Book 2: Chapter 120: Love Not Martial Attire, Love Terpsich.o.r.ean Attire

Inside the dim ancient stone room, the dance movements of the bewitching celestial maiden donned in elegant, yet seductive attire kept floating up in Lily’s mind.

“Is that… the only way left?” Lily pondered over and over again on the issue, but he had, in fact, already arrived at an answer.

Lily only had one opportunity to use a single full-power attack of Kagura. As he bore the heavy burden of revitalizing his senior sister’s dormant soul, and had complications relating to the Heian world and his sisters, he really didn’t wish to use such a deadly move except as a last resort.

But, to train, I’ll have to…

“Forgive me… Master,” Kagura looked quite taxed mentally, “I’m quite tired from the long conversation as controlling Nanako’s body puts a toll on my mind. Anyways, that Treasury Room is pretty s.p.a.cious and empty, so I shall use it as Nanako’s training grounds for now… I’ll go there and have a good long chat with Nanako after returning back to the Sakura Parasol and talk things over with her once I’m done with the explanation…”

“Sigh… I feel so tired. Don’t you worry, Master. I won’t force Nanako… Train well, then, Master…” Saying so, Kagura entered the Treasury Room, following which the stone door closed slowly.

Kagura had already sworn fealty to Lily as a shikigami, so although she acted a bit haughty, she naturally complied with Lily’s order dutifully. As such, there was no need that she would make things difficult for Nanako. However, Lily believed that it wouldn’t be that easy for Nanako to accept the fact that she wasn’t Lady Kotoka’s birth child. On the other hand, the celestial maiden’s physique was something that every samurai woman desired, so it was a huge windfall for her.

Lily alone remained in the cheerless stone room now. He then opened the door to her senior sister’s room and entered inside, but grief filled him immediately as his senior sister was still quiet as ever, asleep like a pure princess.

Lily wished to say something, but he refrained from doing so in the end and just accompanied his senior sister silently for a while.

“Senior Sister, no matter what I become or what I do, it’s all for you. I’m willing to do anything for you! Even if I have to pay a hefty price for it!”

Lily raised his senior sister’s stellar dark hair and kiss it softly, but though this soul’s hair looked so beautiful, it had no flavor to it…

After that, Lily arrived in front of the room next door and his breathing turned rushed.

In the next moment, Lily extended his hand forward, yet retracted it back again.

“Putting aside the matters of Senior Sister and Nanako’s safety aside, Sister Shimizu’s safety is an unknown as well. Yet here I am feeling embarra.s.sed because of such a meaningless thing. Can I still call myself a real man even if I’m dressed in men’s clothes by acting so wishy-washy?”

“A real man shouldn’t mind his outward appearance and ought to take proper responsibility!”

Lily’s eyes filled with resolution, following which he pushed the door open.

The inside was a relatively bright j.a.panese-style room with tatami mats that had a small table at the center, and on it rested a finely-made large jewelry box.

Lily arrived in front of the table and sat down in a seiza before it.

This wasn’t a dressing table, but rather a battlefield!

This was the first hurdle Lily had to pa.s.s through in order to meet Dijon on the battlefield!

“Lord Matsuda, I cannot let you die twice for me in vain. Nanako, I’ll definitely bring you to safety!”

Lily extended his slender effeminate hand forward yet the courage it took for him to do such was much more than any other man in the world.

And then, he opened that jewelry box and picked up the copper mirror inside it, looking at his reflection on it.

His elegant black hair had become shoulder-length before he even realized it and even carried a fragrant scent with it that made him feel a bit dazed. He could also sense his soul turn feminine by the second.

Lily’s trembling fingers pulled open the first drawer and picked up a small black brush from it.

Naturally, it wasn’t a brush meant for painting on paper and was instead used to paint the symbol of a girl on the face.

It was an eyebrow brush.

After learning the art of painting from Lord Moron.o.bu, it was but an easy task for Lily to apply makeup to the eyebrows. However, once that brush goes down, he would look even more like a girl, and this made his hand holding the brush quiver.

