Book 4: Chapter 90: Fierce Battle On The Island

Fujiwara no Kazuo’s beard trembled as he tried to mince his words, “There is indeed an injunction in Heian-kyō that the mirror girls should no longer be harmed, otherwise, the attackers will be punished with death. However, we are still in the area of Lake Biwa; not Heian-kyō. Today’s affairs should be handled by the involved samurai and have nothing to do with the prohibition. As for whether the Mirror Girl used demonic arts to kill Tamurakonoe, that is a matter to be solved among yourselves. From now on, this has nothing to do with me so don’t ask any more questions!”

The minister swung his sleeves and ushered a few of his subordinates back, obviously averse to any further implications.

Tamuramura a.s.serted his voice, “Since Lord Fujiwara advised us to solve it ourselves, allow us to take the Mirror Girl back to the dojo for interrogation. We will investigate the demonic art she used to kill Tamurakonoe and punish her for killing several of our disciples! Mirror Girl, if you dare to resist, you will be killed on the spot! Obediently surrender and allow us to escort you back to the dojo. If you confess your despicable crimes and admit to using underhanded tricks to kill Tamurakonoe, maybe we’ll spare your life!”

Lily scoffed, “You old dog go bark your lies somewhere else! If I really used demonic arts, Tamurakonoe wouldn’t have been able to get close to me!”

“Mirror Girl, you’re a calamity to the world. You killed Lord Tamurakonoe and still dare to speak so wildly?!” An angry samurai shouted.

All the samurai from the Maro Dojo swarmed forward, accompanied by some others who sided with them.

At a glance, there were hundreds of warriors charging at Lily.

A scarlet killing intent flashed in her eyes, “Since you accuse me of using demonic arts, why don’t I show you some for real!”

A huge scroll appeared in Lily’s hands which she quickly tossed it out. The scroll unfolded like a white rainbow and fluttered in the lake breeze.

Grrr—! A deep, ear-piercing roar pervaded the island and a thick cloud of smoke obscured the area around Lily. A sharp claw emerged from the drifting smoke, followed by the body of a vicious four-tailed cat demon measuring a dozen meters in length. When the smoke finally cleared, a pair of yellow-green eyes gleamed in the light of dusk, and its snarling teeth glinted like sharp knives.

“What?!” Tamuramura and all the other samurai recoiled in shock, “Th-throne Stage archdemon??!”

His face turned grim, “Impossible! Is it her shikigami? How did she manage to invoke a Throne Stage archdemon?! I don’t believe it!”

Tamuramura recalled what he saw, “Just now, that woman took out a huge scroll. Could it be…?”

The four-tailed cat demon pounced into the group of warriors and slapped out its powerful claw!

Pffft—! A samurai was lashed into a b.l.o.o.d.y mess.

A second swipe swept out, reaping the life of another unlucky samurai.

The cat demon was not only fierce but also quick and nimble. No samurai could escape its claws or retaliate even if they wanted to!

Crunch—! It bit down on a Maro Dojo samurai together with his sword.

The sword shattered and the samurai was munched into pieces, staining the cat demon’s face while adding to its fierce and hideous look.

“Demon!” Tamuramura’s muscles bulged, and blue veins snaked all over his body. Lifting a large tachi with both hands, he leaped over and chopped towards the cat demon. For its part, the cat demon reacted quickly and raised its big body, standing on its hind legs. Two ma.s.sive claws then lunged towards Tamuramura with deadly force.

BOOM!!! The resulting spiritual explosion quaked the entire island and the violent wind battered many women who came to cheer for Tamurakonoe, flinging them into the distance. Some directly died after crashing into tough trees and rocks.

Unexpectedly, the cat demon suffered a slight disadvantage during the bout and took a few steps back. It arched its waist and bared its teeth at Tamuramura in indignation!

The man stood as steady as a mountain, his muscular arms clutching the tachi stuck into the ground.

