Book 4: Chapter 23: Lily’s Crisis

Lily was unable to see Momiji as she was on the other side of the wooden wall and this filled her with displeasure because she was right out there for her viewing pleasure even though she didn’t desire it.

“Release those hands of yours. Who would become a slave of a witch like you!” Lily’s hair cascaded down as she lowered her head with a slight furrow between her brows, her body still shuddering as before.

“I see. How about becoming a slave of a mature and powerful woman of high status, then? You would gladly become her slave, right, you little vixen!” Momiji slapped Lily’s b.u.t.t hard.

“Please… don’t do this…”

“Don’t do what? So, you would rather have me kill you, huh?”

Momiji pulled out Yasutsuna and gently slapped Lily’s waist and b.u.t.t with its cold and hard blade, “How about I give you a taste of getting stabbed by your precious blade?”

“Just kill me if you want to,” Lily stated weakly in the humiliating position she was stuck in between the wooden wall. She remained as resolute as ever even though an unbearable hotness overwhelmed her sweat-drenched body.

Lily knew she had to live at all costs for her senior sister’s sake.

She had to survive no matter how many limits were crossed.

However, although Lily was in a dazed state right now, her senses had actually enhanced with regards to reading emotions.

Lily knew Momiji wouldn’t kill her.

Momiji would’ve done that long ago if she desired for it to happen. Lily even had a feeling that she wasn’t actually that interested in the mirror’s secrets.

Momiji’s interests lied in her.

“This perverted *****!” Lily cursed internally. Although Lily didn’t know the reason for Momiji’s actions, she could feel that Momiji held an intense desire to possess and dominate her and desired to make her submit.

This was the reason Momiji wouldn’t kill Lily.

She just wanted to make Lily submit to her.

However, Lily’s ego and pride prevented her from agreeing with the perverted witch’s condition.

Although Lily’s movements had been restricted by Momiji under her gaze, she still possessed the means to continue this charade of a battle as long as she was clear about Momiji’s bottom line.

Lily might’ve considered Momiji’s condition if the latter really intended to kill Lily since it was only possible to overturn the situation if she was alive! However, that wasn’t the case this time.

Moreover, Lily’s life wasn’t just her own now. She needed to struggle against the monsters plaguing this alternate Heian world for her senior sister’s sake as well!

“Hahaha! Kill you, you say?” Momiji chuckled mellowly, “I would’ve long done that if I wanted to. I said it, right? I’m quite reluctant to do it.”

Momiji went out to the corridor and arrived in front of Lily. She then crouched down on one knee and lifted Lily’s chin up with her slender finger, “You’re really quite the stunner, huh. Don’t you get it? You have no choice now. I’m the master of Mino now that Viper is dead. I really need to thank you for that. How about you become my wife, then? I’m willing to make you my wedded wife, and not just some concubine, and I will also treat you quite nicely in all matters… How about it?”

“A-Are you crazy? Why are you speaking of wedding me when you’re also a woman? Have you gone senile, you perverted crone?”

Momiji, however, remained calm even when faced with Lily’s biting words, and her eyes rippled with desire as she revealed a playful expression yet again, “I should really punish you for saying that. A good girl shouldn’t lie now, yes? How long are you going to continue pretending?”

“Huh?”

“Do you think your fame and the scandals you’ve caused in the East haven’t spread yet? You like women, right? No, it would be more appropriate to say you like getting wooed and spoiled by women, and even getting bullied by them! You act righteous and a.s.sume an innocent look while taking a pa.s.sive att.i.tude, but you actually look forward to having someone a.s.sault you expressly with pa.s.sionate aggression, right?1”

Momiji held Lily’s cheek and pushed her thumb inside Lily’s mouth forcefully, whose insides were incredibly moist and soft to the touch.

“Mffghgh!” Lily spewed out Momiji’s thumb somehow and shook her head, “T-That’s not true!”

“Whoa, you look so cute when you deny it!”