Even if I look like a girl outside, my heart is valiant than ever and much closer to a real man’s!Thus, there’s nothing to feel ashamed about.

Lily picked up the exquisite, silver-cased lipstick tube and undid the top, revealing the captivating red lip gloss that exuded a faint fragrance.

He lifted it up and brought it near his lips and applied the bewitching red on his lips silently with the help of the mirror.

Applying makeup, just a little of it, had already made him blush as red as an apple. He then picked up the powder box and powdered his slender neck a bit.

After that, he got up and walked before the wardrobe as if he were setting out to the battlefield and opened it with a creak.

And a beautiful divine raiment of a celestial maiden revealed itself.

Lily’s breathing quickened once again as he untied his white yukata and let it slide down to his feet…

The three steles had towered within the cave perpetually for an unknown amount of time.

Yet, at this moment, a touch of elegant white had entered this cold, dark and crude cave.

Kagami Lily had tied up his hair in the same women’s hairstyle as that day, and his fair, fragile and tender body was donned in a fairy-like white kimono with two semi-transparent ribbons that crossed across his chest, giving but an inadvertent glimpse of the faint bulges underneath, and down his flat and spotless stomach laid an elegant silk skirt. His slender arms were coiled in a long ribbon each that linked to his half-covered garments via a silver pendant.

His shoulders appeared feeble and rounded, and the hair above his unblemished neck was bound up, but there were still a few strands that escaped the binding and stuck to his neck.

The silver jewelry he had donned were inlaid with bewitching amethyst gems while his feet were void of footwear and bound in twinkling silver ankle bracelets instead.

He held a slender katana made of silver in his hand that didn’t possess any offensive power and instead resembled an ornamental weapon used by celestial maidens while dancing in a banquet night.

Lily’s slender feet were tiny and didn’t resemble a boy’s feet at all, even their shape rounder than a girl’s. He arrived in front of the ancient stele and performed a ceremonial bow towards each of the three steles successively, just like a female dancer.

“Suzuhiko-hime… Teacher. You are Kagura’s master and have even pa.s.sed on this Tsukuyomi Swordstyle and Lunar Blossom to me. Although you have fallen long ago, I shall still venerate you as my teacher.”

After that, Lily kneeled in front of the stele that depicted the Tsukuyomi Swordstyle.

“G.o.ddess Tsukuyomi… I am just an insignificant existence that has learned your sword art without your permission, so I’m far from being qualified to call you my teacher. I am but one of the millions of believers who venerate and worship you. If I am blessed enough to encounter one of your shrines one day, I shall offer my heartfelt prayers and express my grat.i.tude for the grace I’ve received today.”

Lily then stood up and straightened his back before raising his katana, that movement of his filled with elegance, dignity and sorrow.

The ethereal crystalline light within the gloomy cavern illuminated Lily’s skin and dyed it in shimmering light, the everchanging sword-dance causing those elegant floating ribbons to hover around his body like clouds with each revolving turn.

Lily’s soul seemed to slowly a.s.similate with the senses that of a woman’s body and his movements became even more gentle and fluid as if they were in sync with the movements in the stele. However, his execution of some of the exceptionally feminine postures was still a bit unripe.

Lily would blush each time he had to execute such postures.

However, for his senior sister, for Nanako’s safety, for the missing Shimizu, he showed no hesitation at all when executing them!

A faint and imperceptible detachment manifested itself within the peerless femininity as Lily executed the dance movements of the Tsukuyomi Swordstyle, and this added yet another marvelous cadence to this sword-dance.

Tsukuyomi Swordstyle was the origin of the Genji Swordstyle.

Therefore, Lily’s practice of the leading sword dance movements went on pretty smoothly. After all, he had practiced the Genji Swordstyle that had many elements in common with the Tsukuyomi Swordstyle. Additionally, Lily excelled in dancing, so that underripe body which possessed an innate transcendental and fairy-like aura added a distinctive flavor to the movements and produced a divine opus.

