Volume 12 - Yomi-no-kuni: Chapter 58 – Ancient Battlefield
“What is this place?” Lily wondered, standing atop the endless blue wasteland in confusion.
Dark clouds rolled across the sky, glimmering with slivers of blue light.
“Light? Though it’s dim, I’ve never seen such light in the sky in Yomi,” she mused.
Lily looked up and saw a ma.s.sive hole above the rolling clouds in the vast sky. Dim blue light escaped from it. Waves of clouds surrounded the hole, towering high above. She felt instinctively that she could never reach such a height by flying.
“There’s a hole in the sky… it looks like the Scar of Heaven,” she thought.
The wind here was especially strong and chilly. Lily shivered beneath her tattered clothing, unable to withstand the soul-chilling cold despite her energy.
The cold winds carried countless Resentment Energies.
“Is this Yomi, or somewhere else? It feels like part of Yomi, but different somehow,” she pondered.
“Don’t run, you demon!”
She heard a hollow yet determined female voice.
Lily was shocked, a.s.suming she had been discovered, and instantly looked back. In the distance, she saw a white Celestial Maiden fighting a horrifying Spectral G.o.d amidst the deserted mountain terrain.
The Celestial Maiden stabbed the Spectral G.o.d’s body, releasing a dangerous shockwave.
As she instinctively prepared to dodge the aftershock, the Celestial Maiden and Spectral G.o.d vanished, leaving only a pulse of Resentment Energy.
“Huh?” she murmured.
Lily looked around. The entire place was deserted; no one was around.
“What’s going on here?” she wondered.
Another powerful explosion sounded nearby, and the ground trembled. Lily carefully looked over from behind a boulder, seeing another battle in the distance. In an abyss far away, a dark demonic figure over ten kilometers tall was being attacked by dozens of flying deities.
“Demon! You’ll never cross the Celestial Demon Path!” one deity shouted.
“The heavenly order exists for a reason! You are not supposed to enter the mortal realm!” another deity proclaimed.
The deities’ voices were melodic, filled with strength and determination.
“Celestial Demon Path? What is that?” Lily wondered.
There were so many Celestial Maidens and Demon G.o.ds fighting here. Could it be…
“Is this the place Her Majesty mentioned… the Ancient Battlefield?” she thought.
However, as she blinked, the towering demonic figure and the flying maidens battling in the abyss vanished without a trace. Only ancient presences remained, buried beneath the debris in the abyss.
“No wonder this place is so chilly. It’s impossible to stop this soul-piercing cold with just my body,” Lily murmured.
Lily removed her tattered clothing behind a rock and donned a Celestial Maiden jacket she had stored in her Mirror Dimension.
Lily wasn’t sure why she chose the Celestial Maiden’s Divine Raiment. Perhaps it was because she was on the Ancient Battlefield, and it felt appropriate to honor Tsukuyomi no Mikoto and the fallen Celestial Maidens.
Lily had mastered Lunar Force, Lunar Blossom, and Tsukuyomi Swordstyle, and she even had the celestial battle maiden physique. Despite being human, wasn’t she an inheritor of the Celestial Maidens?
Since she was here, it was her duty to honor her predecessors. Dressing appropriately was part of that.
Her Celestial Maiden’s jacket was white and sparkled in the light.
Two snow-white ribbons covered her chest, secured from behind by a thin silver rope. They were tightly fixed on her smooth back, supporting gemstone chains that glittered in white, purple, and gold. The chain hung around Lily’s slim waist and over her wide hips, with a thin white ribbon in the center winding down. Over it, she wore a sparkly, semi-transparent skirt.
Lily’s beautiful legs still glistened with sweat. One leg was covered by a white stocking adorned with a gemstone chain, while the other was bare except for an elegant ankle bracelet.
She wore a transparent jade bracelet on her wrist, like barely melted snow. She looked as divine as the first snow in winter, and as beautiful as a G.o.ddess. Lily’s attire couldn’t shield her from the cold, but her serene heart was enough to endure it.
She walked deeper into the Ancient Battlefield, the pulse of sadness still calling to her.
Lily hadn’t seen any Celestial Maiden corpses along the way, but she did see giant Demon G.o.d corpses, fossilized after thousands of years. Celestial Maidens weren’t human; after death, they likely became stardust.
Lily felt a deep sadness. How many beautiful figures lay to rest in Yomi?
Occasionally, intense hints of obsession arose around her, manifesting as Celestial Maidens marching into battle with the same determination they had in life. This sight deepened Lily’s sadness.
Back then, they were all stunning beings. But now, they had become one with the dirt, their corpses long gone. The beauty they once had could only be glimpsed for a split second through their lingering Obsession Energy.