“I look far from cute right now, you perverted witch,” Lily stated tenaciously, her expression truly devoid of any cuteness.

“Hmph. Isn’t the tenacity you show the cutest part of you? I’m not expecting you to submit to me anytime soon either since you’ve yet to experience the techniques in my a.r.s.enal,” Momiji closed in towards collarbones and breathed in deeply, “Mhm. It is indeed the demure scent of a young lady. How wonderful…”

“Who’re you calling demure, you witch! Stop sniffing me now!”

A noise sounded from the stairs at this moment.

Lily shuddered.

“Looks like someone’s here,” Momiji pulled Lily’s chin down and petted her hair while coddling her unabashedly like a dignified woman, completely treating her like a little child, which left her quite humiliated.

Momiji goaded Lily after seeing her tense up, “I wonder how your reputation as the best samurai woman of the East will fare in the future if someone comes up and sees this look of yours. Even though I’m unwilling to let those boorish men see you like this, it’s your body in the end, and I have no right to prevent you from flashing it shamelessly now, do I? What do you think? Do you want my help in stopping them from coming up? I’ll do it as long as you call me ‘Master’ and beg me for it, all right?”

Lily was actually quite tense right now. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this, but she refused to submit to Momiji much more than that!

Although getting seen by those soldiers and samurai would be quite a humiliating experience, Lily still wasn’t willing to call Momiji ‘Master’ and submit to her as that would mean the submission of her heart as well, which she absolutely couldn’t allow to happen!

Even if her body submitted, Lily refused to let her heart submit as well!

Lily knew she was bound to end up in danger over the course of her long journey and that it was quite easy for a girl’s body to surrender, but she believed that the tenacious heart of a boy she possessed would never surrender!

Never!

“You’re mistaken if you think I am the same as those girls who surrender to humiliation usually!” Lily scoffed.

“Hmph. Keep up with that tenacity if you wish to, but I know you are actually quite weak! You’re so hard-mouthed in front of me only because you still have the leeway to speak. Fine, then. I wasn’t planning to make you surrender with just a war of words anyways! Since you like flashing so much, I might as well let them see how I make you beg with my techniques, lil’ sis!”

“You d.a.m.ned pervert. You’re no sister of mine2!”

The noises from below experienced a change at this moment and the sounds of battle began soon after the samurai gave out battle cries.

“Hmm?” Momiji’s expression morphed as well.

“Tack! Tack! Tack!” The sounds of light and swift footsteps climbing up the stairs echoed.

It seemed that someone had entered the premises.

Lily felt a gaze search for her behind the wooden wall and experienced a rush of shame. It was already quite embarra.s.sing for her to get seen by Momiji, yet another unknown person had seen her like this.

“Lil’ Sis Lily!” Shimizu’s voice echoed across the floor.

Sister Shimizu!

Lily almost felt like tearing up at this moment and felt both excited and ashamed simultaneously, wondering how Shimizu had figured out it was actually her just by looking at her behind…

A pitch-black sword beam flashed above Lily’s head and shattered the wooden wall, and Lily plunged down once her waist got freed. However, a slender arm caught her by her waist before she did.

The wooden wall shattered to pieces wholly, revealing Momiji’s profile on the other side.

Shimizu hugged Lily’s waist close to her body and pointed Tranquil Bamboo at Momiji.

“You’re Momiji, huh! How dare you bully my lil’ sister! You’re so dead!” A shroud of dark grudge oozed out from Shimizu’s body.

However, Lily actually felt warm and comforted instead of the darkness.

“Beware, Sister Shimizu. That woman’s quite strong…”

Momiji also unleashed her Permanence level eldritch aura, “Hahahahaha! You want to save the beauty like a hero, eh? Are you strong enough to do it, I wonder?”

Shimizu’s expression turned solemn after sensing the whole floor quake.

