Volume 12 - Yomi-no-kuni: Chapter 8 – Rakshasa battles Wakarai
Confronted by the spear crafted from commanding lightning, Rakshasa-Onna, despite her formidable power, approached with caution. Her boundless blue-purple killing intent coalesced into six spectral figures wielding scimitars, each imbued with deep resentment.
The spectral figures, devoid of expression, appeared to embody six feminine emotions: love, hate, affection, grudge, jealousy, and sorrow, forming a complex amalgam of resentment and lethal intent.
Executing intricate maneuvers in the sky, the phantoms unleashed six blade beams that clashed with the lightning spear. A brilliant explosion of golden and blue illuminated the heavens, blinding nearby creatures and vaporizing those within proximity.
Even from a distance, Lily winced at the force of the shockwave.
The mere shockwave was a testament to the unimaginable power wielded by these two t.i.tans.
Although Lily stood at the pinnacle among Heian elites, she found herself nearly powerless against behemoths like Tsukou or Mauro.
The arrival of these deific beings only intensified her sense of vulnerability.
It dawned on her the folly of a.s.suming the deities of Takamagahara would intervene should they ascend prematurely. Those responsible for destroying the boat and listing her name among the wanted must possess power on par with these two overlords, correct?
Surviving thus far was a fortune in itself. While Lily harbored no fear of death, she understood the imperative of survival.
Should she perish, what fate would befall senior Rinne and her other sisters? She had to survive!
A mere confrontation between the overlords enveloped the heavens and earth in shadow, accompanied by screams and lamentations from below.
“Years have pa.s.sed, little Rakshasa. Has your strength augmented?” Wakarai chuckled.
“Or is it because you’ve aged, possibly regressed?” Rakshasa countered.
Rakshasa’s aura of lethal intent was so potent it seemed to cloak half the sky, making her the very incarnation of such intent.
“Hah! Still the impertinent youth, I see. Your advancement is wanting. Today, I shall instruct you properly!”
Wakarai lifted his hand, summoning myriad bolts of formidable lightning that coalesced into a radiant sword of lightning. In a blink, he traversed thousands of meters to confront Rakshasa directly, his sword of lightning descending as if delivering divine retribution.
As Rakshasa’s sleeves danced in the wind, she brandished a scimitar. The blade, featuring a central fissure reminiscent of a barren winter plum branch, harbored a gleaming blue-purple crystal exuding a deadly allure. Gripping her scimitar inversely, she met Wakarai’s lightning blade. Their impact resonated throughout, transforming the lightning into a marauding dragon that razed mountains and decimated lagging beasts, sending the weaker creatures into a frenzy of escape.
Rakshasa’s intense blue aura of malice was flung aside upon impact, slicing through any mountain it met with ease.
Wakarai’s blade appeared slightly mightier than Rakshasa’s, pressing downward. Just as his lightning blade nearly grazed her shoulder, she swiftly pivoted, redirecting the attack outward and swiftly countering with a strike aimed at Wakarai’s neck.
Rakshasa’s scimitar radiated an ethereal blue ferocity, chilling to behold even from afar.
Wakarai retreated instantly, bringing his lightning blade back in defense.
“Ahahaha! Rakshasa, your agility is remarkable! But your killing intent is overpowering—I’ve seen through it long ago,” Wakarai countered, smiling.
“What does it matter if you’ve seen through it? At ultimate speed, evasion becomes impossible.”
Before she could finish, Rakshasa rolled and aimed a kick at Wakarai’s torso. Despite his size, Wakarai was agile, twisting aside to dodge the attack.
The shockwave from Rakshasa’s kick tore a vast hole through the black thunderclouds, demonstrating her kick’s formidable power.
With a flick of his finger, Wakarai summoned myriad lightning bolts from the thunderclouds to a.s.sail Rakshasa’s position.
Rakshasa’s figure became a blur of phantoms to evade, transforming the vicinity into a nightmarish maze of intersecting lightning, culminating in a potent sphere of electricity. Its immense power destabilized the surroundings, fracturing mountains and boulders into orbiting debris.
Rakshasa couldn’t evade entirely, leaving the edges of her sleeves frayed.
Enraged, she unleashed the blue owl perched on her shoulder.
The owl surged forward, rapidly expanding to a wingspan exceeding a thousand meters, its presence thick with malevolence as it dived at Wakarai, talons bared.
“HA!” Wakarai hurled the sphere of electricity towards the ma.s.sive owl.
The owl was blasted away, its feathers, charged with malice, scattering in the tumult.
