Volume 12 - Yomi-no-kuni: Chapter 56 – Judgement And Path
Lily’s heart raced. Hidden behind a veil, her distinctive flowing hair and figure remained conspicuous among the captives, each a stark contrast to her graceful presence. Should Yaiba’s gaze fall upon her, recognition would be inevitable.
“Who dares to cause trouble here?” A Banjo demon, whip in hand, advanced towards the commotion.
“Move aside, I’m here for a specific woman,” Yaiba retorted dismissively.
“How presumptuous! You stand in the Banjo Female Prison h.e.l.l, where every woman is doomed to eternal torment. Dare you lay hands upon them?” the demon snarled.
“If their fate is torture, what harm is there in one more touch?” Yaiba scoffed.
“Though sinful, only we of the Banjo Female Prison h.e.l.l may enact punishment. They are to endure sixty-three cruel tortures without hope of escape, as decreed by the heavenly order. Your interference is unwelcome—depart!” the Banjo commanded, flourishing his whip menacingly.
Concern over the heavenly order nagged at Yaiba, yet his fear that Lily might be among these women compelled him to stay.
“Be gone!” The demon lashed his whip toward Yaiba with a force imbued with the essence of torment, capable of injuring even Big Dipper Archdemons. Yaiba seized the whip and yanked fiercely, smashing the demon against the mountain wall.
“Who dares to seize the prisoners?” A group of Banjo Demons, brandishing giant swords, charged towards him, their presence seething with infernal power.
Yaiba leaped up the cliff face, his blade slashing through the air as he engaged the encircling demons.
Simultaneously, the female prisoners, thoroughly subdued by relentless whipping, moved forward in a daze, overwhelmed by despair and stripped of all resistance. Their oblivious march through the tumult indirectly aided Lily, who feigned distraction. She slipped by unnoticed as Yaiba dispatched one demon and injured two others.
Unbeknownst to him, additional demons converged from every direction, encircling him while Lily continued her cautious trek across the cliff.
Unaware of the battle’s outcome, Lily pressed forward with the group, her mind focused on the path ahead.
Ahead lay an entrance, stark against the deep valley, marked with the ominous t.i.tle: Female Punishment.
The craftsman behind the ancient stone plaque remained unknown, the chiseled words robust yet slick, emanating a formidable power that struck fear into Lily at mere sight. The fear it stirred seemed almost instinctual, resonating deeply with every female present.
As Lily and the group entered, a vast abyss unfolded before them. It was a labyrinth of interconnected caves and trenches, each echoing the horrors of relentless torture. The torment, though non-lethal, inflicted excruciating, enduring pain—a fate far crueler than death, continuing until their souls perished.
Once obliterated, their souls would be deprived of even the possibility of reincarnation.
Abruptly, the women were split apart; Lily and two others were seized by a towering, pale-skinned horse demon.
Lily contemplated escape but hesitated, knowing the risks. With over a dozen Empyrean experts on her trail, any move could worsen her predicament. She and the others were hauled into a blood-stained, damp cave filled with sights too ghastly to behold.
“It’s so cruel… Even if decreed by heavenly order, must it be this severe?” Lily whispered. “If adultery is a sin, why are only women condemned, while men’s l.u.s.t is accepted as natural?”
Within the cave stood a formidable bailiff, shrouded in miasma, his black beard and stern features giving him a fierce appearance, reminiscent of Sugawara no Michizane.
A mere glance from the bailiff drove the two women to their knees, murmuring confessions of their sins in a dazed state. Although Lily felt a twinge of sympathy, she recognized their unabashed evilness—worthy of execution in the Heian Dynasty. Yet, the eternal torment awaiting them seemed excessively harsh.
The women were sentenced—one to a century in the blood fish pool, the other to a fate so dreadful Lily couldn’t bear to hear it.
As they were led away, one wept uncontrollably, while the other seemed numb, lost in a vacant stare.
Soon, Lily found herself alone in the cave. The horse demon pulled Lily to the forefront.
“On your knees,” commanded the bailiff, his round eyes menacing. A dark energy pulsed from him, seemingly trying to dominate Lily’s soul. Yet, Lily’s soul defenses were formidable; she resisted the invasion with ease.
“What? You, woman, why won’t you kneel?” the bailiff demanded angrily.
“I have committed no crimes. Why should I kneel?” Lily countered grimly.
“What? No crimes? Impossible! Every woman here is marked by sin. Unmask her!”
The horse demon at her side yanked off her veil, and Lily made no move to stop him. Upon seeing Lily’s face, the official gasped in shock, his breath catching unexpectedly.
‘Though many beauties have stood before me, none possess her unique allure… Her form and grace radiate an intoxicating charm that’s distinctly pure compared to others.’ The bailiff mused, struck by her difference. Despite encountering countless women, he had never judged anyone quite like her.