Lily gazed at the deserted battlefield and wept. She felt immense sadness. As if responding to her tears, the winds in the Ancient Battlefield grew stronger, as if countless Celestial Maidens were weeping.
“What happened to make you all perish?” she wondered aloud.
Lily had wandered through this dangerous world, risking her life countless times. If it weren’t for the heritage granted by the Celestial Maidens, she would have been killed or humiliated countless times. As a dazzling beauty without the means to protect herself, she would have faced a fate worse than that of the wild gra.s.s beside the gutter.
Without the inheritance from Tsukuyomi no Mikoto and the Celestial Maidens, she wouldn’t have made it this far. Despite being in a deadly situation now, she had survived until this day.
Wearing the beautiful Celestial Maiden jacket, Lily had long considered herself one of them.
“I wish I could have walked among you as sisters and fought alongside you. I am just a mere human. I hope you won’t blame me for my overambitious thoughts…”
“Who are you?” A gruff voice with a hint of fear suddenly spoke from behind her.
Lily turned around, shocked.
Not far away stood Jamako and the female demon.
The resentment and obsession energy here was overwhelming. Projections of the ancient battle appeared intermittently, carrying immense power. This made it hard to identify anyone, as powerful auras emerged randomly.
Lily hadn’t noticed the living beings among the numerous projected auras, nor had her enemies detected her. Some had tracked her here through witnesses, not expecting to find her.
However, Jamako and the female demon were shocked, nearly fleeing in fright.
Amidst the intense resentment and obsession energy, they couldn’t sense Lily’s presence. To them, she appeared as an undying, incredibly beautiful Celestial Maiden standing 100 meters away. Naturally, they were anxious, knowing this was the Ancient Battlefield.
Jamako dropped to his knees subconsciously. “You… Could you be… I accidentally entered the battlefield. I don’t mean to blaspheme…”
At that moment, the wind direction changed.
“Wait!” The female demon grabbed Jamako. “Why do I smell a woman’s scent? And it’s so full of vitality…”
“What? Shut up. How dare you speak such blasphemy…” Jamako was terrified, but his ma.s.sive nose slowly detected the scent of a woman.
“Woman?” Jamako had been terrified a moment ago. Once he calmed down and looked again, he recognized Lily despite her Celestial Maiden costume.
“She… is she Kagami Lily?” Jamako was shocked.
“That’s right!” the female demon confirmed.
“Then… why is she dressed like this?” Jamako was still fearful. Despite recognizing her, he didn’t dare to apprehend her immediately.
Lily’s heart pounded heavily. She sensed that these two Infernal powerhouses were terrified. But if she tried to escape now, her cover would be blown, making it impossible to get away.
‘They’ve chased me this far. I’m so unlucky!’ Lily thought, deeply fl.u.s.tered. ‘What do I do? They’re not stupid; they’ll figure me out eventually.’
She had to take the risk! Lily suddenly turned and glared at the powerhouses with righteous fury. Even her soul seemed to surge with supremacy.
“Where did these filthy creatures come from? How dare you corrupt my sleeping sisters? Get lost!”
Lily swung her semi-transparent long sleeves, causing starlight to flicker and several stardust ribbons to appear. These special objects, created by the Mirror Dimension, emitted an unimaginable power in this place filled with Resentment Energy and chaotic forces.
“Oh no!” Jamako and the female demon were unnerved by the environment and quickly backed off at the sight of the ribbons.
As they backed off, Lily ran in the opposite direction at full speed without hesitation. The two powerhouses realized they had been tricked. By the time they stopped, they were several kilometers away.
“d.a.m.n it! We were fooled! She is Kagami Lily!” the female demon exclaimed.
“That was evil. I nearly died of fright!” Jamako growled.
“Chase her!” Both powerhouses sped up and pursued Lily.
Although Lily had gained several kilometers, the powerhouses chasing her were too fast. She used her supreme agility to change directions, navigating the rocky terrain. However, Infernal experts could fly, unlike Big Dipper experts who hovered above the ground with Spirit Power. Strong enough, they could even soar into the skies!
Naturally, their flying speed was much faster than Lily’s traversal of the complex mountain terrain. In moments, they were right above Lily.
“Hahaha! Keep running, little b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲!” Jamako grinned with his ma.s.sive mouth.
“Oh no!” Lily was shocked, realizing they were about to catch up.
“Your Highness! Allow me to deal with these monsters!”
Suddenly, a Celestial Maiden projection in white emerged from the foggy mountain terrain. This projection, filled with immense Obsession Energy, rushed toward Jamako and the female demon.