Utilizing Wakarai’s diverted focus, Rakshasa swiftly approached him. With a graceful sleeve flick, she aimed a punch at his midsection. As he countered with a palm, she skillfully maneuvered her other hand to slice upward with her scimitar, sending a sharp blade beam his way.
Wakarai countered with a downward strike of his lightning-infused sword. The collision sent a jarring recoil through Rakshasa, pushing her back several paces.
Wakarai transformed into a streak of lightning, reappearing behind Rakshasa to launch another attack. Rakshasa managed to dodge, only to find a sphere of lightning blocking her path. Her only option was to raise her sleeve in defense.
The sphere of lightning was repelled, detonating a thousand meters distant. The explosion left her sleeve scorched and her slender arm bruised.
“Curse you!” The owl, now recovered, transformed into a gargantuan phantom wolf, spanning a thousand meters, and lunged at Wakarai.
“Begone!” Wakarai greeted the wolf with a swift sword slash, inflicting a ma.s.sive wound and sending it recoiling with a howl.
“This isn’t good; they are nearly matched in strength, yet Wakarai holds the upper hand!” Lily observed anxiously. Though unable to evade capture, she deemed Rakshasa the lesser evil.
From afar, Renka watched the duel apprehensively, aware of rumors that Wakarai’s might slightly surpa.s.sed Rakshasa’s—a fact this confrontation seemed to confirm. A swift resolution seemed unlikely, with Rakshasa poised to face the greater challenge.
“Scoundrel…” Despite the pain in her arm, Rakshasa fixed a steely gaze on Wakarai, with thunder and lightning forming a tumultuous backdrop.
“Ahahaha! What say you, Rakshasa? Care to continue? Humbly address me as ‘brother’ and relinquish the woman. Acknowledge your mistake, and you’re free to go. It’s been millennia since our last encounter; there’s no shame in it.”
Had Wakarai refrained from making that statement before the myriad monsters, Rakshasa might have considered retreating. Yet, with his public challenge, how could she yield without compromising her dignity?
Rakshasa’s hair whipped about as her killing intent soared, activating the spirit treasures adorning her.
“Fiend! Today, I resolve to liberate a divine seat of Takamagahara by slaying you! To dwell in Yomi yet claim a divine position and dare propose brotherhood to me? Were you my servant, it would still not redeem your brazenness!”
The cosmos trembled as an immense demonic visage materialized behind Rakshasa, nearly spanning half the heavens—a true manifestation of her malevolent essence.
Wakarai perceived Rakshasa’s boundless fury and might. Despite his a.s.surance of dominance, her readiness to stake her life over his disparaging remarks suggested a formidable challenge.
“Rakshasa, would you truly risk everything? Over merely one woman?”
“Silence! It’s evident now, only one of us shall endure!” Ethereal phantoms coalesced around Rakshasa’s blade, her intense murderous aura sending shivers down the spines of formidable ent.i.ties like Renka, Tsukou, and Mauro.
“Her ferocity persists; though not the strongest, her resolve makes her a formidable foe. Her fiery spirit demands confrontation. To retreat now would make me Yomi’s laughingstock.”
Moreover, his resolve to possess Lily was unwavering.
“So be it, Rakshasa. Since you’ve chosen to spurn my regard, prepare yourself! Today, I shall address your insolence once and for all.”
Thunder roared—a deluge of monstrous lightning cascaded from the heavens.
“What… this power…” Far off, shackled, Lily gazed in astonishment at the formidable forces unleashed. Rakshasa’s full might was fearsome, yet Wakarai’s wrath eclipsed it, akin to the fury of a deity.
All present, including Renka, Mauro, and Tsukou, withdrew more than a hundred miles to eschew becoming unintended victims.
The atmosphere tensed as two t.i.tanic beings of Yomi readied themselves for a genuine confrontation.
Abruptly, a voice resonated from everywhere and nowhere simultaneously, declaring, “Enough… Are you two truly willing to risk everything over such triviality?”
The voice, both chaotic and ethereal, seemed to span eternity, a whisper from ancient epochs offering a gentle admonition through time.
“What!?” On the brink of deploying his ultimate strength, Wakarai ceased immediately upon hearing the voice.
The scimitar Rakshasa poised to wield quivered and then stilled suddenly.
Upon the voice’s emergence, all else quieted; the thunder silenced, leaving only lightning’s glow, as though that voice alone permeated Yomi’s expanse.
“Ah…” Lily shifted uneasily, captivated by the voice’s alluring cadence. Despite her wrists being bound, she pressed her thighs together, restless.
“Madam…?” Wakarai gazed skyward, his tone laden with veneration, as if addressing the world’s matron.
“Madam!” Disbelief marked Rakshasa’s exclamation, astonished that this turmoil had drawn the madam’s notice.