Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 13 - Takamagahara: Chapter 52 - The Veiled Maidens

Bishamonten’s homeland lay beyond the rear courtyard, up along a mountainside path. Following Rei along a narrow wooden walkway, passing through rows of torii gates half-hidden among the trees, Lily heard the distant murmur of flowing water.

“Why did Sister Uesugi know about a place like this? I have not always been with her, so did she ask someone about it?” Lily followed behind her, the tall, slender back before her swaying slightly. Although she herself possessed an equally captivating feminine body, she still felt that there were many differences between herself and Rei. It was precisely those differences that drew her in.

They arrived at a hot spring. The water was not overly hot, with only wisps of steam rising, yet the pool itself was enormous, like a small lake hidden within a secluded valley. Not far away, roughly a hundred meters off, a long row of waterfalls cascaded down from the mountainside, heat billowing upward as the water fell. The waterfalls were beautiful, yet their momentum was fierce and bold.

“As expected of the birthplace of the Bishamonten clan. Even the hot springs are this imposing…” Lily marveled inwardly.

At that moment, Rei calmly began to undress.

Lily felt a little flustered. Looking at that snow-white, flawless back, she grew shy. Even though they were both women and changing together before bathing was nothing unusual, her heart still began to race.

Almost as if guided by impulse, she walked closer, approaching Rei from behind, catching a faint, delicate fragrance from her body. For some reason, the smooth, beautiful back before her made her want to lean in and give it a light kiss.

However, Rei, still facing away from her, sat down on a stone by the edge of the pool.

“Wash me,” she said without turning her head.

“Eh?”

“What is it? Among the Bishamonten clan, sisters taking care of each other during a bath is perfectly normal, is it not?”

“Is that so… In that case, I suppose I should do as the locals do,” Lily replied.

As she spoke, a thought stirred in her mind, and a stream of water rose from the hot spring, swirling in the air like a crystalline blossom.

“What is it? Are you planning to wash me while still wearing clothes?”

“Th-that…”

Though she felt awkward, it was only sisters bathing together. Keeping her clothes on would indeed be strange.

So Lily slowly removed her garments as well. When her hand reached the sash at her waist, she hesitated for a moment, thinking that Rei was facing away and could not see her anyway. With that thought, she pulled, and the sash loosened.

As for the ancient mirror tucked at her waist, it had already flown out, landing atop the pile of scattered clothing that carried a soft feminine scent.

Only then did Lily suddenly realize that if she was merely controlling water to wash Rei’s back, there was no real need to undress.

But since she had already done so, it would be awkward to pick her clothes back up and put them on again. Lily was not that overly reserved. They were both women, after all. What did it matter?

“Who told you to use a domain to wash me? Are you being inattentive as a little sister, or do you want to be punished?” Rei said.

“Then let me go find a silk cloth.”

“No need.”

“Huh? Then how am I supposed to wash you?”

“Help your sister bathe. No secret arts, no tools, and no hands.”

“…Not even hands?” Lily was utterly bewildered. “Then how am I supposed to wash you at all?”

Rei gathered up her cascading silver hair, revealing an even more strikingly pale, flawless back.

Lily thought for a moment. Rei had saved her life, so she should find a way to satisfy her, offering this as a sincere expression of gratitude.

Thus, Lily placed both hands behind her back and leaned in, pressing her incredibly soft body against Rei’s back. She guided a stream of water down from above, letting it flow into the narrow space between their bodies. The water could only trickle through that tiny gap, pooling against Lily’s chest.

Lily’s face flushed crimson. “Th-then this is the only way…” She began to move, sliding her body along Rei’s snow-white back.

It was not easy. Lily spent quite some time before finally finishing. By then, her own body was damp with fragrant perspiration, indistinguishable from the spring water.

“Hah… hah…” Lily panted, her face burning hot.

From behind, Rei’s body also seemed to rise and fall. Lily thought that it was finally over and was just about to relax when Rei extended her long, jade-like arm, stopping at a height just below Lily’s waist.

“Come. Wash your sister’s arms as well, but you are not allowed to use the parts of yourself that just touched my body.”

“Eh???” Lily was both shocked and flustered. “Then how am I supposed to wash them?”

“My little sister is clever. Can you not think it through? Did you not say you wanted to thank your sister? Or is this all the sincerity you have?” Rei said lightly, as if it were nothing.

Lily’s face burned red with embarrassment. “It is because she saved me… Since she saved me, I suppose I can only listen to her…”

Gradually, a hint of bewitchment appeared in Lily’s eyes. In any case, it wasn’t as if Rei could see her expression anyway.

Her long, pale legs stepped forward, moving to Rei’s side, crossing over her outstretched arm.

