Book 1: Chapter 89: Lily Beheads the Serpent

“Phew…” Under the heavy rain water beaded on Lily’s long eyelashes, and her glossy lips parted as she exhaled white mist. A glimpse of fascination emerging in her eyes.

Her bare feet stepped on a pair of wooden shoes as she made her way through the mountain trail, which was full of dry leaves, and muddy puddles. In front of her was now an extremely dark and ominous forest.

The big and rough1 tree trunks scattered around like countless pillars, looking as though they were supporting the dark clouds rolling in the sky. The rain obscured vision, hindering people from seeing anything beyond the mountain. Bushes grew lushly under the giant trees with layers of flowers and leaves. The fog grew thicker and enhanced the darkness. All those contributed to the eerie feeling that something nasty was hiding within the forest.

“Eldritch energy. It’s so heavy here.” It would be a lie if Lily said that she wasn’t scared.

No matter what, she was a woman, who innately had fears of monsters.

Even if she had enough strength for self-defense, there were still powerful monsters in the deep mountain capable of finishing her within a second. There’s also the possibility those monsters would occasionally wander around the outer region of Mount Tama. If she b.u.mped into those monsters, she would surely be dead.

Nanako was much weaker than Lily, and she was going through Mount Tama by herself to reach Suruga Province. How could Lily linger here in her fear!

Nanako’s strength was comparable to the time she took the samurai’s qualification test, she hadn’t made much progress since then. And Lily, on the other hand, had mastered the first stage of Genji Swordstyle. At this point, her strength was equivalent to that of a low-tier Sword Master in their later stage. Even if Nanako agreed to be her va.s.sal, it still wouldn’t be very realistic to take her out on an adventure due to the big difference between their power.

“A Blade Maiden is a talented but lonely female samurai.” That’s what Sakura told her.

“Blade Maiden can use the katana to seize the souls, control the souls, or to supplement her own spirit power and strengthen herself. The other samurais and onmyojis couldn’t do that. That’s why Blade Maiden can work alone as she can continue to refill her energy by slashing the demons or monsters while her teammates have to drain their power fast. The Blade Maiden has a powerful destructive force and comes with great dodging skills, but she has no skill to protect her teammates. When her teammates run out of spirit power, they will be in danger! Unless they were originally a top-cla.s.s expert, any other teammate with equal power level could never keep up with a Blade Maiden’s growth.”

“Becoming the Blade Maiden means you’re predestined to walk on a beautiful but lonely path. This is the Blade Maiden’s gift, yet also a misfortune in some aspect.”

Lily thought that perhaps Uesugi Rei had walked the same path…

“Even if Nanako can’t go on an adventure with me, nor can she take on special ninja missions like Shiu, I still hope that after I get home from a dangerous trip, someone will tell me: You’re home.”

It was very important to Lily who didn’t have any friends or family in this otherworld. That was why she had hoped Nanako and Shiu could become her va.s.sals. Deep in her heart, Lily had even considered them her family in this otherworld…

Since being alone in the otherworld felt so forlorn, no matter how strong she became, she would still be afraid of the darkness.

“I must find Nanako. At least, I have to confirm that she’s safe and sound. If she really insists on getting back to Suruga Province, I won’t force her to come back,” Lily thought under the downpour.

The rain grew even heavier. A tree branch that looked like a giant serpent appeared in front of Lily.

Lily slowed down. Is that a serpent or just a tree branch?

It doesn’t move in the rain. Is it a tree branch?

The middle section of the “branch”, which was unnaturally fat and reeking of eldritch energy, sold it down to the river.2

“Sssss ——!” A strange hiss arose. The giant serpent opened its red mouth and jumped at Lily with lightning speed.

“It’s a Nozuchi! A serpent-type monster that specialized in sneak attack!” Lily was startled!3

Lily threw the Sakura Parasol into the sky to cover her from the rain and drew the Seiwa Tamashi in the same breathe!

The quick draw was so fast that even with the Nozuchi’s speed, it couldn’t react in time. The cold tip of the sword had already pressed against the serpent’s wide-open mouth.

“Sssss ——!”

Extremely accurate, powerful force, and unwavering slash!

The powerful slash force caused the Nozuchi to straighten in midair. With added momentum from the opponent’s attack, the sword cut through its red flesh from the mouth to the tail!4

Lily’s sharp sword gashed along Nozuchi’s body as it flew past Lily’s shoulder. The strong wind caused her hair to flutter.

Nozuchi had a several-meter cut at its belly before it fell into a muddy puddle. Through the cut at its ma.s.sive belly, white bones and clothes of some people it had swallowed before could be seen.

Lily’s Sakura Parasol left a red streak in the sky. It gently swayed in the rain before returning to Lily’s hand.

After that one slash, Lily’s shoulder wasn’t even wet.

That Nozuchi hadn’t died yet. It struggled to lift its head in an attempt to counterattack. Lily stabbed the Nozuchi with Seiwa Tamashi. Sparkling red magic runes emerged on the sword, forcefully claiming Nozuchi’s soul.

“A Normal Low-Ranked anima, hmm,” Lily muttered.

Lily was startled when she felt her Seiwa Tamashi take in this monster’s soul. The Seiwa Tamashi was vibrating and glowed with a layer of red light that seemed to contain some unknown power.

Sakura told her that when the rank of the anima was high enough, not only could it be used to refine the spirit power, it might even possess some special power that could temporarily strengthen the katana! The Mountain Imp’s anima was the lowest of low, no matter how many she killed, none would possess that sort of power.

The essence of the monster’s soul flowed into Lily’s body through the sword. The red Magatama collected it and stored it in the magical s.p.a.ce in Lily’s lower abdomen. Afterward, it would be refined, becoming the scarlet Demon Maiden spirit power to supplement Lily’s body.

“Yeah. . . It feels so good to refine the spirit power there.” Lily closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling. It had been a long time since she last used Soul Eater to supplement her spirit power. The spirit power stockpile she got from hunting the Mountain Imp was starting to run low. If they were used up, her strength would be greatly reduced. Thus, instinctively, Lily’s desire to kill more monsters had swelled up in her heart.

After consuming that anima, Lily didn’t bat an eye at the monster. She cared not whether the Nozuchi was dead or alive as its eldritch energy was already dried. Turning towards the dark, misty Mount Tama, Lily continued to delve deeper under the curtain of rain. Her tight b.u.t.t wrapped by the kimono gently swayed in the night as she walked…5

1. Giggity
2. Fancy way of saying betray.
   

   Robinxen: I’m innocent officer! Also Robinxen: I will train my imouto properly.

3. Silva: I’m more concerned about it’s big tummy… perhaps it had swallowed Nanako…
   

   Robinxen: Content warning ahead?

4. Silva: Nawwwww!!! If Nanako’s in there, she’s gonna get cut in half!
5. Robinxen: I totally thought the chapter t.i.tle was the metaphorical type.