Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 13 - Takamagahara: Chapter 4 - Riyuki

“Be careful, Sister Uesugi. Suppress your aura,” Lily whispered through a transmission as she reached out to pull Rei aside. Together, they hid behind a storage building. From the open space between the haystack and the storeroom, they spotted several Celestial Maidens standing idly. None of them were patrolling.

“As expected, it’s her!” Lily’s eyes lit up. “That one in the middle, wearing white with short hair…that’s Riyuki!”

“Really? She looks so gentle and refined, yet she’s involved in something like this?” Rei felt a surge of anger toward the Celestial Maiden who had brought disaster upon her mother. “There are five of them. Capturing Riyuki without alerting the entire fortress won’t be easy.”

“Five? That’s nothing,” Lily replied coldly.

“No, we shouldn’t risk exposure just to make a move now,” Rei stopped Lily. “Since Riyuki is here, that so-called interrogation expert might be in this fortress too. Let’s observe her for now.”

The group of Celestial Maidens, including Riyuki, all seemed to be in rather low spirits. Lily recognized a few among them.

“This is outrageous! We’re the ones who risked our lives to bring that female interrogator to them! We even had to degrade ourselves to curry favor with that Lord Shikikai and trick those poor women of the Shizutake Tribe! In the end, we became the villains and didn’t gain a single benefit from it!” one maiden in green complained.

“Exactly! We nearly got caught in the crossfire between that Kagami Lily and Lord Shikikai! And after all that, we’re now being forced to do this kind of degrading work! All the rewards were snatched away by that Kuromon gang and the higher-ups!” added another.

“So it’s true,” Lily silently confirmed from the shadows.

“What can we do? No matter how degrading the task, we still have to do it. Celestial Maidens? More like the lowest-tier female laborers! But if we stop, we can’t even afford the annual fee for our Celestial Maiden Tokens! Then we’d be forced to flee and have no hope of advancement in our training,” said the maiden in green.

“Riyuki, what should we do?” one of the younger maidens asked anxiously.

“Those b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲ up there are squeezing us Celestial Maidens far too hard! So what if we have to go on the run? We might as well rebel!” the little maiden in pink couldn’t hold back her anger. “I’ve heard there’s a rebel force formed by exiled Celestial Maidens on a nearby Hakanajima. We should join them!”

“Watch your tongue!” Riyuki scolded. “Talking about rebellion is a capital offense! Someone’s coming.”

Lily’s heart skipped a beat. “Have we been discovered? That can’t be…”

At that moment, two guards of the Kegaretsu Clan descended from the upper stairs.

“Celestial Maiden Riyuki. Lord Kuromon has summoned you,” one of them said.

Despite being soldiers at the Throne Stage, the two guards spoke rudely to Riyuki, who was at the Celestial Stage and also their squad leader. But because of the overwhelming difference in strength, as Riyuki could easily take both of their lives with a single move, they remained cautious. At the very least, they dared not harass or lay hands on the stronger Celestial Maidens.

“Understood.” Riyuki instructed the others to continue their patrol, then followed the two guards upstairs.

“It seems Kuromon is the lord of this fortress,” Lily recalled some intel she had gathered earlier and sent a voice transmission to Rei. “If the lord summoned her, it must be for something important. That interrogator might really be here! Let’s follow them.”

Lily and Rei tailed the trio to the entrance of the fortress tower. Lily had initially worried that infiltrating the fortress would prove difficult, but to her surprise, only two black-armored guards stood at the gate.

The fortress gate was immense, nearly a hundred meters tall. Lily and Rei easily leapt onto the gate pillars, then slipped in through the shadowy beams above. The two guards never noticed a thing.

The soldiers who had escorted Riyuki did not follow her inside. Riyuki ascended alone to the second floor of the tower. Lily and Rei carefully moved along the beams in silence, shadowing her every step. Riyuki continued up the hundred-meter stairwell and reached the very top of the fortress tower. At the entrance to the upper corridor, a single black-armored guard stood watch, but he made no move to stop her.

However, from that position, Lily couldn’t slip past him undetected without flaring her divine power. She channeled a sliver of her soul domain, manipulating sakura petals to make subtle rustling sounds on the stairwell. The guard turned his head instinctively, and in that instant, Lily and Rei leapt from the beams, landing silently beyond him and slipping into the corridor.

With her immense power and unmatched agility, Lily moved silently in the lead. Riyuki had no inkling that she was being followed.

Lily heard the faint sound of footsteps ahead. She peered into the corridor and caught sight of Riyuki’s back. The flowing white feather robe bared her shoulders from behind, revealing a graceful, mature figure with an alluring feminine charm.

‘Should I knock her out here and drag her away?’ The thought crossed Lily’s mind. But she held back. She would follow Riyuki into the lord’s chamber instead, if the interrogator was truly in the fortress, then the lord would surely mention her during the meeting.

Riyuki entered a room marked with an aged mural on the door. She closed the door behind her. Lily noticed the mural, it depicted an ancient Celestial Battle Maiden slaying a dragon, though the paint had long since faded and peeled.

Clearly, this fortress had once been wholly administered and guarded by Celestial Maidens.

“But how are we going to get inside?”

“Lily, have you ever practiced the mortal realm’s ninjutsu? These rooms all have interconnected ceiling beams. We can sneak in from above,” Rei suggested.

