Book 5: Chapter 154: Battle with the Left Imperial Guards’ Commander

“Who is it? Who dares to behave so atrociously in these premises?” Taira no Mori took to the skies and stepped across a path of flames, crossing the arena in a few steps before landing in front of Kagura.

“Left Imperial Guards’ Commander!” The battered Taira clan samurai stood up unsteadily and one of them explained the situation, “This woman is being completely unreasonable and is trying to take away Shizuru forcibly!”

A bunch of Permanence level high-ranking officers from the Taira clan had also rushed over by now and stationed themselves around Mori.

Mori looked at Kagura and revealed an imitating glint on his gloomy face, “How dare you try to take away a Taira clan member when we’re right in front of the Heian Palace, which are the emperor’s premises.”

Kagura just replied back with an icy gaze, “I don’t need to explain that to you.”

“What did you say?” A powerful spirit pressure emanated from Mori’s body.

However, Kagura still remained unmoved as she had strength comparable to the Throne level and something as simple as spirit pressure couldn’t do anything to her.

“Hmm? Looks like you have some decent strength, little la.s.s. Just who are you?” Mori questioned.

A voice answered his question from Kagura’s back, “She’s one of my familiars, and a sister of mine.”

The red-dressed sensual Lily walked out from the arena premises.

“Kagami Lily?”

“Lord Mori. It was quite hypocritical to see the Taira clan mistreat a talent from their own clan when she’s down in life. Even an outsider like me was forced to take action,” Lily stated coolly.

“This is a matter of the Taira clan and not something you can interfere with!” Mori thundered. Although the Taira clan’s position had fallen a bit, it hadn’t gone so low that they needed an outsider to point things out to them.

“Lord Mori. I don’t have any other intentions. I just consider her an acquaintance since she’s one of the final four remaining opponents of the Yos.h.i.tsune Memorial Tournament. Mistreating Lady Shizuru is the same as mistreating me. I felt a lot of sympathy for this matter and felt that I had to defend the honor of the compet.i.tors!” Kagami Lily’s eyes filled with a little bit of fury as she confronted Mori boldly.

“Kagami Lily… How dare you try to interfere with the Taira clan’s matters!” Mori’s aura soared up, his anger generating sparks around him.

However, even though he glared at Lily, he thought better and decided that it wasn’t the right time to act against her right now.

Lily would soon get onto the arena and have her match with Minamoto no Tsukawa.

As Shizuru had lost, no matter who wins in the end, it had at least become easier for the Minamoto clan to do so.

Mori didn’t want to harm Lily or exhaust her right now as that would be equivalent to helping the Minamoto clan. Moreover, the Taira clan and the Fujiwara clan weren’t strategic rivals and actually had a pretty close relationship.

Mori swallowed his anger, “Kagami Lily. I know you’re the Chief Advisor’s subordinate. She’s also present in the premises today. I’ll let you go in consideration of that just this once, but you must return Shizuru to us!”

“Lord Mori. I have no intention of interfering with the Taira clan’s matters. I’ve already stated that I just couldn’t stand back and look on as one of us compet.i.tors got subjected to such humiliation after losing!” However, Lily refused to concede as well.

“I… I can’t lose… I don’t want to… return to the Taira clan…” Shizuru mumbled dimly under Kagura’s support at this moment.

“You shameless b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲!” Although Taira no Mori was unwilling to harm Lily, he felt abrupt indignance towards the defeated Shizuru and had no qualms about injuring her. He stepped forward and ignited his hand before striking at the feeble Shizuru with his palm!

Bam! Lily flitted to Kagura’s side and kicked out with her slender leg, the crimson divine light from her grade 9 wooden sandals crashing into the flames from Mori’s palm.

The flames and sakura petals collided in the next moment and the intense energy fluctuations caused the surrounding flags to flutter crazily. The weak observers nearby were also left wobbling from the duo’s exchange.

Lily’s kick was so powerful that it had actually blocked a serious palm strike from the strongest expert of the Taira clan!

“She was actually able to neutralize my Flame Strike?” Taira no Mori’s brows rose up in astonishment, “Kagami Lily. She’s not a woman that can be taken lightly.”

The surrounding Permanence level samurai of the Taira clan were also somewhat affected by these energy fluctuations and looked at the red-dressed girl in utmost shock.

At the center of the viewing platform, Prince Narinaga had also noticed the commotion at the gates by now and inquired the inner palace attendant beside him, “What’s going on over there?”

“Prince Narinaga asks, ‘What’s going on over there?’” The black-dressed inner palace attendant pa.s.sed on the question.

A few guards came to report on the situation from below, “T-They’re fighting, milord!”

“What?” Prince Narinaga asked skeptically, “We’re right in front of the Heian Palace and also in the middle of the Yos.h.i.tsune Memorial Tournament. Who dares to begin a fight here?”

“I-It’s Kagami Lily, milord. Lady Taira no Shizuru was mistreated by the Taira clan members after her defeat just now, so Kagami Lily took action to aid her and ended up confronting Lord Taira no Mori!” One of the Imperial Guards’ reported.

“What? Sister Lily—Ahem—Lady Kagami is battling Taira no Mori?” Prince Narinaga also felt worried now. He covered his mouth effeminately and gave a flushed look at Ayaka who sat beside him, “Lady Chief Advisor…”

Ayaka obviously knew all about Lily and Mori’s confrontation and had no plans to meddle with this matter. However, since the prince asked her, she turned towards him to answer him, “Prince Narinaga. I heard that Shizuru was originally your fiancée. Although the engagement didn’t happen in the end, isn’t mistreating your ex-fiancée equivalent to throwing mud at the face of the imperial family?”

