The wind blew past the openings in Lily"s bathrobe and brushed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, which temporarily cooled off her high tension mood.

She had become a murderer.

One"s life was taken away so easily like that, and it was under the condition where she held back seventy percent of her strength.

Those people naturally deserved a death penalty due to their crimes, but it was still precious lives in the end.

Lily didn"t confirm if all four of them were dead, the battle only lasted for less than ten seconds and her mood was as still as the water. But now, her heart was thumping wildly as she walked through the forest with the katana she seized. She was so restless that her entire body started to heat up.

When Lily was still a boy, she didn"t even dare to kill a chicken. Who could have thought that the first time she encountered evildoers in this parallel world, she would kill them without batting an eye, four of them no less.

"If I don"t kill them, they will kill me. No, I might suffer something worse than death, something that is hard to speak about! Ugh… in an instant, four lives were taken just like that. After I came out from the domain of that mirror, and in addition to the power I gained from 《Moon Grace》, I already have the ability to easily kill a person."

All Lily felt from the battle just now was anxiety as she powerlessly fell onto the gra.s.sland with her knees. Those guys were vile and nasty, though it seemed like she easily took their lives, she was actually dancing at the tip of the sword. Every exchange in the battle was like walking on thin ice.

But as these four lives were taken by Lily"s own hand, she felt uneasy about it.

Of course, other than dodging that last blow from bushy-beard, Lily never used Spirit Power. Otherwise, they wouldn"t even have the chance to make a move.

Lily originally didn"t plan to use Spirit Power to hone her fighting skills for real combat. She never had the intention to kill, but the situations changed quickly when they really started to fight. It looked like she didn"t suffer any damage, but she faced the danger of getting knocked out with every step she took. If she didn"t die after getting hit by that club, she would at least suffer from some wounds. After they captured her… she would be in a world of pain. If Lily didn"t have Spirit Power, then she would definitely die from that last strike.

"Why… did it become like this? Why is a real life or death battle so cruel? And yet I didn"t hesitate at all when making my moves… I know I won"t be able to walk far in the path of samurai with a compa.s.sionate heart, but even so, this body still has emotions. Senior sister, I feel so lost…"

"If it is not for the sake of protecting you and searching for ways to make you regain consciousness in this dangerous world, I"m willing to stay as a weak girl. Even if I don"t have dignity, even if I won"t be able to return home for eternity, I don"t want to walk this cruel path by my own volition!"

Lily tightly grasped the nicked katana she had taken from the bad guy and shed tears involuntarily.

"And yet, it is already too late to turn back…"

"Senior sister, if we can switch places, I would prefer to be the one sleeping in the mirror and let senior sister lives on in this world. Don"t you think it would be more appropriate that way…?"

"No!" Lily raised her head and the moonlight was reflected in her glistening teardrops. She suddenly had this thought, "No, that"s not right! If senior sister is me, then wouldn"t she take this path willingly and put everything on the line just to save me? For the pure and gentle senior sister to take this path despite all the pain and sufferings, wouldn"t that be too cruel for her? If that is the case, then I would prefer to be the one to bear it all!"

"Even if one day my hands are covered in blood and my soul is tainted by murderous intent, as long as senior sister remains pure-hearted, I will keep going!"

"I am a man for G.o.d"s sake! I will be the one to protect senior sister"s body! I will persevere even if this is truly an art of murder!"

Lily was no longer at a loss, she no longer had a lingering fear nor did she feel disgusted by her own action anymore. That was because it was in order to protect the person most important to her.

Just at his time, somewhere deep in Lily"s soul, some kind of inviolable barrier was broken through.

It happened the moment she accepted this bloodstained path.

A mysterious, dark red soul turbulent overflowed from the depths of her heart. These turbulent seemed to be carving for something and caused her body to shudder involuntarily.

"Ah—!"

Lily let out a lovely cry. J-Just what is this feeling?

It felt so good yet empty at the same time. It was like she was carving for something.

Lily suddenly pierced the katana into the ground, then she spread her legs and sandwiched the sword in between. She lifted her head and her neck bolted upright. Unintelligible moans came out from her mouth.

Her expression was somewhat slackened and she had her full attention on the katana. She was seeking the coldness of the katana with her warm body.

