, noted the sudden presence. They could not believe what they were seeing.

Neither could Kazi, the closest to Urashima’s famed turtle.

’This is her real form. The legends say she could transform into a turtle but this…’

The story of a man that saved an innocent turtle from torment and was invited to an island of turtles ended in tragedy, but it was a kind of tragedy that was innocent in nature. Did Urashima know that the princess he loved harboured such a form? Did he realize that his love and betrayal of their promise had led to all this?

Smash!

One second Kazi was staring up at the enormous head and the next the turtle’s giant flappy leg crashed down on him. If it wasn’t for his adrenaline-fueled panic reflexes, his death would have been certain. Sand erupted and flew over him like a tsunami. He slashed it apart with the makeshift blade.

The second step descended upon him. When Kazi’s feet touched the sand, bam! He kicked up and ran along the leg. The blade in his hand was rough and nearly unrecognizable as an actual blade. Something was better than nothing, especially against a freak of nature like this. He ran and ran, blade grazing along the hard turtle skin. No damage was done. No blood spewed out.

Instead, water did. Kazi jumped, his left eye having pulsed and blessed him with the future. More and more bursts of water erupted from the patterns on its skin. He kept running, trying to escape it.

’It might not do damage but the momentum will blast me off. I can’t afford that.’

His left eye pulsed. The vision of the erupting waters ahead was blurry.

From the turtle’s knee, he jumped and faced the princess and her determination head-on. Two sets of divine eyes, crossing and meeting.

A platform appeared underneath the player’s feet and he burst forward, slashing her left eye apart. It was larger than his own self and naturally potent. Slash! Slash! Slash! So he kept hacking at the eye until the turtle reeled back. The ground shook from the three steps, a verifiable earthquake grasping the island.

Mana began to build-up. Kazi jumped off and….

’Woah, woah, woah, woah, woooah!’

…narrowly avoided the building-sized flippers of the turtle. Sliding on the air via his mini platforms, he took a deep breath and charged at the turtle, only to disappear.

The turtle had no clue where he went.

Princess Otohime resembled a green sea turtle, known for their large, hard shell and their comparatively smaller heads.

’Even the mightiest of turtles had their weaknesses.’

Kazi had not disappeared, he dropped. Dropped till he was at the level of her underbelly and then bustard forward to scar the area.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Hack! Hack!

Kazi’s attacks were cuts. Drops of blood that were rather annoying. He kept going and moving and striking regardless. No staff, no Stormedge, he was on his own. He faced this deity and did whatever he could. Every little cut mattered.

Clang!

The turtle’s underbelly suddenly hardened. Kazi’s eyes narrowed and he fled to the tailside. ’She may be fast, but she’s lost her agility. And as expected, she can adjust the hardness of her body to some extent. But the fact that she’s hardened here must mean there’s an opening elsewhere!’

At the tailside, the sun appeared and Otohime’s next attack came swiftly, her massive tail sweeping over the water like a battering ram. Kazi burst upward, the huge tail missing him by inches. He flew high, high, up until he needed another spring of mana. Peering down, he could see her shell from a bird’s eye view.

His eyes scanned over. The shell was impenetrable. The underbelly was currently hardened, as was the face.

He dived.

Otohime turned and let out a deafening roar that caused his own heart to thrum. Kazi’s left eye pulsed with the power of Foreight, granting him a glimpse into the immediate future. He saw the enormous broad, flattened limb swing at him and slam him into the water.

Ultra Magic Barrier was his only hero.

The thickness in the barrier, its strength, and sense of structure were somewhat beyond his understanding. But in that moment, he let death swarm his body. He let his body force itself to understand. He recalled what the stands at the tournament were. Some created symbols. Others summoned additional magic spheres. They did not need the System like he and the players did.

If they could do it, so could he.

Boom!

The water exploded, a body dropping.

A critical hit.

Although not for Otohime.

Kazi Hossain rose from the water, two out of the three Ultra Magic Barriers broken. He had done it. He had learned what the System had gifted him. He had learned how to create an Ultra Magic Barrier, not as a Class Skill, but as a Personal Skill.

His hands formed a grip that did not yet exist.

“Double Super Spark Strike Thrown!”

The thrown dual blades struck at her exposed legs, but still left shallow cuts on her thick, leathery skin. Otohime roared in pain and anger, stomping down with her massive foot.

’One, two!’

One mana platform to gain some leverage and the second to spring off of. Kazi narrowly avoided being crushed, propelling himself away. ’Otohime’s speed is ridiculous! I can’t even use Foresight sometimes!’

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do anything. As he flew through the air, weaving through her legs, he stared up at her underbelly.

He drew in a breath.

“Breath of Eolus!”

It was a guess. A matter of assuming that kneading mana in his stomach and then exhaling it would produce results. It did. The mark of the genius landed. A tiny cut appeared.

Kazi, suddenly, stopped himself again and blasted the other way. “Breath of Eolus! Breath of Eulus!” He exhaled and he exhaled and he attacked her underbelly. He swung with dual blades, he attacked her legs. The confusion was getting to her. Coming close, not coming close, he was whittling her down.

He saw the sun again as he propelled from the rear side. Foresight had already told of the tail’s movements and his instincts did the rest. Just barely, he escaped the rampaging tail.

’On top of sacrificing a majority of her water skills for this form, she can’t heal at all.’

Otohime reared up on her hindlimbs, her shadow enveloping Kazi. She brought her front flappers down and slapped the water to create a huge tidal wave. Kazi saw this in a vision just in time and conjured three Ultra Magic Barriers.

Slam!

“Tch!”

His view was suddenly bathed in water. At the range he was in, with the water rising so high that it would catch him, he had to resort to a barrier. He had to think fast and find a way to survive. Her massive tail slammed him and broke through two Ultra Magic Barriers. He sent hurtling for kilometers, bouncing along until he ceased the barrier and stopped himself with a springboard of raw mana.

He burst forward.

Monster Otohime opposed him.

Kazi’s left pulsed twice. He witnessed nearly ten seconds of the future and noticed a brief moment of vulnerability in said future—her underbelly was always the last thing to be hardened.

’The more damaged the flesh is, the harder it is to harden! Either that or her underbelly in general is more difficult to destroy!’

In his hand, a single fake sword glowed with concentrated blue-yellow electricity. Arms came down on him, pure physical might that could create tsunamis. Rather than propel through the air, he switched to running. As he ran, he formed tiny mana platforms under his feet, allowing him to dart and weave unpredictably.

The flippers raged down.

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