Volume 11 - Yamata no Orochi: Chapter 51 – The Power Of Setsugekka And The Racc.o.o.n Wine
The towering waves surged toward the mountain ruins, a formidable threat to Lily’s allies. Amidst this chaos, Kimiko stood resolute, her nine long tails emitting a radiant red glow.
Despite her inability to a.s.sume her true form, as doing so might reopen her recently healed wounds and overload her bloodline, Kimiko remained the most formidable force on Lily’s side.
Her nine tails transformed into towering shadows, even taller than the advancing waves, and lashed out at the tsunami. They couldn’t completely halt the seawater, but they absorbed much of the force targeting the land where the group stood.
Yamata no Orochi, now thoroughly incensed by its awakened ancient memory, swung its long tails with a force akin to collapsing heavenly pillars. Though they appeared slow, their velocity was deceptive, outpacing most experts at the quintuple-soul Big Dipper Stage. The sound of the tails smashing into the collapsed mountains reverberated like thunder, tearing enormous fissures into the earth and allowing seawater to flood in, shaking the distant mountains into crumbling debris.
“All members of the Night Parade, heed my order! Flee for your lives!” Michizane commanded, recognizing that apart from the top combatants, the ordinary members of the night parade stood no chance and would only meet their end.
“Kagura, please lead everyone to safety!” Lily called out urgently. In response, Kagura activated a blood spirit magatama, its red light flashing as it boosted her power significantly. She reached the sisters in an instant, holding up a large parasol to shield them from the fiery onslaught.
As a giant tail descended ominously, Kagura leaped up, using the parasol to deflect it. With a loud bang, she was sent flying, but her efforts altered the tail’s trajectory.
Haihime, Airi, and the other sisters, leading the female cavalry and kunoichis, began a strategic retreat. They were picked up by the Twelve Nioh King Sedan Chair, which soared into the sky, retreating to safety. The night parade also employed various methods to escape the battlefield.
Now, only the most powerful experts, those at the triple-soul level and above, remained. However, Rei chose to stay behind, leading her puppet cavalry in a guerrilla battle against the snake demons empowered by Yamata no Orochi’s demonic aura.
“Sister Uesugi, you should retreat as well,” Lily urged.
“Lily, don’t worry about me!” Rei called back, confidently riding Nioh and leading her cavalry to engage a large dark red snake. Her exceptional riding skills and Nioh’s agility gave her confidence in her own safety. With Shimizu also on the battlefield, Rei’s pride wouldn’t allow her to leave under any circ.u.mstances.
“Sister, please be careful,” Lily whispered to herself, her concern evident.
Suddenly, a ma.s.sive snake tail aimed directly at Lily. “Master! Catch the parasol!” Kagura, her strength waning as the power from the blood spirit magatama diminished, threw the sakura parasol towards Lily before retreating towards the Twelve Nioh King Sedan Chair.
Lily caught the sakura parasol just in time as the long tail of Yamata no Orochi loomed near. She urged her soul world to suppress its speed as much as possible. To her surprise, the effect was more potent than antic.i.p.ated. It appeared that Yamata no Orochi harbored a deep-seated fear of the soul power condensed by Setsugekka, a natural suppression effect. Despite this, the tail’s momentum was immense, continuing its path towards Lily with formidable force.
Activating Unmelted Snow to double her soul world’s power, which in turn reinforced the sakura parasol’s power, Lily unleashed a burst of purple lunar force. This enabled her to swiftly dodge the tail while striking it with the enlarged parasol. The impact, much to everyone’s surprise, shook the giant snake tail, visibly altering its course.
“What??!” Yoritomo, observing from the castle tower, was visibly shocked. This turn of events was beyond his expectations. Despite Lily not being as strong as him, she had managed to accomplish something he couldn’t. “Kagami Lily, what kind of secrets are you hiding?” he wondered, his usually stoic face betraying a tremor under the firelight.
Yamata no Orochi, immense in size, was significantly affected under the suppression of Lily’s soul world, which naturally instilled deep fear in the serpent, even more than in ordinary demons. Lily maximized the power of Setsugekka, exerting all-round suppression on Yamata no Orochi. The continuous suppression only fueled its fury.
As Yamata no Orochi unleashed its fury, each of its heads directed eight-colored beams of light towards Lily, while its long tails thrashed with uncontrollable anger. The suppression from Lily’s soul world reduced the serpent’s speed and power, but it was still a formidable force that Lily struggled to handle. Skillfully dodging multiple attacks, she found an opening and launched a counterattack with her purple moon blade.
With a subtle sound, waves of black blood erupted like a volcanic burst. The enhancement to Lily’s soul world had apparently allowed her attack to penetrate Yamata no Orochi’s defenses, inflicting a significant wound tens of meters deep and hundreds of meters long. Foul blood poured out of the serpent’s body in a torrential flow.
“What?!” Lily exclaimed in shock, realizing that the enhancement to Setsugekka had enabled her to actually injure the giant snake.
Although the wound appeared horrific, it only inflicted a minor injury on one of Yamata no Orochi’s heads. Yet, this injury was not easily healed, a significant change from before.
Yamata no Orochi howled in a mix of agony and anger, intensifying its attacks on Lily. Meanwhile, Kimiko, Ayaka, Tokiwa, Hashihime, and Shizuka Gozen, recognizing the opportunity, activated their treasure talismans and unleashed powerful arcane arts. The spells’ damage was magnified manifold, causing considerable pain to the serpent.