“He’s very strong!” Lily marveled as she stood behind the cat demon. Although Tamuramura’s aura encompa.s.sed the peak Permanence Stage, the strength of his attack eclipsed the carp spirit and surpa.s.sed the cat demon by a small margin!

Their level of strength was roughly equal, but Tamuramura possessed secret methods capable of boosting his power.

Lily was similar but to a greater extent. If she reached the peak of the Permanence Stage, she could combine her strength with the Tsukuyomi Swordstyle to kill Permanence Stage experts like chickens!

However, Lily was only at the early Spirit Jade stage.

During her journey across Lake Biwa, it was difficult to find any time to practice.

“Hahahahaha!” Tamuramura laughed triumphantly, “Sure enough, this cat demon is some kind of phantom! I heard of a strange treasure called the Record of One Hundred Demons that could summon the paintings of demons. Although the strength of this demon pales in comparison to the original, its might is still considerable! Kagami Lily, you are really something. I did not expect this legendary treasure to actually exist and fall into your hands. No matter, hand over the scroll and we’ll end things here, otherwise, we’ll capture you and make your life worse than death!”

“Hmph, how magnanimous! Have you finally revealed your true face?” Lily sneered.

“What? Record of One Hundred Demons?” Kazama Mayuzumi was shocked, “It seems that it was unnecessary to stick up for this sister. Since she dared to come, she must definitely have her cards to rely on! Listen, all of you from the Kazama Dojo, distance yourself and don’t get involved in this battle that will bring shame to the samurai of Western land!”

“People of the Makoto Dojo, also retreat!” Oniwa instructed.

As soon as the two groups backed off, most other spectating warriors followed suit. Only the samurai of the Maro Dojo who continued to encircle Lily was left behind.

“Kyori, let’s retreat into the pine forest as well. This is a big fight we normally don’t get to see. We can observe it from afar but don’t go near. It’s too dangerous.” The miko samurai pulled her attending sister behind the protection of a giant pine tree.

“Wanyūdō! Yuki-Onna! Demon hound!” Lily waved her large sleeves.

An array of intimidating demons stood in front of Lily, stunning all who beheld the scene!

“Kagura, you can also come out to practice a little!”

Bang! White smoke stirred, and Kagura, dressed in a pink kimono and holding a sakura parasol, appeared in front of the lineup.

Splash! Huge waves churned in the lake and the giant carp spirit resurfaced from the depths!

“This…” Seeing Lily’s allies, the crowd of samurai was stunned into silence for a while.

“Demons! They are all demons! Is this Eastern female samurai the leader of a hundred demons?” “The Mirror Girl is indeed a bad omen!” “She must have used some demonic technique to kill Lord Tamurakonoe!”

Kiuchidera Tesshin retrieved a magic tool from his robes and danced his hands, adding several incantations to Tamuramura and himself.

“Ha! Do you think you’re the only one who can cast spells?” Kagura smirked while looking at the masked man. She raised her sakura parasol and danced in an elegant manner. A burst of pink and purple incantations flooded the area, buffing Lily and the others.

“What?! High-level spells? Attack spell, lightning spell, speed spell, berserk spell…” Kiuchidera inhaled a breath of cold air, “Who is this little girl with the parasol? Why can she use so many ancient advanced spells?”

Tamuramura dawned a grave expression, “Open your eyes, all of you! They are really a bunch of demons! Come join forces with me to destroy these demons and avenge Tamurakonoe’s death! Kill—!”

The muscular old man raised his sword and rushed to the forefront. Behind him, nearly a hundred samurai rushed towards Lily and her party.

There weren’t many people on Lily’s side, but each of them wielded terrifying strength. She held Yasutsuna in one hand and Crescent Moon in the other. Phantom soul energy chilled the surroundings and intensified Lily’s glare.

“Kagami Lily, you must make it up to me when this battle is over! How dare you order me to fight again!” Faced with a large number of enemy samurai, Yuki-Onna opened her arms and roused a blizzard to a.s.sault their ranks. The world descended into extreme coldness, causing many weaker warriors to freeze into ice sculptures halfway through their run.

