Volume 11 - Yamata no Orochi: Chapter 14 – b.l.o.o.d.y Battle (Part 2)
“Ah!” Hikomoto, in anguish, retreated while clutching his bleeding arm. “My arm, my arm!” he wailed. As a Big Dipper Archdemon, he attempted to reattach his severed limb using his spirit power, a task within his capabilities.
In the midst of this, Kamakura launched a surprise kick at Lily from behind. His colossal size gave her little room to counterattack effectively with her weapon. Reacting swiftly, Lily extended her legs, clashing with his in a mid-air confrontation. The moment seemed to freeze before a violent aura burst forth, scattering in all directions. The impact was such that neither gained an upper hand, and they were flung in opposite directions.
“Lily! We’re here to help!” Ayaka and Shimizu emerged from the formation, now no longer needed to be maintained, and rushed to Lily’s aid.
“Minamoto no Shimizu?” Kamakura recognized Shimizu. He had previously observed her on the platform and underestimated her, but now she stood before him as a formidable triple-soul Big Dipper, a revelation that left him stunned. Not only Lily but her allies too had grown remarkably in power.
Kamakura’s booming voice filled the air, “Minamoto no Shimizu, you were raised by the Genji Clan. Are you now joining these traitors against the Empire?” His words, however, were met with a dark and ominous sword energy from Shimizu, nearly catching him off guard.
“Lord Kamakura, I disdain pointing fingers. But you, who mercilessly slew your own kin for power, dare speak of honor? Your morality is a facade! Though I’ve severed ties with the Genji Clan, I’m mortified to share any a.s.sociation with you!” Shimizu’s retort, backed by her status as a Blade Maiden, left Kamakura momentarily speechless, especially as his treachery towards Yos.h.i.tsune was laid bare.
Around Kamakura, the demon commanders and undead soldiers seemed indifferent to this exchange. However, hidden scouts from various n.o.ble factions, drawn by the battle’s commotion, overheard. This revelation, if carried back, would inform their masters of Yoritomo’s true nature.
“Enough of this! Kill these demonesses!” Kamakura commanded in rage
1. A thousand-strong formation nearby began conjuring an immense attack spell. The combined might of these undead soldiers, many of whom were at the Permanence Stage, promised a catastrophic outcome.
However, the tide had turned with Lily no longer fighting solo. Amplified by Setsugekka, Shimizu’s strength soared. She charged into the formation, employing a daring tactic of absorbing the acc.u.mulating energy from their spell. The formation’s spirit power, intended for destruction, was instead drawn into her, leaving the soldiers weakened and spell-less.
Several Throned Stage experts moved to confront Shimizu, but they were no match for her enhanced power. She dispatched them with ease, her black sword energy slicing through their ranks.
Meanwhile, Ayaka, wielding her Naginata, deftly engaged several demon commanders. She alternated between direct combat and casting spells, adeptly holding her ground against the formidable adversaries.
Seizing her chance, Lily swiftly drew Himiko’s longbow and released an arrow that intercepted a demon commander lunging towards Ayaka. The arrow, followed by a barrage of spells, pummeled into the demon’s body, causing significant damage.
Hikomoto, still reeling from having his arm severed and reattached, was consumed by a rage like never before. Despite his high-level Demon G.o.d Physique, akin to Shuten Doji’s, reattaching his arm had left him significantly drained.
“Kagami Lily, I will kill you!” Hikomoto’s voice was tinged with a deadly resolve as he revealed a shuriken, black and adorned with the contorted faces of tormented souls. This was no ordinary shuriken, but a mid-ranked Spirit Treasure, a deadly inheritance from his father. Though shurikens weren’t his forte, the lethal potential of this particular weapon was undeniable.
“Hehehe! No matter how good you are, you can’t block this!” Hikomoto taunted, throwing the shuriken with a swift motion. It whizzed through the air, accelerating on its own, trailing a sinister dark energy as it targeted Lily’s back.
Lily, perceiving the imminent danger, instinctively deployed her Sakura Parasol against the menacing projectile. The collision triggered an explosive outburst, unleashing a shockwave that hurled demon commanders aside and carved a ma.s.sive crater in the ground. Despite the parasol’s protection, the blast’s force sent Lily flying back miles, her steadying only possible through the support of her soul world. Her hands tingled with numbness, her entire body trembling from the impact.
“What a terrifying explosive power! If I struck it with my blade, the explosion would be strong enough to cripple me.” She realized that even if she had dodged, the shuriken would likely have exploded in her proximity, making it a harrowing experience.
As a formidable ent.i.ty from Yomi, Hikomoto, though slightly weaker than Lily, had access to great resources. Lily nearly underestimated him until he unleashed this horrifying weapon.
At that moment, Hikomoto was utterly stunned. “Curses… Where did this woman come from? Her sword is powerful from defeating Shuten Doji, I get that. But how can her seemingly ordinary parasol block the explosion of my black fire shuriken, a weapon that could injure a quintuple-soul Big Dipper? How is it unscathed
2?” He couldn’t comprehend the resilience of her parasol, especially against his mid-ranked Spirit Treasure which was designed to be destroyed after a single use, indicating its immense power.
