Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 11 - Yamata no Orochi: Chapter 30 – He is a Samurai

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On the lakeshore plain southwest of Lake Biwa, under the cover of night, a grand army numbering 200,000 marched forward. Their lit torches formed a river of orange stars, seemingly connecting earth and sky. Above, twelve large bronze statues of Nioh carried the sedan thousands of meters high, hidden in clouds with only the immense statues intermittently visible beneath the cloud layer.

Atop the sedan, three celestial maidens, adorned in elegant feathered attire, swayed above the clouds. Lily, dressed in silver and white, her feathered sash fluttering, was flanked by her elder sisters, also garbed as celestial maidens.

Beneath the vast sky, the sea of clouds stretched far, and with Lily in the sky, the moon itself seemed dimmer.

Time passed, and the army drew within a few hundred kilometers of Heian-kyō. The huge sedan descended from the clouds. By then, Lily, Rei, and Shimizu had changed back into their regular kimonos. Despite appearing unchanged, Lily’s aura was stronger, her confidence grown.

Approaching Heian-kyō meant confronting Yoritomo’s true form, a mere few hundred kilometers away. Lily had completed the Tsukuyomi Swordstyle’s fourth path, Heavenly Dance Path. Along the way, they crushed opposing forces and black-armored army, with Lily’s unstoppable army, sparing her from intervening directly.

Heian-kyō, the massive capital, was engulfed in demonic clouds, casting it in darkness. The city gates opened, and an army of around 30,000, mainly elites from the Genji’s direct line, marched out, led not by a powerful demon general but by the Right Imperial Guards’ Commander, Minamoto no Yoshitada.

Determined and resolute, Yoshitada understood the might of the opposing force and the imperial court’s actions. Yet, as a samurai of the Genji Clan and the imperial court, he was bound to obey the Shogun and the Cloistered Emperor’s orders, regardless of the consequences. His troops, faces expressionless but disciplined, shared his sentiment, displaying neither fear nor hesitation, only unwavering determination.

After mastering the fourth path of the Tsukuyomi Swordstyle, Lily’s strength had increased fiftyfold. With her newfound power, she was now on par with a sextuple-soul expert, giving her a legitimate chance of victory against Yoritomo’s true form. This advancement made her fully qualified for the decisive battle ahead.

At this moment, Lily was sitting alone on the upper deck of the sedan, her gaze directed westward. They were merely two hundred kilometers from Heian-kyō, the billowing demonic clouds to the west already visible.

A female ninja approached to report, “Lyn-hime, an army approaches from ahead.”

“Friend or foe?” inquired Lily.

“It’s unclear,” the ninja admitted.

This uncertainty lingered even as both armies aligned in formation. Lily’s forces dwarfed the opposition, a Genji army ten times smaller in comparison. The Genji banner fluttered, not the familiar black-armored army, but rather a contingent of regular Genji warriors. Lily’s puzzlement grew.

Amidst the enemy ranks, a middle-aged samurai clad in striking red and black armor advanced on horseback. It was Minamoto no Yoshitada, the Right Imperial Guards’ Commander. Confronting the overwhelming opposition and the colossal, cloud-shrouded sedan, he amplified his voice using his peak Throned Sovereign Stage power, challenging, “Ahead lies Heian-kyō, the heart of the imperial court! Without an edict from the Cloistered Emperor or the Shogun, why have you amassed such a force and marched towards us? State your intentions!”

“No, Lord Yoshitada…” she whispered softly.

Yoshitada’s voice thundered across the battlefield, “Samurai of the Genji Clan, this battle transcends good and evil, victory and defeat! Today we fight for the final honor of our Genji army! This is our last stand!” His words stirred the hearts of every samurai under his command.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the 10,000 cavalry behind him responded to his call. Like a disciplined and relentless tide, they surged forward towards the rock-solid formation of the punitive army. The thunderous gallop of thousands of horses, coupled with the fervent shouts of the samurai, caused the very earth to quake beneath them. Each warrior, following Yoshitada’s lead, seemed to embody the spirit and determination of the Genji clan.

Yoshitada himself was a figure of unyielding strength and courage at the forefront. He raised his sword high, its blade catching the faint light of the moon, as he roared wildly—a testament to his unwavering spirit. It was clear that from the moment he departed Heian-kyō, he had accepted that he might never return alive.

In this battle, the concepts of strength or weakness, life or death, held no relevance. It was a fight that transcended the usual bounds of warfare, solely focused on the honor of the samurai. There was no distinction between the strong and the weak in this final act of bravery.

The samurai, united under Yoshitada’s leadership, charged with an intensity that seemed to shake the very heavens. Each one was prepared to lay down their life, not for victory or glory, but for the honor and legacy of their clan—the Genji.

Lily, observing the courageous charge, felt a tear escape her eye. She had the power to halt their advance without taking lives, but she understood that doing so would only dishonor their final, brave act.

Turning her back, she respected their choice to die with honor rather than surrender to dishonor. Such was the path of a true samurai.

From the battlefield below, Yoshitada’s last words as a human echoed, “Kagami Lily, don’t blame me! We are warriors of the imperial court, sworn to obey!”

Following Yoshitada’s lead, each samurai, one after another, took out pills that shimmered with a strange, otherworldly aura. With resolute expressions, they placed the pills in their mouths, chewed, and swallowed. The moment the pills were ingested, a dramatic transformation occurred. The aura surrounding each of the thousands of troops intensified exponentially, turning every samurai into a formidable demon warrior. Their warhorses, too, underwent a startling metamorphosis, sprouting menacing fangs and their eyes aglow with a sinister, demonic light. The entire battalion transformed into a fearsome horde of demonic spirits and hellish steeds.

This abrupt and terrifying transformation sent ripples of unease through Lily’s 300,000-strong army. Even the most seasoned soldiers among them felt a shiver of dread, causing their ranks to waver and a sense of chaos to spread gradually.

However, high above in the distant sky, Lily stood with her back to this chilling spectacle. Her long hair billowed around her, as if caught in a tempest of unseen forces. She radiated an aura of overwhelming power that seemed to defy the very heavens. In the backdrop of the sky, ethereal images of a snowy moon and cherry blossoms drifting in the wind emerged, adding a surreal, haunting beauty to the scene.

Suddenly, with a sound akin to the crackling of lightning, Lily spun around. Her movement was swift and graceful, yet it carried the weight of inevitable confrontation. She unleashed a powerful flash of light from her sword, a brilliant purple beam that sliced through the sky like a bolt of lightning. This radiant sword light cascaded downwards with unrelenting force, aiming directly at the heart of the thousands of demonic horsemen below.

Footnotes:

Robinxen: It’s a charge of a light brigade.

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