Volume 12 - Yomi-no-kuni: Chapter 5 – Rakshasa Dojo

“Ten thousand Blood Spirit Magatamas? It’s not a matter of affordability for His Highness Wakarai, but would he still maintain his dignity in Yomi after such a payment? And you, audaciously demanding a three-day wait? His Highness desires to marry Kagami Lily, not some second-hand product!” Tsukou’s beard bristled with fury.

“There’s nothing more to discuss; this woman shall become mine!” bellowed Mauro. “Men, chain this woman and bring her to the cave!”

Two ox demons, each bearing the strength of s.e.xtuple-souls, advanced towards Lily with chains in hand.

“Who dares!” Tsukou raised his blade with both hands, ama.s.sing a terrifying power.

With a formidable swing, a bright blue blade beam adorned with black inscriptions erupted over Lily’s head. It spread outward, shattering the chains held by the ox demons and propelling them through the air.

“How dare you! You stand on my territory!” erupted Mauro, golden spiritual energy bursting forth as he marched towards Tsukou, murder in his gaze. Tsukou met his approach, equally intent on killing.

Caught between the two Yomi experts, Lily quickly rolled away, largely ignored as neither expert wished her harm.

Tsukou’s blade clashed in battle against Mauro’s six weapons!

The violent wind and spirit energy raged around them, sending shockwaves of flame and sword energy rippling through the area. The aftermath left some Throne Stage monsters with severe internal injuries, while others perished outright.

The weaker monsters fled, casting regretful glances at Lily. Lacking the strength to capture her, they harbored no illusions about her. For them, possessing such a beauty spelled doom; their interest lay solely in gathering information. After all, news about Lily could fetch a hefty price.

Some experts coveted the ten thousand Blood Spirit Magatamas, while others disregarded the bounty, desiring Lily herself. More powerful beings showed no interest in the magatamas, seeking only to claim such rare beauties. Indeed, certain individuals might pay hundreds of magatamas for mere news of her whereabouts.

Although neither Lily nor the Big Dipper ox demons sustained injuries from the shockwaves, the terrible tremors left them unsettled even at this distance.

Seizing the moment while the two experts were preoccupied, Lily swiftly rose and dashed at breakneck speed towards the path blocked by just two quintuple-soul ox demons.

“What?!” As Tsukou’s blade clashed with Mauro’s six weapons, both combatants, muscles bulging from exertion, paused in shock upon noticing Lily’s escape.

“She’s fleeing! What are we clashing for? Let’s unite to capture her; our duel can wait!” Tsukou quickly proposed.

“Agreed

¹.” The ground trembled as the two formidable beings pursued Lily. Tsukou ascended into the air, while Mauro leaped, covering a distance of ten thousand meters with ease.

Almost simultaneously, both Tsukou and Mauro rapidly closed the distance to Lily.

“So swift!?” Lily was astounded, their velocity greatly exceeding hers.

“Insolent girl, you dare flee!” Tsukou raised his hand to slap her face.

Lily gritted her teeth. Despite not matching the strength of these two Yomi experts, she was not so frail as to be felled by a mere slap. Without hesitation, she raised her blade, slashing at the incoming hand.

With a vicious slash, the blade unexpectedly countered and severed two of Tsukou’s fingers.

Oborozuki Muramasa’s lethality was unmatched, threatening even a being as formidable as Tsukou. A direct strike to his essence could be fatal without proper defenses.

“What?!” Tsukou, an ancient being predating the great war when the mortal realm was linked to Yomi, had chosen the path of demons to pursue the art of the sword. Millennia of training had honed his formidable strength, yet his regenerative abilities paled in comparison to those of naturally born monsters. His severed fingers would not reattach readily.

“Ahahahaha! A mere girl has severed your fingers!” Mauro erupted in raucous laughter.

Enraged, Tsukou’s power surged, cursing vehemently as he aimed a vicious slash at Lily.

Lily executed a roll to evade, but the sheer force of the outburst was staggering; even the shockwave alone disoriented her stance.

With a thunderous impact, a foot collided with Lily’s abdomen, forcing her to curl up upon impact with the ground, followed swiftly by another brutal strike to her back.

Lily’s cry echoed as she was slammed into the ground, creating a crater. The durable terrain of Yomi, far st.u.r.dier than the mortal realm, attested to the palm strike’s formidable power.

Tsukou kicked Lily’s p.r.o.ne form, berating her, “You’re a chaos-spreading criminal, a fugitive harlot from Takamagahara! I’ll end you with my kicks!”

The intense pain emanating from her abdomen crippled Lily’s ability to move, and the subsequent a.s.saults rendered her nearly immobile.

“Ahhh! Ease your strikes, you’ll kill her!” Mauro expressed concern.

The realization of his orders halted Tsukou. If she were to become Wakarai’s wife, she’d be his future master. With that in mind, he dared not continue his a.s.sault.

