Book 7: Chapter 54: Battle Maiden

Book 7: Chapter 54: Battle Maiden

Although Lily’s cursed sword could absorb spirits released by Rashomon, the range was short and it would constantly expose her location.

At this time, Ibaraki was being restrained by the Grand Demon Extermination Formation, but the grand formation had a slow reaction time, after all. It was hard to ensure that he wouldn’t go berserk and focus on killing Lily regardless of the grand formation, so she didn’t dare to absorb spirits into her cursed sword without reason.

Even if Ibaraki didn’t intend to kill Lily, confronting him directly would result in her getting seriously injured in one move, at the very least.

“Yoshitada, Lord Hiromasa, I’m counting on you to restrain Ibaraki Doji.” Lily murmured and dashed into a nearby alley.

Lily took advantage of the ruins and the cover of battle to suppress her aura. If Ibaraki Doji didn’t pay attention, he wouldn’t be able to find her. He wanted to search around carefully, but the Demon Extermination Formation kept attacking him, forcing him to deal with it first.

Taking this opportunity, Lily hid in the darkness.

At this time, Lily saw a robust golden-horned evil spirit in a dilapidated pavilion up ahead. It pointed at the grand formation in the distance, “That formation is attacking Lord Ibaraki! Launch a surprise attack from behind!”

Nearly a hundred imposing silver-horned demons rushed out of the dark hole in the ground and charged towards the Grand Demon Extermination Formation in the distance.

“Hmph, trying to destroy the grand formation? Don’t even think about it!” Lily silently said while hiding in the corner of the street.

Although the Demon Extermination Formation was extremely strong, dealing with Ibaraki was already its limit. If the troops were attacked from the flank, this grand formation would probably be destroyed, and by then, it would all be over.

Apart from Minamoto no Yoshitada, who was the main attack power of the Demon Extermination Formation and the only one who could resist Ibaraki Doji, the other tens of thousands of troops would be fodder.

Lily turned into a crimson phantom and instantly rushed into the army of silver-horned demons.

Swish! Pfft! Splotch! The crimson sword light danced wildly, slaying the group of demons and causing pieces of flesh and blood to splatter like oil in a frying pan.

“What?!” Ibaraki Doji noticed the female samurai in red not far away, but before he could respond, the power of the Demon Extermination Formation seemed to have increased again.

Ashikaga Makoto also joined the grand formation along with hundreds of newly assembled Genji samurai.

The morale of the samurai was boosted by the chief commander’s appearance.

The more than five hundred samurai in the grand formation concentrated their minds and gathered their spiritual energy.

Boom! A golden phantom of a young samurai formed above the grand formation. The samurai rode a golden warhorse which trotted in the air, and wielded a tachi as he rushed towards Ibaraki!

“It’s Minamoto no Yoshitsune!” Ibaraki was startled by the close resemblance. Although he clearly knew that it was a phantom image, Ibaraki had experienced the era of Yoshitsune. At that time, the heavenly way was stable, and the power of the archdemons wasn’t as strong as now. Except for Tamamo-no-Mae, the other demon armies almost collapsed upon seeing Yoshitsune.

This also left a deep imprint in Ibaraki’s heart. Facing this Yoshitsune phantom image, Ibaraki lost a layer of momentum, and he had no energy to deal with Lily.

Meanwhile, Lily took the opportunity to continue her slaughter. Wherever her blade passed, blood and flesh would splatter and demons would cry.

Surprisingly, of the nearly a hundred silver-horned demons, Lily managed to kill more than half of them while the rest fled in all directions.

Lily leaped on top of the pavilion, provoking the golden-horned evil spirit to roar and slash at her with its claw. But Lily swiftly lowered her head and neared the golden-horned evil spirit, piercing the Permanence Stage demon’s spirit jade with her sword.

Its anima flew towards Lily.

Ibaraki Doji and the Yoshitsune phantom image shook the world with their fight, but in the end, Ibaraki managed to use his ghost hand and the evil sword to scatter the Yoshitsune phantom image.

Lily had already suppressed her aura and fled into the chaotic alleyways by the time he finished, and it was difficult to find any trace of her.

“Damn it!!!” Ibaraki was furious and turned to attack the Demon Extermination Formation with his ghost hand.

However, the Demon Extermination Formation conjured another ancient golden samurai. This samurai was middle-aged, resolute, and looked dignified. He carried the phantom of the legendary tachi, Hizakiri.

This person was the ancestor of the Genji Clan —the father of Yoshitsune and Yoritomo— Minamoto no Yoshitomo!

The golden phantom of Minamoto no Yoshitomo wielded the tachi and performed a resplendent sword technique that made the surrounding world look dull, knocking back the ghost hand!

Ibaraki Doji had no time to care about Lily anymore.

In the darkness, no one knew where Lily was, but once she appeared, doomsday would definitely befall a large number of demons.

However, Lily alone could not change the whole situation of the battle.

The elite Genji samurai could still protect themselves, but a large number of ordinary samurai, who had lost military command during the attack, fell into chaos and died to various demon formations, poisonous mists, and waves of demons coming from underground.

At this point, Lily understood that she may not be able to reverse the outcome of this battle. She could only kill as many demons as possible and increase the chances of survival for more imperial soldiers.

“Okay! Since that’s the case, I won’t hold back and will kill as many as possible!”

There was a trace of indifference in Lily’s eyes that was distinctly different from her usual self. She walked alone in the dark, her red clothes fluttering as she sought out her enemies.

A pack of huge vicious dogs with strange masks was walking through the alleyway, many carrying corpses of human samurai in their mouths.

“Die!”