"I always had a feeling that this sword is not an item but a part of my body… That"s why I will do everything I can to let it fuse together with me! This katana… it can help me get the things I want!"1

"Ding—"

A bizarre dark red runes appeared on the surface of that shoddy katana.

It seemed like blood was slowly circulating within these shining runes.

Hungry, so very hungry…

All of a sudden, the surrounding trees and flowers began to wither. Even the weeds with tenacious vitality started to wilt. One after another, blood-colored specks flew up as the true essence of these plants left their main body.

"Ahhh—!" Along with Lily"s mysterious cry, those true essences were attracted and flew towards the shoddy katana with mysterious red runes.

These true essences were instantly absorbed into the blade as soon as they touched the katana. The amount of true essences absorbed increased over time and the katana and giving off a fascinating red light.

At this very moment, this red light became the brightest light source in the dark forest.

Those red-colored true essences pa.s.sed through the katana and entered Lily"s body via the skin that"s in contact with the blade. Lily"s body was like a natural vessel for these true essences as they were absorbed all too quickly.

The surrounding life forms withered as the black circle of death expanded unceasingly. On the other hand, Lily"s body was filled with abundant energies and her Spirit Power became even more concentrated.

Despite the capacity of Spirit Power in which Lily"s body could hold was increasing ever so slowly, there was still an upper limit. However, despite having the same volume, these true essences were much purer and more powerful than ordinary spirit essences!

Lily"s skin and figure were as fresh and pure as before but at the same time, she was a little bewitching.

Just when Lily was delightfully absorbing the energy of the surrounding true essences, all of a sudden;

That shoddy katana shattered into pieces with a "clink-clank" sound!

The katana turned into a pile of sc.r.a.p metals and fell onto the ground.

Those primeval runes also scattered along with the sword. They turned into specks of light and dissipated into the air.2

"Ah— No!" Lily was dripping wet from the sweet-smelling sweat. She then fainted on the ground after letting out a groan.

Early morning, an ice-cold morning dew dripped on the tip of Lily"s nose.

"Mmhhh…" Lily"s brow slightly creased as she woke up in a daze.

When she got up and found that her clothing was in a mess, she quickly inspected herself.

"The mirror is still here. My body is also in good health, the skin is still silky smooth."

"Just what"s going on with me last night…"

Once she recalled the unfathomable scenes last night, she had a bit of lingering fear.

"Eh?"

Lily looked all around and saw the scarp metals scattered on the ground. And with a diameter of at least ten meters, everything around her was withered. Starting from the trees and flowers, everything was completely obliterated.

As for Lily herself, other than her messy hair and clothing, her body seemed to be filled with more power than ever.

"Did I… do all of these?" Although Lily"s strength had increased drastically this time around, she felt very guilty about it.

The bad guy"s death might be well-deserved!

But what sin did the flowers and trees committed? Depriving them of all their essences was fundamentally different from absorbing the little bit of spirit essences they discharged into the atmosphere, doing this was tantamount to absorbing their souls.

However, she didn"t do it on purpose…

n.o.body could have imagined that she would suddenly embrace that worn out sword like she was possessed and bring about such a big mess as a result.

Guilty! Even if she did not do it on purpose, she was still guilty!

She must punish herself once she got back!

Lily sorted out her clothing and long hair before she groveled in the dead center of this withered land. She was paying her respects to these flowers and trees which withered because of her.

"To all the flowers and trees here, I am sorry. Lily had unintentionally absorbed all of your true essences. I will put this power to good use, please accept my grat.i.tude. I hope you all will be in full bloom in the coming year."

Lily got up slowly and looked at the boundless sky.

"It"s already the morning… Now that I think about it, today"s the day of the compet.i.tion."

Contrary to expectations, Lily was not nervous at all. She was as calm as the still water. She swung her hips that were tightly wrapped by the white bathrobe and made her way out of the forest.

As she turned around to leave, the refreshing summer wind brushed Lily"s hair and carried the sweats that were sticking to her neck and hair with them. The sweats were like morning dews as they fell onto the scorched earth.3 The morning ray was reflected on these dews before they permeated into the soil.

Immediately afterwards, tiny sprouts began to emerge from the ashes, and four tender leaves grew one by one on each.