Lily could sense the contempt, pity, and courtesy in his thoughts, intensifying her humiliation. However, she was immobilized, the beating too severe for any movement.

Two ox demons approached, twisting her arms behind her back and securing them with enchanted chains.

“Seize her!” commanded Mauro.

“Stop!” Tsukou interjected, sword at the ready, “I am the one who will take this woman!”

“Proceed!” barked Mauro.

Two ox demons hauled Lily off.

Tsukou stomped on the chains, swinging his blade to sever the arms of the two ox demons.

“Scoundrel! You dare attack my warriors?” Mauro leaped forward, landing at the chain’s other end. The two adversaries faced off on the chain, resuming their combat.

“All forces, unite!” Mauro commanded.

Explosive forces erupted as, in addition to the prior three-eyed, septuple-soul ox demon, another three of similar might emerged.

The four ox demons, revered as the leading powers beneath Mauro’s domain, together with an additional expert, encircled Tsukou. Compromised by the loss of his fingers, Tsukou found himself overwhelmed by their coordinated a.s.sault, compelling him to retreat.

Instantly, another pair of ox demons stepped forward to pull Lily away.

Wracked with pain, Lily was immobilized, unable to resist. Observing an ox demon advancing to seize Oborozuki from the ground, she promptly used her soul world to reclaim her sword.

In fury, the ox demon charged at Lily, delivering a kick.

“Wench! Surrender the prized sword!”

Three quintuple-soul ox demons hauled Lily, bombarding her with punches and kicks. While their attacks weren’t severe enough to cause grave injuries, the pain and the humiliation were profound.

As a dignified and n.o.ble female samurai, the notion of being publicly battered by a horde of vicious ox demons in Yomi was unthinkable.

Clenching her teeth, Lily restrained her tears; she refused to show vulnerability before these creatures, viewing tears as a sign of frailty.

“Master!” Kagura was eager to emerge and deploy a Blood Spirit Magatama. However, even with such an action, she could only confront one or two ox demons, rendering her emergence tantamount to seeking death.

“No! Stay back!” As the master of the mirror dimension, Lily forbade Kagura and Yuki-onna from emerging.

The demon hound, birthed from resentment and fearless in the face of demise, lacked even the power of a Big Dipper, rendering it excessively feeble.

The Record of the Hundred Demons proved futile as well, with her hands shackled behind her, precluding its activation.

“You fools! Cease your beating! What if you injure her irreparably? The treasured blade is concealed upon her person; search her and locate the storage treasure,” Mauro bellowed amidst the fray.

“Exactly!” “Such wisdom befits the Dark Gold Inferno King!”

At the command to search, the ox demons’ faces contorted with predatory eagerness, their hands reaching for Lily with the intention of rending her garments.

A burst of blue-purple smoke, redolent of daturas, erupted before Lily. The potent fragrance, combined with Lily’s heightened physical state, induced a spell of disorientation and uncontrollable trembling.

The ox demons, too, inhaled the intoxicating scent, succ.u.mbing to a state of bewilderment.

“This won’t do!” Realizing the peril, Mauro disregarded Tsukou and charged towards the smoke, expelling a gust of golden breath from his nostrils to disperse it. As the smoke cleared, the scene revealed several ox demons staggering aimlessly, their hands brushing against the ground’s stones.

“What’s happening? Why is this beauty so hard?”

“Why does she appear to be made of stone?”

The ox demons continued to grope blindly within the lingering smoke.

“Idiots, scatter!” Mauro dispatched the befuddled ox demons with a sweep of his axe, then darted off in a different direction.

“Huhuhuhu!” A mature, resolute, and distinctly feminine laughter emanated from the smoke.

Beyond the veil of smoke loomed several dark earth dragons, each several meters in girth and towering dozens of meters in height.

Atop each earth dragon perched a formidable, enchanting woman.

Leading the procession, a dark earth dragon with a golden horn bore a tall, alluring woman clad in a scanty purple kunoichi outfit

². Her complexion was brown, her physique toned, and her dark hair was gathered into a sleek ponytail.

The woman was identified as Renka, beside whom a chain trailed, tethering Lily – disheveled, garments rent, revealing her pale shoulders – atop the dragon’s crown.

“What!?” Sensing the formidable auras emanating from the dragons and their riders, Mauro’s countenance grew stern, prompting him to exclaim, “The followers of Rakshasa?”

Witnessing Lily’s abduction, the septuple-soul ox demons ceased their a.s.sault on Tsukou, only to be sent soaring with a powerful kick.

Tsukou hastened over, demanding, “Servants of Rakshasa, what is the meaning of this? She is to be the bride of His Highness Wakarai! Release her at once!”

Footnotes:

1. 
   

   Robinxen: Wow, a modic.u.m of intelligence!

2. 
   

   Robinxen: So Lily is getting bailed out…? Or is it another contender?