“Y-You’re right, Lord Chief Advisor!” Although Prince Narinaga felt a bit afraid, both Lily and his ex-fiancée were confronting someone right now. So, he mustered up all his courage and donned a pink cloak over his shoulders, “I’ll go take a look!”

“Prince?”

“I’m going!”

…

Although Mori didn’t wish to harm Lily, the fact that she had blocked his palm strike had ignited the fury within him once again. It became difficult for him to keep his powers under control in a real battle. The flames on his palm fanned up considerably in the next moment, turning his whole palm into a searing hot-red.

Lily furrowed her brows when she saw this.

“Halt!” A feminine voice called out at this moment.

Despite being an imperial, the prince actually descended the platform and arrived before everyone.

Mori was stunned by this and paused his actions to kneel before the prince immediately, “Prince.”

Lily looked at the youth cloaked in a feminine kimono and recalled her first night in Heian-kyo, “Prince Narinaga?”

“Sister Lily…” Prince Narinaga blurted out with no regard to his ident.i.ty after seeing her. He originally had a crush on Ayaka, but Lily had filled his thoughts ever since he had come across her.

“Forgive me for being unable to express my grat.i.tude for testifying in my defense on that day, Prince Narinaga,” Lily bowed courteously.

“Please don’t act like that, Sister Lily,” Prince Narinaga summoned his courage and stepped forward to make Lily rise up. However, his entire body quivered the moment he touched Lily’s hand and it seemed as if he was pretty nervous.

Taira no Mori burned with fury internally after seeing this while kneeling. The fact that the young brother of the majestic Heian Emperor was actually such an effeminate man who turned nervous at the sight of a big-breasted woman was a woeful matter for the imperials!

However, he didn’t dare to voice out his complaints.

“Why are you here, Prince Narinaga…” Lily asked quietly.

The prince’s face flushed up when his gaze fell upon Lily’s cleavage, so he turned his face away and retreated a few steps in haste, “I-It’s because…”

He looked at Shizuru. Although she was his ex-fiancée, he actually hadn’t seen Shizuru until now and today was the first time he had actually seen her. He felt that she was quite pretty too, but it was just that he liked Lily’s bold, unbound and regal personality and figure more.

He turned towards Taira no Mori, “Although Lady Shizuru’s a woman of the Taira clan, she’s still a future pillar of strength of the imperial family. Even though she lost the match, her strength is enough to become a military official in the future. If the Taira clan has no regard for such a talent, the imperial family is more than welcome to accept her! You aren’t allowed to treat her with such incivility!”

Her position as his ex-fiancée wasn’t something he could bring up in such a situation. However, even though Prince Narinaga looked effeminate and cowardly, he was decently skilled in the matters of politics and military affairs. He had made a reasonable argument. Although the winner had the qualifications to become a military official, a semi-finalist was also qualified enough to serve the imperial court! Shizuru’s strength was undoubtedly among the top ten samurai of the Taira clan, so there was no problem with this.

Prince Narinaga continued before Mori could even reply, “Lady Shizuru’s matter doesn’t just concern your Taira clan. The presence of a samurai woman with strength like hers concerns the prestige of the whole empire! How could you humiliate her and destroy the future of a prospective commander?”

Lily, who stood beside the prince, added at this moment, “I believe they might be planning to subject Lady Shizuru to unspeakably humiliating punishment after taking her back. Please allow me to take care of Lady Shizuru, Prince Narinaga.”

Prince Narinaga had long lost his mind after being exposed to Lily’s womanly voice and scent, so he took her word for it, “Sister Lily—Ahem—Lady Kagami. That sounds reasonable to me. I also find it difficult to trust these crude samurai.”

“I allow her to take Lady Shizuru away and tend to her injuries. No one is to stop her, is that understood?”

“That’s…” A nerve popped out on Mori’s forehead when he saw Lily incite the prince!

“Prince, it will place me in quite the difficult position if you send out such an order.”

“Do you plan to defy the decree?” The prince did his best to show-off in front of Lily and acted pretty boldly. In fact, the prince had no authority to order the ministers, but it also wasn’t proper for Taira no Mori to defy the prince in public.

“I understand!” Mori got up, “I don’t have anything to say since you’re so determined, Prince Narinaga. However, Taira no Shizuru had robbed the Racc.o.o.n Star Splitter, which is the legacy treasure of my Taira clan. I won’t allow anyone to take her away unless she returns it and am even willing to die for this!”

The prince looked at Lily.

Lily nodded faintly.

“Although you say she has stolen it, that’s a pretty subjective statement in my opinion. The legacy treasure belongs to the Racc.o.o.n Mita Temple and not the Taira clan from what I know. You better choose your words carefully, Mori,” The prince showed the carrot and the stick, “However, it’s still a legacy treasure that has been pa.s.sed down in the Taira clan for generations, so it is only right to return it to its original place.”

“Please return it to Taira no Mori so he can put it back in the temple, Lady Shizuru.”

Although Shizuru felt unwilling to do so, the fact that she had conceded had indeed harmed the Taira clan’s reputation, and she had also committed the serious crime of stealing the treasured sword secretly. She knew she was in the wrong, so she fetched the radiant treasured sword from her bosom.

Lily’s eyes shone when she saw the Racc.o.o.n Star Splitter and her body almost reacted instinctively to it1. However, she bore with the dark impulses to monopolize the treasured sword all to herself2, causing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to heave up and down deeply3.

All things considered, Mori gave one final bow to the prince after receiving the sword and thundered at the Taira clan’s samurai with a tinge of fury in his voice, “Fall back!”

The Taira clan’s samurai opened up the way for Kagura and Shizuru and watched on as the pair drove off in the Fujiwara clan’s carriage.

1. Silva: No, Lily, bad.
2. Robinxen: Starting to think Lily might legitimately have kleptomania.
3. Robinxen: Starting to think the author needs therapy.