Book 5: Chapter 139: The Battle For The Finals

Lily tidied up her clothes as if no one else was around and sheathed Yasutsuna with a shwing! She then walked off the compet.i.tion stage amidst cries of astonishment.

It wasn’t surprising that Lily won the match, but the inexplicable ‘abnormalities’ at the start plus her final shocking outburst had touched the hearts of the people.

It was decisive and ruthless enough!

Her performance shocked everyone present!

This beautiful and deadly female samurai from the East once again created another legend.

It was almost evening, but it seemed that the evening match could not take place as the Taira Clan had to urgently dispatch craftsmen to repair the martial arts platform…

The martial arts platform was chosen as the compet.i.tion arena after taking into account the strength of the contestants. Unexpectedly, in her anger, Lily had cut it in half with a single slash!

“Let’s go!” Sakanoue no Tamuramaro grimaced, immediately leaving with Kiuchidera Tesshin and his group.

When Lily returned to the back area, Honda looked dumbfounded and seemed to have some mixed feelings. Lily nodded at him and returned to her own small compartment to rest.

Later, everyone was informed that this evening’s match was canceled and the martial arts stage would be repaired overnight and reopened tomorrow.

Lily went to the women’s bath to freshen up in the evening and expanded her domain to prevent any unforeseen incidents. But the contestants here were all arrogant experts and geniuses, so no one should peek at her bathing, right?

The next day, the first round of the remaining lower half of the compet.i.tion continued, and Taira no Hachiro was eliminated in his initial battle by the pretty boy from the Kazama Dojo, Kazama Mayuzumi.

After Taira no Hachiro lost, he dragged his bruised body and carried his broken spear, hobbling on one leg as he said, “I, Taira no Hachiro, came all the way to Heian-kyō and didn’t want to stop here— at the battle of the top 32. What am I here for? I still need to train; I need to train hard…!”

Under the setting sun, Taira no Hachiro was carrying a spear on his back while hopping and stumbling along the distant Suzaku Avenue. The figure of the departing red-haired man seemed a bit crestfallen, but somewhat spirited and carefree…

Unexpectedly, Fujiwara no Koji also advanced after defeating a poor ronin from a remote area. However, the ronin was not injured. Lily heard from a Taira Clan attendant in the resting area that, although the ronin lost, he left the dojo happily and was picked up by a gorgeous bullock carriage full of beauties1. It was uncertain what kind of dealings were made.

It went without saying that Fujiwara no Koji was very proud of himself and even ridiculed the contestants who came from the preliminary round. He selectively forgot that Lily had killed a recommended contestant with a single slash.

The first round of the lower half of the compet.i.tion soon ended and the craftsmen continued to reinforce and repair the martial arts platform in preparation for the second round of matches tomorrow.

This second round of matches were key to determine those who would advance to the final eight!

It was night. Because Lily couldn’t leave the contestants’ back area at will, she sent the demon hound through an open section to deliver a message to Ayaka.

“Lynne…”

Honda Yahatarou walked out from under a big tree in the resting area and came over to Lily’s side.

“Lord Honda.”

Honda Yahatarou had a grim look on his face, “Lynne… If you and I manage to win all our matches, then…we will meet in the semi-finals.”

“Uh, yeah…”

“Lynne, if that day comes, I want to know your true feelings. Do you want to win?” Honda asked solemnly.

Lily raised her head and looked at the tall, young, and giant samurai with a calm but serious gaze, “Among everyone who stands on this arena, I don’t think there is anyone who doesn’t want to win.”

Honda nodded, but his gaze which had always been straightforward and simple became complicated at this moment.

“Lord Honda, if you really meet me in the compet.i.tion arena, will you let me win?” Lily knew that, with her strength, she didn’t need Honda to go easy on her, but she still wanted to know the answer.

Honda looked at Lily seriously and replied, “No.”

“Although I will never hurt Lady Lynne in the compet.i.tion, I definitely won’t back down the tiniest bit! I, Honda Yahatarou, am first and foremost a samurai of the Tokugawa Clan. I have to be a man of honor and integrity so that I am worthy of my feelings for you!”

“Hmm…” Lily nodded, “Then I’ll do my best too.”

After saying that, Lily turned her graceful body and walked back into the resting area.

“Lynne!” Honda called out to Lily, “If you lose to me in the semi-finals, marry me!”

Lily didn’t answer but only glanced back at Honda. There was no annoyance in her eyes, only a bit of pity. She then turned and left.

“Miss Lynne…are you acquiescing? I must fight my way through the semi-finals! I must defeat you!” Honda made up his mind stubbornly, his whole body bursting with a strong fighting spirit.

However, Lily was reluctant to face all this. She didn’t even need to utter any words of refusal. In the evening, Lily had seen Honda’s opponent for tomorrow. He was Minamoto no Tsukawa, who won his first match without needing to fight. In her heart, it seemed that she already knew the ending.

In the early morning of the next day, the melodious yet slightly piercing sound of the Taira Clan’s biwa accompanied the dawn of the dojo.

The final battle of the semi-final round that would decide who could make it into the top 8 was about to begin!

Due to the destruction of the martial arts arena by Lily, the final battle of the upper half of the compet.i.tion was actually concluded yesterday.

The four people who advanced were: the number one talented girl of the Taira Clan, Taira no Shizuru, the first place in the preliminary round, Miss Nanashi, as well as Minamoto no Hiromasa and Yokota Daizo.