“With your looks, you could easily be a Divine Queen in Heaven or a Demon G.o.d’s consort. Why then commit such disgraceful sins?” The bailiff demanded, gesturing with his oversized pen.
“I’ve told you, I am innocent of any crimes.”
“How dare you argue? If not for adultery, why else would you be here? Your stubbornness astonishes me. It seems only severe punishment will loosen your tongue!” roared the bailiff.
It was not unheard of for a formidable woman to resist his glare. Such cases usually necessitated extreme torture to extract their confessions.
“Take her! Throw her into the poison cauldron and boil her until she confesses!” he commanded.
The women sent here were all formidable; they wouldn’t perish quickly in the cauldron, but the agony would be unbearable.
The bailiff and his minions escorted Lily deeper into the cave, emerging at a cliffside with a colossal cauldron, beneath which small demons stoked Yomi firewood. The cauldron’s contents, a boiling poison, wreaked havoc on body and soul alike.
A greasy, bearded brute loomed by the cauldron, delighting in her appearance. “What a waste to cook such beauty. Perhaps we should entertain ourselves first?” he suggested.
The horse and bull demons, harboring similar thoughts from their first glimpse of Lily, nodded in agreement. “Indeed! Let’s enjoy ourselves before we proceed with the punishment,” they chuckled sinisterly.
“How can you behave this way? Don’t you fear breaking the heavenly order?” Lily challenged, her voice grave.
“You know nothing, girl! The heavenly order may turn a blind eye. We guardians of h.e.l.l see this as a perk—an unwritten rule. Even if the heavens were aware, we would not face punishment,” they mocked, erupting in laughter.
“Enough! This punishment is to judge her severity, not for your amus.e.m.e.nt. Cease this nonsense immediately!” the bailiff commanded sternly from behind.
“What a waste!” the demons grumbled, but they didn’t dare openly defy the bailiff’s orders. Reluctantly, they dragged Lily to the cauldron’s edge.
The towering brute, nearly four meters tall, seized Lily’s slender ankle and hoisted her upside down above the cauldron.
“What a waste,” he muttered, preparing to submerge her into the boiling liquid.
“Indeed, what a waste,” Lily echoed, her expression hardening.
In a swift move, Lily wrapped her feet around his arm, slicing through the rope with a sharp movement. Using her legs, she leveraged his weight, flipping the brute into the cauldron as she propelled herself upward.
With a thunderous splash, the c.u.mbersome brute flailed as he landed in the cauldron, the toxic brew splashing violently around him.
Lily then delivered a forceful kick, tipping the cauldron and its occupant over the edge of the cliff.
“What?” The demon constables were stunned. The horse and bull demons, accustomed only to subdued Throned Stage female prisoners, were outmatched.
The two Double-soul Big Dipper demons brandished their weapons—an axe and a blade—and attacked Lily.
Gracefully landing, Lily pirouetted on her toes, swiftly darting between the demons. With a swift slash, her blade energy cleaved the two demons into four segments.
As the bailiff conjured a spell, the word ‘Imprison’ glowing in his palm, Lily was already before him in an instant. With a single swift motion, Lily severed his arm using her Oborozuki Muramasa.
The bailiff was only a triple-soul Big Dipper. Lily, with her strength comparable to a pinnacle Septuple-soul and wielding the razor-sharp Oborozuki Muramasa, was far more formidable than any ordinary Big Dipper could hope to be. Despite his clear disadvantage, Lily did not deliver a fatal blow; instead, she merely rested her blade against his throat, her actions tempered with mercy.
Shocked, the formidable bailiff collapsed to the ground. “Spare me… Deity…”
“I won’t end your life, for you are not like them. You’ve meted out countless punishments to women, merely enforcing the heavenly order. Despite its excessive cruelty, the fault lies with the heavenly order, not with you. Those I killed sought to harm me in unspeakable ways; their deaths were the result of their own sins.” Lily’s gaze dropped, her visage a blend of beauty and lethal intent.
“Deity… thank you for your mercy. But blasphemy, that is a grave sin!” the bailiff cautioned earnestly.
“I question the heavenly order—so what? If the heavens themselves reject me, why should I defer to them?” Lily proclaimed boldly, her hair billowing around her as she stood unafraid.
Her defiant words weighed heavily, frightening and paralyzing the bailiff.
‘This woman, though formidable, is not the ultimate force in the h.e.l.l of Torment or beyond. Yet, how does she dare to challenge the heavenly order so fearlessly?’
Disregarding the stunned bailiff, Lily wiped her blade clean of blood, stepped over him, and continued her descent into the deeper realms of h.e.l.l.