Yuki-Onna then lifted one arm, shaping several cones of ice that flew towards the army of samurai!

Bam! Bam! Pffft! A samurai was. .h.i.t in the legs by one of the cones. No one knew if he was either dead or injured.

“Shoot that snow woman to death!” Numerous warriors drew out their longbows and fired volleys of evil-slaying arrows trailing with incantation symbols at Yuki-Onna!

Kagura flurried her sakura parasol and threw it in Yuki-Onna’s direction. The parasol faced the enemies and spun, cloning into a dozen transparent pink parasols.

Boom! Bang! Bang!

The rain of spiritual arrows and the magic bullets shot by Kiuchidera Tesshin from the rear were completely blocked. The dozen floating parasols continued to rotate for a while, flickering with various colors.

“Huh?” Lily looked amazed, “So the sakura parasol can also be used like this?”

The sakura parasol was a peculiar treasure that could conceal one’s presence from the eyes of peerless demons like Shuten Doji and Michizane. Even until now, Lily couldn’t see through the grade of the parasol. Perhaps, only Kagura knew the many uses of the sakura parasol.

On the battlefield, the cat demon transformed into a brownish-yellow shadow that plunged into the group of samurai. Under the effects of Kagura’s spell, its speed increased and its attacks grew even more violent. The cat demon clawed, bit, smashed, and whipped the Maro Dojo samurai with its four nifty tails. Its unfortunate victims wailed as flesh and blood splattered about!

Not a long time pa.s.sed, yet a dozen samurai were already mauled to death.

At this point, none of the spectating samurai came to aid the battle. The scene evolved into a b.l.o.o.d.y slaughter of imminent death— completely out of control.

Fujiwara no Kazuo also hid behind the ancient pine trees while muttering to himself, “Demon girl, demon girl. Ah, why would Lady Ayaka protect these terrible mirror girls…”

The demon hound hopped into the backline of the samurai forces, launching surprise attacks on the annoying archers. Kiuchidera caught sight of this and took out a serrated blade to slash at the white dog.

Boom! The demon hound was defeated and cut into strands of dissipating resentment.

However, in the blink of an eye, he recondensed at Lily’s feet, once again rushing into the crowd of enemies. The demon hound wasn’t very strong, but he couldn’t die and was extremely difficult to deal with.

Wanyūdō was a strange and bloodthirsty character. The screaming ghost rode a wheel of blazing flames and blades that ma.s.sacred the enemy formation. The devastation it caused was no weaker than that of the cat demon!

Tamuramura’s blood boiled. He turned around and rushed towards Wanyūdō.

Hihi-! The little ghost was very cunning. Seeing the angry man plowing over, he abruptly turned the wheel to dodge out of the way. Tamuramura was faster and was about to catch up, but the cat demon barred his path.

Tamuramura hurtled forward regardless, brandishing his powerful tachi. The cat demon already accrued a lot of injuries during its rampant killing so it became increasingly difficult to fend off the old man. Its wounds resembled charred paper and inky smoke gradually leaked out.

The cat demon wouldn’t be able to last against the old man for long.

Suddenly, a crimson phantom shifted from behind.

Tamuramura perceived the threat and hurriedly avoided a scratch from the cat demon. At the same time, he turned around to resist the eerie blue blade that Lily swung at him.

Clang—!!! The two swords collided.

The power behind Lily’s slash wasn’t too impressive, however:

“Aaaagh!” Tamuramura stared widely, blood streaming from his eyes. He opened his mouth to howl in pain.

He felt a cold tremor seep into the depths of his soul and instinctively shot backward.

Tamuramura slowed his explosive retreat after some time, his face still pale and frozen in obvious horror as he looked at Lily. She was far inferior in strength and swordplay compared to him, so why…?

“You, what is that sword of yours??!”

“What sword? Of course, it’s a demon sword.” Lily smiled, but her eyes revealed ruthless killing intent.