This time, three of the top four in the upper half surprisingly came from the preliminary selection, which had never happened for many years. It could be seen that this compet.i.tion was fierce. It was rumored that, although Minamoto no Hiromasa advanced, he was injured!

Also, because the upper half of the compet.i.tion was over, the lower half had attracted more attention. All kinds of wealthy people, powerful experts, and n.o.bles had come to watch, and it was hard to get a ticket.

Unless the price was sky-high, money alone wasn’t enough to get a seat!

As a martial family whose popularity had been badly suppressed by the Genji Clan over the past few years, the Taira main dojo had not seen a gathering of so many strong and influential people in a long time.

On both sides of the avenue, two teams of Taira Clan soldiers dispersed the lingering crowd and created a path leading to the central grandstand. Such a formation was unprecedented even with the arrival of the Martial Saint.

A group of mikos walked in front, followed by a large sedan chair carried by eight people.

Even the chief advisor, Fujiwara no Ayaka, came to the arena in person2!

This was followed by many n.o.bles of the Fujiwara Clan, such as the Chancellor, who came to cheer for his son. Even the old man of the Fujiwara Clan, Lord Shikken, who rarely showed himself, came.

The Shikken had the highest status in the clan, but in public, the chief advisor still had to take the lead, which was only natural.

The Fujiwara Clan had taken over almost half of the central grandstand. It couldn’t be helped. The Lord Chief Advisor was here and brought her large entourage of followers. Naturally, the other forces had to give way.

The Taira Clan’s old Shikken, Taira no Kiyomori, who had already retired for many years, also made a rare appearance. As the host, he sat on the right side of Ayaka.

The Martial Saint, on the other hand, could only sit in the corner of the first row.

The Genji Clan’s Shogun did not come, otherwise it would really be an unprecedented occasion. The highest-ranked official of the Genji Clan who came was Counselor Minamoto no Hirohikari. At this time, he still had lingering fears when he saw Ayaka. Minamoto no Yos.h.i.tada and the others naturally also came.

Originally, Ayaka would not have come to watch the semi-finals. She should have come in the finals, so her arrival surprised everyone and greatly increased the intensity of the final round of the semi-finals.

If people knew that she was called over by Lily, they would be surprised that this little woman could garner such great consideration.

To be precise, Lily informed Ayaka that she had been suppressed by the Martial Saint during the compet.i.tion by sending her a letter through the demon hound. As for the ident.i.ty of the Martial Saint, Lily had already confirmed it with the warriors of the Taira Clan after the battle that day. That person was none other than the Martial Saint, Sakanoue no Tamuramaro!

When Ayaka received such news, she was naturally extremely worried. Without Lily needing to say anymore, she pushed everything aside and came to watch the battle.

Although Lily was able to forcefully break through the spiritual pressure to defeat a mediocre opponent like Murakada, today’s opponent was likely much stronger than him, and may even be on the same level as herself. It was uncertain whether Lily would be subjected to another secret attack.

At this time, Lily was at the entrance of the preparation area under the compet.i.tion stage, and she felt relieved when she saw Lady Ayaka sitting in the center of the grandstand in the distance.

As for Martial Saint Tamuramaro, he was sitting in the corner with an unsightly expression, “What kind of wind is blowing today? Even Fujiwara no Ayaka and that old thing, Taira no Kiyomori, came!”

With his strength, it was unlikely for him to get detected when suppressing Lily in front of those juniors, but in front of these two people, it was impossible to take action against Lily without being discovered.

And after this was the finals where the Emperor, the Emperor Emeritus, the Cloistered Emperor, The Shogun, and others would all be present. At that time, he would have even less of a chance.

“d.a.m.n! It seems very unlikely to kill Lily at the Yos.h.i.tsune Memorial Compet.i.tion!”

Hmph, but even if I don’t make a move, the next few opponents are enough to make you suffer. I might as well watch how you fail miserably here! The Martial Saint thought to himself.

Although this martial saint’s character was originally superb and highly respectable, his son and brother were killed, so how could he let Lily off?! Naturally, he hated Lily to the core!

With so many big figures here, the judge and the chief supervisor were very nervous. After a pa.s.s of formality, the judge first saluted the chief advisor and Taira no Kiyomori again before turning to the compet.i.tion arena and raising the flag, “The final battle of the semi-finals. The first match— Mikawa’s Honda Yahatarou versus Seiwa’s Minamoto no Tsukawa.”

Amidst the cheering and drumming, a huge black-armored warrior of more than three meters, wearing an antler helmet and holding a five-meter-long spear, stepped onto the martial arts stage with a strong sense of oppression.

On the other side, there was a short and lean young man who was less than 1.6 meters tall. The young man had messy hair, and wore a somewhat ancient-looking blue and gold armor. He also carried a very rare weapon on his back.

It was a large scythe with a long chain, and there was a heavy copper weight at the other end of the chain. The head of the copper weight was inlaid with a large, blue luminous pearl.

“Lord Honda…do your best…” Lily was at the bottom of the martial arts stage, watching the battle of the two duelists who seemed to differ a lot in size and power, but she was silently worried for Honda in her heart3.

“Match— begin!” The judge shouted, waving the flag vigorously.

1. Robinxen: They bribed him with services…… what a clan. I’m so jeal… disappointed.
2. Robinxen: Well her retainer was bullied the previous match.
3. Robinxen: May he find peace in the next life.