Lily rushed over and slid into the pack of vicious dogs that were several meters long. Yasutsuna swung upward with a ‘swish’, and several vicious dogs in her path were split apart. She leaped up swiftly and dozens of vicious dogs followed suit, jumping and trampling on each other trying to bite her. But Lily stepped on their piling bodies with agile steps until she reached her highest point. Then, she raised Yasutsuna high, its blade radiating crimson fluctuations.

Clang—!

A heavy blow smashed to the ground.

Dozens of vicious dogs were shattered by that destructive crimson storm, their corpses falling one after another and showering the sky with blood rain.

Lily flicked her blade and the anima flew towards the sword.

After continuously killing most of the vicious dogs in the group, Lily vanished in the smoke of battle to look for new opponents, fearing that Shuten Doji might find and attack her.

At this time, Lily had already wandered near the castle gate, where a small team consisting of a dozen sword mikos were attempting to break through.

“Stop right there! Women!”

“Catch all those women! Hahahahahaha!”

Thousands of black-armored vagrants were chasing after them on horseback. The one in the lead was a bald Permanence Stage samurai wielding a double-headed mace.

It looked like he was about to catch up to those sword mikos.

Swoosh—

Suddenly, a crimson figure appeared in the alley.

“Kagami Lily!”

The sword mikos’ eyes gleamed with hope when they saw Lily.

“Retreat from the castle quickly!”

Lily faced the thousands of cavalrymen that came roaring over, but she remained motionless.

She held Yasutsuna horizontally in front of her.

“Kill!”

The red-eyed vagrants swarmed towards Lily!

Lily’s eyes were still like water, but her hand brandished Yasutsuna in the face of these incoming warriors.

Swish! Swosh! Swoosh!

The black-armored vagrants rushed past Lily like a long black dragon, unable to stop at all. In the middle of them, crimson sword lights were seen flying about.

After the cavalrymen rushed past Lily, they lost their balance, collided with each other, and rolled across the ground, forming a bizarre scene.

Lily’s katana was like a dancing crimson fan. Every cavalryman that rushed past her was slashed and killed one by one, their momentum carrying them dozens of meters forward before collapsing lifelessly.

Thousands of vagrants rushed past the girl in red, but none of them survived and their corpses piled up like a mountain in front of the castle gate!

Lily’s chest heaved up and down, not because of fatigue, but because of the constant killing.

She was drenched in fragrant sweat and seemed to be enthralled in some kind of killing pleasure. Lily was fighting for the sake of her senior sister, her own dignity, and to protect her dear sisters. Yet, at this time, she felt excited by the battle.

Whoosh! Like drifting clouds, she flashed into the alleyway, displaying an incredible combination of slaughter and beauty.

The flames of battle still lit up the night sky and smoke was billowing around, casting shadows on the dilapidated ancient castle.

Demons poured into the streets and alleys like tidal waves, howling, hunting, and killing the soldiers of the imperial court, who were now in chaos.

At this time, a red figure fell from the sky.

Clang! A crack split the ground and caused the streets and alleys to quake. Dozens of demons were smashed into the sky by the sword light that struck the ground. Lily landed with one knee on the ground and turned around.

Swish! A crescent sword light spread in all directions.

Pffft! Pffft! Pffft! Pffft! Pffft!

Countless demons who were crowded together were cut in half at the waist! The demons were thrown into the night sky by the deadly blade wind!

Facing a large group of demons riding demon wolves, Lily slashed towards the road ahead.

The earth cracked, forming a sword gash dozens of meters long. The wolves and demons were plunged into a deep ditch.

Lily jumped onto the roof and released flames into the ditches, burning the demons in a sea of fire!

Countless anima danced in the sky like a poignant scene at the end of the world. These anima were all flying to the same target, that is, the cursed sword in the girl’s hand.

Lily lost track of time and couldn’t remember her purpose. She was completely enraptured in a ghost-like, wandering state, hunting as many demons as possible in the fastest and most efficient way.

The cemetery that Ibaraki Doji had planned and prepared for the imperial army turned into a killing field for Lily.

The young lady was like an asura in the night!

Even the most vicious demons were killed!

When Lily encountered a large group of demons, she never spoke a word; she just attacked and killed them directly!

Kill and leave! Without stopping!

It was uncertain how many times this woman rushed back and forth in the ruined Kameyama Castle. A group of demons tried to attack the Grand Demon Extermination Formation, but Lily coincidentally passed by and killed most of them out of nowhere.

Of course, other powerhouses and soldiers were also fighting bravely.

But while they were fighting, Lily was killing, purely killing!

Other people got tired and exhausted, but Lily’s energy was constantly being replenished by killing! Even her strength was growing because of the overwhelming amount of anima she absorbed!

Boom!!! Kamaki finally encountered Lily and transformed into a huge demon god as he murderously charged towards her.

Behind Kamaki was an army of hundreds of powerful blue demons.

Lily unexpectedly rushed towards Kamaki, but when she was only a short distance away, a purple light suddenly erupted from her body. Cla-clang! The two sides changed directions and Lily bypassed Kamaki. He thought Lily wanted to escape, but she instead rushed into the army of blue demons, striking out with Yasutsuna and Crescent Moon at the same time!

Swish—! Swish—! Swoosh—! The two cursed swords danced, forming a poignant and beautiful storm which carved a circle of death amidst the dark mass of blue demons!

Dozens of powerful blue demon elites were slaughtered in a single move!

“Damn it!!!” Those were the backbone and cronies following Kamaki! He was furious and turned his ten-meter-tall body, chasing after Lily with big strides.

However, Lily instantly released her purple lunar force, and in the blink of an eye, she escaped into the alley and disappeared without a trace.

“Ahhhhhhh!!!!!” Kamaki’s furious roar echoed through the bloody battlefield of Kameyama Castle.