Yamata no Orochi, feeling humiliated by these injuries inflicted by humans, ordinary demons, and vengeful spirits, launched a furious a.s.sault. Flames, venom, and winds, three destructive beams, were simultaneously unleashed towards Kimiko and the others. The group swiftly dispersed in all directions, continuing their barrage of arcane arts and activating various talismans. With Lily’s enhanced soul world lending additional potency, their attacks seemed especially effective against Yamata no Orochi.
Suddenly, a surprise ally appeared. “Lily, Kimiko, this old man has come to help you!” shouted a familiar voice. From the mountains flew a pudgy furball which unfurled to reveal countless racc.o.o.ns, led by the enormous, white-whiskered Mita.
“Grandpa Mita!” Lily cried out in surprise and relief.
With a wave of his hand, Mita commanded, “Do it!” The racc.o.o.ns, each carrying a gourd, descended to the seaside and poured their contents into the sea, releasing a strong aroma of wine.
This was no ordinary wine, but racc.o.o.n wine crafted by Mita, using secret methods handed down by the G.o.ds a thousand years ago. As the golden wine flowed from the gourds, it seemed as though these vessels were spatial treasures, capable of holding far more than their size suggested.
This exquisite wine formed a thin layer over the sea’s surface, stretching for a hundred kilometers. Amidst the enticing aroma and the fizzing bubbles of the wine, Yamata no Orochi’s movements began to decelerate. The serpent, after countless years, still craved the irresistible taste of this divine brew. Several of its heads, drawn by the scent, took turns drinking the wine. As they indulged, Yamata no Orochi became increasingly sluggish and muddled.
“Lily, Kimiko, all of you! Attack now while it’s vulnerable! This is all the wine I have!” Mita urged.
Following Mita’s lead, who had also taken out his ancient rod and struck one of Yamata no Orochi’s heads, Lily and her allies seized the moment. In its inebriated state, the serpent’s demonic energy was scattered, its muscles relaxed, making it more susceptible to damage. Its reactions were dulled, and its counterattacks became less ferocious.
Racc.o.o.n Mita, a living legend and witness to Yamata no Orochi’s origin, utilized his intimate knowledge to exploit the serpent’s weaknesses. The concerted attacks from Lily and the others began to acc.u.mulate, gradually weakening the colossal creature.
From a distance, Yoritomo watched the scene unfold with a sneer. “Mita, you finally showed up, eh?” he remarked, observing Mita’s strategy. While Mita’s use of racc.o.o.n wine was a clever ploy, Minamoto no Yoritomo was more intrigued by Lily’s Setsugekka and its surprising ability to suppress the mighty snake demon.
Yoritomo, observing the scene unfold, waved his hand decisively and commanded, “Pour the oil!” On his floating castle tower, numerous black-armored soldiers swiftly obeyed, pouring large vats of hot oil into the sea. This oil, less dense than the racc.o.o.n wine, formed a film over it. Yamata no Orochi, infuriated that the enticing aroma of the wine was being obscured, unleashed a barrage of h.e.l.lfire.
The fiery rain ignited the oil and wine mixture on the sea’s surface, transforming the waters surrounding most of Izumo Mountain into a vast, blazing inferno. The racc.o.o.n wine, not being pure alcohol, was initially resistant to catching fire. However, Yoritomo’s oil changed the situation drastically, causing widespread combustion.
Yamata no Orochi, partially submerged in this sea of fire and enveloped in endless flames, remained unscathed. Instead, the intense heat and pain roused it from its drunken state more rapidly, reigniting its fury.
The range of the eight-colored clouds unleashed by the serpent began to expand once again, raining down a cataclysmic eightfold heavenly calamity.
“Hehehehehe,” Yoritomo sneered with satisfaction. “I was the one who resurrected Yamata no Orochi. Do you really think I was unaware of its weaknesses from thousands of years ago? I obviously made preparations.”
“In that case, there is nothing I can do!” Mita exclaimed, employing arcane arts to facilitate the retreat of the little racc.o.o.ns. Despite his efforts, many of the racc.o.o.ns succ.u.mbed to the devastating heavenly calamity. Witnessing the demise of his disciples and grandchildren, Mita’s rage boiled over. “Yamata no Orochi, I’ll battle it out with you!” he declared, charging towards one of the serpent’s enormous heads.
“Grandpa Mita, be careful!” Lily shouted in concern.
At that moment, a pitch-black snake tail, moving with incredible speed, struck out towards Mita. The old racc.o.o.n dodged with all his might, but the tail still grazed him, causing him to lose balance and fall to the side. As Mita tumbled through the air, a ma.s.sive snake maw snapped at him.
Reacting instinctively, Mita reverted to his true form, a large and ferocious old racc.o.o.n, as he attempted to evade the attack. However, one of his hind legs was caught by the maw’s powerful bite, and he plummeted into the sea of fire, blood spurting from the grievous wound.
Yamata no Orochi, a world-destroying demon, was a fearsome ent.i.ty, and every part of its body served as a lethal weapon. While its teeth might not have been razor-sharp, the immense power of its bite was undeniable.
“Grandpa Mita!” Lily cried out in horror, witnessing the dire turn of events.