Although the elegant, fluid yet slightly erotic celestial maiden’s sword-dance movements depicted in the Tsukuyomi Swordstyle flowed without interruption, they weren’t sword moves meant to be used in actual battle. The idea behind this technique was the same as the real combat techniques practiced generally by all samurai. In real combat, the actual style and stance weren’t that important in comparison to speed, intuition and adaptability.

The aim of the Tsukuyomi Swordstyle was to promote the harmonization and control of the body via this sword-dance. This control didn’t just refer to limb movements and reflexes, and instead referred to the senses and intuition. More so, it becomes possible to control the flow of spirit power within the body via these sword-dance movements. Thus, its true use lied in training the body and augmentation of spirit power.

Although the sword-dance’s movements looked magnificent, profound and complex, it had a really simple purpose, that is—multifold power augmentation.

After just practicing a few dozen movements, Lily marveled at G.o.ddess Tsukuyomi’s exceptional insight. She had integrated a simple purpose into such an erotic, fluid and bewitching sword-dance, simplified the complex and made it inclusive of everything while overlooking the whole world just like the bright and proud moon!

Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto had captured the essence of another grand pathway via this vivid, beautiful and unrestrained womanly sword-dance!

The apex of beauty was the apex of power.

It is only possible to gain insight into the essence because they are both apexes.

It wasn’t possible for mortals to see through the falsehoods and reach this truth, only a primordial and eternal existence like G.o.ddess Tsukuyomi could arrive at this secret of the world via the art of dancing!

Lily nearly believed the rumor that Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi are the most beautiful women in this world, because the sword-dance movements of this sword art paved the way towards apex beauty based on the relationship between beauty and power.

… …

Mt. Yoshino was still in the middle of an extended night.

And right now, Minamoto no Shimizu walked through the dark woods beside the towering Mt. Yoshino silently while holding her black cursed katana oozing with grudge. Although the scene looked as tranquil as still water, the regions she pa.s.sed by already had countless corpses of monsters that had attempted to ambush her conceitedly.

“Hahahaha. I never thought the Land of East would also awaken a blade maiden via acquired grudge! Congrats, Minamoto no Shimizu! You can finally achieve the dream of obtaining the crown of the strongest within the Land of East now,” Yuki Mayumi stood on a branch of a tall and ancient tree in front under the illumination of the moon. She leaped down and arrived in front of Shimizu, “Lady Haihime wishes to invite you to Mt. Fuji for a chat. I wonder if you’re willing to do me the honor then, Miss Shimizu?”

Hannya-masked ninjas appeared one after the other behind Mayumi and surrounded Shimizu.

Shimizu’s dark eyes showed no reaction at all and it was too hard to determine whether she was even looking at the person who had spoken to her. She just gave a curt reply in response, “Lead me, then.”

“Hmm?” Mayumi’s brows furrowed slightly and she appeared a bit displeased with Shimizu’s arrogant behavior, but she revealed a bewitching smile soon after and stepped forward to place her slender fingers on Shimizu’s shoulders, “In the future, we’ll definitely work together for the Land of Hundred Demons… as sisters.1”

Shimizu still had her head lowered, yet a cold smile crept up on her crimson lips.

“Whoosh!” A sharp black sword light beamed out from her hand suddenly.

Yuki Mayumi flipped backwards instantly and landed at a distance, but the front of her skintight clothes had been ripped apart and exposed her immaculate bosom.

“Who did you say are sisters?!” Shimizu stated coldly.

“You…!” Yuki Mayumi’s brows furrowed as she looked down to check her ripped clothes and shuddered a little in vigilance, cold sweat forming on her forehead as she thought the following, “Hmph! You’ve just awakened to the power of a blade maiden yet you’re so arrogant! See how I put you in your place once we reach Lady Haihime’s place. Heh!”