“Mm.” Lily hadn’t formally trained in such arts, but with a brief run-through in her mind, she was already capable of executing the technique.

The two lifted a ceiling panel and leapt up into the upper loft. Just as Rei had said, the space above the ceiling was fully connected and pitch-dark.

“Careful!” Lily tensed. She had just stepped on an ancient incantation etched into one of the wooden beams. A faint, unusual fluctuation still radiated from it. A chill crept down her spine, but she and Rei crouched there quietly for a moment, there was no reaction.

“This is indeed an ancient warding formation,” Rinne transmitted. “However, it hasn’t been maintained by any spellcasters for many years. The magic power has long since faded and poses no threat.”

Lily let out a silent sigh of relief. It seemed that in the past, this fortress had been equipped with a highly sophisticated defense system. But after falling under the control of the Kegaretsu Clan, most of it had fallen into disrepair. That was the only reason they could infiltrate so easily. After all, Lily was not adept at dealing with arrays.

They carefully made their way through the loft until they reached the lord’s chambers. A faint light and voice filtered in from ahead. The ceiling, aged and deteriorated, had several cracks.

Lily and Rei crawled up to one such crack and peered down through it.

Inside the brightly lit room sat a dark-skinned, rough-looking man clad in a gaudy and vulgar yukata, his beard bushy like a broom. On the other side stood Riyuki, alone.

Seeing that only the two of them were present left Lily somewhat disappointed. Still, there was a chance they might mention the interrogator.

“How is it? Are you getting used to the fodder storage?” Kuromon raised a cup of emerald-colored nectar, its scent exceedingly pleasant, and brought it to his lips.

Riyuki couldn’t help but glance at the cup, a subtle tremor running through her heart.

This nectar was extremely rare. Drinking it would significantly aid one’s training. But it was far too expensive, far beyond what Riyuki could afford.

Kuromon, however, downed it like it was mere tea.

Although Riyuki appeared to be a graceful and composed married woman, deep within her burned the heart of a resolute warrior. She longed to progress further along the path of strength, to one day become a true and unfettered female Supreme God. Treasures that aided in such advancement held great appeal for her.

“Since Tennin-Mikoto reassigned me under Lord Kuromon’s command, whatever you ask of me, I shall obey.” Riyuki kept her face stern. A powerful Celestial Stage attendant, reduced to guarding a fodder store, how could she possibly be ‘used to it’?

“Heh heh heh…” Kuromon leisurely pulled out an exquisite bottle. As he removed the lid, the rich aroma of spiritual nectar wafted into the room. He poured himself another cup and drank it.

Casting a sideways glance at Riyuki, he said, “Truth be told, there are many benefits to working under me. I know you’re the type who enjoys strengthening yourself. Each year, our city collects a good amount of valuable materials and artifacts meant to boost one’s power. But I, Kuromon, have no interest in such things. I prefer admiring rare treasures and playing with women. Giving these things to me would just be a waste.”

As he spoke, Kuromon laid out several rare and precious artifacts in front of Riyuki. While Lily herself wasn’t impressed, she could tell these items were far more valuable than even the Blood Spirit Magatama.

Riyuki gazed at the treasures, her heart clearly stirred, yet she remained silent.

“Besides,” Kuromon continued, “this time, you risked your life to retrieve that female interrogator from the Hekiraku Realm. That’s a major contribution to Takamagahara. I’ve been meaning to find an opportunity to reward you. But as you know, in today’s Takamagahara, everything requires backing from above. No matter how fiercely you Celestial Maidens fight, if no one reports your deeds, you could die for nothing. And if I don’t submit a report, how would the court nobles and esteemed officials ever know that you, Riyuki, were the one who accomplished this great feat?”

As he spoke, Kuromon casually toyed with one of the artifacts.

“I owe it all to Lord Kuromon’s support,” Riyuki said with a deep bow, kneeling on one knee. Despite her inner resentment, she could only swallow her pride and offer a humiliated salute.

“How about this…how would you like to be appointed the chief female commander of Mokuri Fortress? You’d oversee all Celestial Maiden guards and take charge of the fortress’ medicinal storage?” Kuromon asked casually, twirling his beard.

“The medicinal storage?” Upon hearing that, Riyuki showed no resistance. In fact, her eyes lit up with a rare gleam.

“Hahaha. As expected of the clever Miss Riyuki,” Kuromon said. “You already know this, don’t you? This floating island lies at the very edge of Takamagahara, where spirit power is scarce and little else holds value. But there are a few kinds of medicinal herbs native to this island that are highly prized by the divine beings of Takamagahara. They’re submitted once every hundred years. Since the supply is always low and harvest yields fluctuate, managing the herb warehouses is quite the lucrative post. I don’t need to spell it out for you, right? Whether it’s skimming off a portion for your own training, or selling it on the black market in exchange for Blood Spirit Magatama, it’s all excellent business. Within a hundred years, you could be wealthier than I am. So? Great contributor, are you satisfied with this post?”

Riyuki’s body trembled slightly, her chest rising and falling. She had long since given up on the dream of obtaining the Divinity. But this opportunity could still become a great turning point on her path of advancement.

Among Celestial Maidens, talent was abundant and differences were minor. What they truly lacked were resources. With wealth rivaling nations, Riyuki believed that her potential would surely lead her to greater achievements.

But she forced herself to remain calm and asked, “With such an excellent position… why would you think to offer it to me?”