Lily could feel that Shimizu had become a blade maiden after going through that catastrophic experience. Her strength had increased significantly without anything obstructing her as a result of the solitary training she had gone through.

Shimizu had attained the early-stage Spirit Jade level as well now!

Her strength was in between the 6th- and 7th-stage Awakened levels originally, and blade maidens also didn’t possess any risks when breaking through to the Spirit Jade Stage.

However, Momiji’s strength had actually long reached the Permanence Stage. As such, even though Shimizu was versed in the mystical swordstyle that provided her with a sevenfold power boost, she was still much weaker than Momiji.

“Who are you now and why are you disturbing the fun between me and Lily?” Momiji questioned.

“Minamoto no Shimizu.”

Momiji checked Shimizu out, “Ah. I’ve indeed heard of you. I wonder why I don’t feel anything even though you’re a beauty as well. I only feel like granting you death!”

A ma.s.s of spirit power converged in Momiji’s hand suddenly and a red pillar of flames shot up from her hand along with a storm of red autumn leaves, following which the flames morphed into a translucent, autumn-red, glowing katana. Momiji held this spirit blade in her hand and shot forward to attack Shimizu with sudden momentum!

Shimizu pushed Lily to her back and gripped her blade with both hands to welcome Momiji’s attack.

“Clang!” A sharp and clear metallic jangle ran out as Shimizu and Momiji crossed blades, and Shimizu was sent flying by the hit immediately, her garments getting torn in the process as a blood wound opened up on her arm.

“Sister Shimizu!” Lily felt quite worried, so she made her body roll to the side and picked up both her blade and parasol.

Momiji continued to pursue Shimizu with attacks and even though Shimizu detested Momiji much, the attacks she launched with the powerful grudge-formed t.i.tanic black tentacles, as well as the strikes from her Tranquil Bamboo, all got fended off easily by Momiji’s spirit blade that didn’t even seem like her main weapon, putting a lot of pressure on Shimizu.

“Whoosh!” Lily launched the Sakura Parasol at Momiji at this moment!

“Bam!” But Momiji fended it off with a blade strike.

Lily pressed forward immediately and didn’t forget to slash at Momiji while moving, but Momiji dodged it with ease and countered with a linked strike to Lily’s chest with her long-sleeves, which knocked Lily towards Shimizu and caused both of them to fall down together.

“Sis…”

Shimizu hugged Lily in her arms, “This woman is too strong!”

Shimizu’s black grudge diffused into the air all of a sudden and turned into a cloud of black mist. The lamp got extinguished immediately and the whole floor got shrouded in black mist, sinking into absolute darkness3.

“What?!” Even Momiji felt shocked by darkness that followed the sudden appearance of the black mist.

Lily, however, was still able to locate her parasol and mirror’s position precisely, so she reached outwards to summon the Sakura Parasol back into her hand.

“Let’s go!” Shimizu hugged Lily intending to head for the terrace’s direction.

“Wait…” However, Lily pulled Shimizu two steps to the side and searched for the ancient mirror dropped by Ouchi Koreyoshi before grabbing hold of it4.

“You… are always so greedy!5” Shimizu stated exasperatedly as she pulled Lily’s arm and ran to the terrace. She then jumped down the 100 m tall castle tower while pulling Lily.

Momiji unleashed a spirit probe and discovered that the black grudge-formed mist contained Shimizu’s night attribute, which ended up interfering with her probe’s flux intensely. Even though Momiji was quite strong, her probe’s flux still failed to penetrate through Shimizu’s black mist.

“What?! She’s actually a night blade maiden6!” Momiji furrowed her brows, “I got tricked!”

1. Robinxen: Hahaha. This makes me laugh. But it is a natural misunderstanding.
2. Robinxen: Yeah only high quality girls get to be sisters!
3. Robinxen: She gained a superpower.
4. Robinxen: No forgetting the shiny.
5. Robinxen: Even she knows.
6. Robinxen: Maidens have other subtypes now?