“This woman, I hate her so much!” Hikomoto fumed with rage. He was painfully aware of Lily’s formidable strength, having barely survived her previous onslaught. Despite his anger and reluctance, he knew he couldn’t risk his life in a direct confrontation with her. Preparing to curse and leave the battlefield, he turned to retreat.
However, Lily was not one to let her prey escape so easily. She would have confronted Kamakura first, but with Hikomoto turning to flee, she was not about to let him get away. Drawing Himiko’s longbow, she took aim.
With a resonating tw.a.n.g, an arrow enveloped in lunar fog shot forth, trailing a swift path towards Hikomoto. “Hmph, trying to hit me?” he scoffed, readying to dodge. However, the sweeping force from Lily’s soul world, swirling with sakura petals, ensnared him, hindering his movement just enough.
“What?” he exclaimed in shock as the arrow, imbued with a frigid lunar aura, accurately severed his leg. “Ah!” he screamed, his agony mixed with fear and the premonition of impending doom. In desperation, he reached for a talisman, intending to teleport away.
But Lily was already there, right behind him. “Thousand Sakura Linger!” she declared. Countless silver threads ensnared Hikomoto, reinforced by the frozen moonlight, binding him and halting the function of his father’s talisman.
“What?” he gasped, his confidence shattered as Lily closed in. His limbs were ensnared, his plans thwarted.
“Lord Kamakura! Help me!” he cried out desperately. The giant samurai rushed over, striking the air with his ma.s.sive palm. But Lily, antic.i.p.ating his every move, nimbly dodged his attacks without even a backward glance.
As Lily, her eyes glowing with determination, stood before him, Hikomoto, the once-arrogant heir of a dominant Yomi faction, faced the terrifying reality of his mortality. Finally breaking free from the threads, he aimed a desperate strike at Lily with his long sword.
Lily, with swift precision, countered Hikomoto’s attack. Crescent Moon clashed against his blade, while Yasutsuna, held in her other hand, delivered a horizontal strike, gruesomely slicing off half of his face and destroying a Stellar Soul within his skull. As the upper part of his head fell, signaling his impending demise, he summoned the last of his strength, igniting his soul for a final, desperate a.s.sault.
Despite his fury, his movements were sluggish compared to Lily’s. Yasutsuna had already pierced his chest, the Cursed Blade ruthlessly annihilating his Spirit Sea and devouring his Anima. The life force was absorbed into the blade, leaving him in a state of unconsciousness from which he would never awaken.
The fall of Carefree City’s heir sent shockwaves through the remaining demon commanders, their morale plummeting. Fear took hold, and some began to flee, realizing the futility of their resistance against the formidable trio of Lily, Ayaka, and Shimizu. The death of Hikomoto, a formidable quadruple-soul Big Dipper, served as a stark reminder of their impending fate if they continued the fight.
“Kagami Lily!” Kamakura, seizing the moment while Lily’s blade absorbed Anima, launched an all-out attack. Dark energy, thick enough to obscure the sun itself, surged toward her back, capable of carving valleys into the very earth.
Lily, deftly maneuvering to the side, evaded Kamakura’s ma.s.sive blade and leapt up, landing beside him with remarkable agility. In a swift motion, she unleashed Yasutsuna and Crescent Moon, their blade energies carving through his immense form, causing black blood and spirit energy to erupt in all directions.
“Ugh!” Kamakura, grunting in pain, retreated swiftly into the air. From his spilled blood, a myriad of giant black tentacles emerged, lashing out at Lily in a frenzied attack. “I never expected you to use your blood to fight!” Lily exclaimed, nimbly dodging the tentacles as she pursued him.
In his retreat, Kamakura swung his weapon with immense force. Lily met the attack head-on with both swords, the impact sending her reeling backward. Kamakura, realizing the futility of his efforts, continued his retreat, launching numerous palm strikes in rapid succession. The air was filled with his giant palm projections, targeting not only Lily but also Ayaka and Shimizu.
Overwhelmed by the sheer number of attacks, Lily parried several with her swords while dodging others. Ayaka, though not yet fully recovered, withstood the palm strikes thanks to her quintuple-soul Big Dipper physique. Shimizu, having made great strides in her power, still struggled with the impact, retreating hastily as she coughed up blood.
From a distance, Kamakura, noticing Shimizu’s vulnerability, seized his chance. He produced a javelin, hurling it with formidable power towards Shimizu. The javelin, like a bolt of pitch-black lightning, sped through the air with lethal intent.
“Sister Shimizu!” Lily acted swiftly, rushing in front of Shimizu. With a precise swing of Yasutsuna, she deflected the javelin, sending it off course and sparing Shimizu from certain harm.
With Shimizu safe, Lily watched as Kamakura seized the moment to make his escape. He vanished into the thick, rolling black clouds that blanketed the sky, leaving the battlefield behind in a state of turmoil
3.Footnotes:
Robinxen: LMAO the idiot basically admitted it to everyone with that reaction too.
Robinxen: That parasol is the OG cheat item, it’s done far more impressive things.
Robinxen: And that’s all the evidence the fence sitters will need to push them over to Lily.