The ninjas stepped forth after seeing Shimizu attack, but Yuki Mayumi prevented them, “Stop at once! From now onwards, Miss Shimizu is on the same side as us!”

“Huh?” The ninjas were perplexed about how their prime target of yesterday’s hunt had become an ally so suddenly.

“Why haven’t you led the way for Miss Shimizu yet?” Yuki Mayumi ordered.

The ninjas complied and accepted this unexpected development immediately. After showing due courtesy, they guided Shimizu towards the destination, but they didn’t dare to get too close as they felt an immense danger from her.

One of the ninjas walking beside Shimizu noticed that she was dragging her grudge-steeped katana on the ground. Thus, even though he felt terrified internally, he attempted to speak to her, “Lady Shimizu, didn’t your katana’s sheath fall? Once we’re in the Land of Hundred Demons, you can request a demon swordsmith to craft a sheath for it.”

Shimizu paused in her footsteps and lifted the cursed katana shimmering with dark soul runes up, “This? There’s no need for that. Let that sheath fall into the Abyssal Rift along with my longing for the human world. Hereafter, I shall call it Tranquil Bamboo the Unsheathed Blade.”

At the same moment…

Hojo Dijon and Genja were stationed at the entrance of the cavern along with a large number of demon ninjas and monsters, waiting solemnly for the moment Lily exits it so that they can capture her!

… …

The moon was as cold as jade, the extended night still reigned.

Lily continued to train alone silently within the damp and ethereal cavern, the cross-dressed beautiful young man blooming just like a lotus in a muddy pond via the dance movements.

The first segment of Tsukuyomi Swordstyle consisted of 69 movements, and as Lily had already trained the Genji Swordstyle up to the fourth book, he had comprehended the first 36 movements of the dance very quickly. Furthermore, this mirror s.p.a.ce was very suitable for Lily’s comprehension, so he had fully comprehended the first 36 movements smoothly after just executing them once.

However, the movements after that were much complicated and elusive, so training the first segment of Tsukuyomi Swordstyle to perfection in one age didn’t seem that realistic to Lily. Even if he was in the mirror s.p.a.ce, he would still need to polish his movements repeatedly via steady diligent practice as it was only possible to progress through that once the initial rapid enlightenment phase pa.s.sed.

Lily’s face was flushed entirely as he felt really embarra.s.sed to wear this celestial maiden’s raiment. A touch of sweat coated his forehead and a l.u.s.trous sheen of sweat glimmered across his skin under the illumination of the crystals of the cave, oozing out a resplendent splendor similar to that of a celestial maiden.

Love not martial attire, love terpsich.o.r.ean attire,If you yearn not for the Heavenly Gate, towards the sunset you stride.

The Tsukuyomi Swordstyle that Lily had obtained was most suitable for his path of advancement and his true starting point!

At this moment, Lily’s female body was lying unconscious in the cavern outside the mirror s.p.a.ce with a tranquil expression on her face.

As Lily’s soul performed the elegant sword-dance like a girl while dressed in a celestial maiden’s divine raiment, the ancient mirror released a fuzzy silver light again that permeated into Lily’s body and moistened it imperceptibly, strengthening it little by little, gradually promoting the base strength of Lily’s body to thrice that of an average samurai woman’s.

(End of Volume 2)2

1. Silva: Ah yes, I can see it now. Lily vs Shimizu, the battle of Takamagahara. Robinxen: Silently praying she’s going as a mole.
2. Silva: Now then, as this is the last chapter of volume 2, let’s have a bit of a brain teaser, especially after all that info dump.
   

   According to Aoi, the translator, one of the j.a.panese creation myths state that Tsukuyomi was born from a copper mirror in possession of Izanagi. That would very well be the mirror that everyone’s been going crazy about in this novel.

   
   

   With that info in mind, what are your theories regarding the ident.i.ty of “senior sister”.

   
   

   Personally, I think there’s a very high chance she could be Tsukuyomi herself.