“All right. Now it is my turn to help my little sister bathe.”

“Eh? I-I do not need to… I can wash myself!”

“That will not do. Did we not say that your sister also needs to thank you?”

Rei lifted Lily, whose breath came soft and fragrant and whose expression was dazed, and carried her into the pool, where the night sky’s starlight shimmered across the water.

After a night had passed, Lily no longer remembered how she had returned to the courtyard. She only remembered feeling utterly exhausted, drifting into sleep in a daze.

When she awoke, it was already dusk the next day.

Golden sunlight slanted in through the windows, casting mottled shadows over the two girls’ bodies as they wore loose bathrobes.

Only then did Lily realize that she was sleeping in Rei’s room.

“You are awake?” Rei gently stroked Lily’s hair.

“Sister Uesugi…”

Rei grasped Lily’s arm, gazing at her with affection, then with a seemingly casual yet tender strength pressed her down against the dry, aged floor and kissed her. Within the small house beneath the setting sun, ambiguous sounds continued to drift through the air.

That evening, after Lily and Rei finished bathing once more and changed into fresh, elegant robes, they set out together toward the mountain.

By the time they arrived at the mountain shrine, night had already fallen. There, Lily and Rei stood side by side and paid their respects to the ancient god Bishamonten.

They also examined several ancient murals inside the cave behind the shrine. The paintings recorded stories of the Bishamonten clan from who knew how many years ago.

With a simple use of their arts, torchlight flared to life at their fingertips.

“So the Bishamonten clan migrated here from an unimaginably distant land,” Lily said as she gazed at the murals, a trace of reverence in her eyes.

“But where they originally came from is no longer known,” Rei said with a quiet sigh.

After finishing their worship at the shrine, the two of them descended the mountain together.

“Can you still walk?” Rei deliberately whispered near Lily’s ear. “After all, you were so tired last night…”

“Sister, you are teasing me. As if you yourself were not the same… Do your legs not ache as well?”

“Oh my? You have grown bold enough to tease your sister now? Do you want to be punished?” Rei spun Lily around, pressed a hand against her waist, and playfully gave a light smack to the part of her body wrapped by the bathrobe.

“Sister! Stop it!”

“Let us head down the mountain.” Rei wrapped an arm around Lily’s waist.

After being held like that for a short distance, Lily suddenly remembered something. She gently slipped aside, then reached out to hold Rei’s hand instead. Hand in hand, they walked down the deep, cool mountain path beneath the night sky.

At the outer edge of Yuten Castle, among the forests surrounding the floating islands, the former tranquility had completely vanished.

At this moment, tens of thousands of Yuten Army troops surged in on clouds and mist, gathering densely in the skies above the islands. Not only the Yuten Army. Soon after, wave after wave of divine troops flew out from Thundercloud Gorge in the distance.

There were over a thousand Dark Celestial Maidens, along with many powerful elites from all quarters of the Palace of Ritsuten.

Tennin-Mikoto sat within a massive blackwood palanquin carried by eight Celestial Maidens whose bodies were barely covered by small pieces of gold-toned metal and jeweled chains. She wore a black robe with large purple floral patterns on its wide sleeves and held a dark violet fan in her hand. The palanquin was open, consisting only of a wooden platform and railings.

Her dark purple bangs fell neatly across her forehead, with long hair that could be trimmed into layered lengths. Locks at her temples framed her cheeks. Her beauty was exquisite, yet her eyes carried a chilling sharpness and danger.

The palanquin was borne forward with great effort by the Celestial Maidens and stopped beside Ame-no-Tajikarao.

“Ame-no-Tajikarao, this time you will not hold back again, will you?” Tennin-Mikoto asked, gently fanning herself as she addressed the towering brute leading the Yuten Army.

“Tennin-Mikoto, what are you saying? When have I ever held back? Th-this failure was truly an… an accident,” Ame-no-Tajikarao replied, momentarily at a loss for words.

“Hmph, is that so? Was it not because you took a liking to Kagami Lily? I even heard that you protected her the entire time she was imprisoned. Had you dealt with her earlier, perhaps that little wretch would have submitted long ago,” Tennin-Mikoto said through clenched teeth. Merely mentioning Lily made her soul throb faintly with pain. After all, the destruction of that art had dealt her a severe blow to both her vitality and power.

“Miss Lily is not the sort of woman who would submit to violence and humiliation,” Ame-no-Tajikarao retorted.

“How dare you speak such words! Are you saying you have already betrayed Amaterasu-Ōmikami for the sake of that woman?”

“Th-that is utter nonsense! I am merely speaking objectively. She is a wanted criminal of Takamagahara, but facts are facts. She… she is a good woman. However, if I encounter her again, I will personally capture her and, in accordance with the law, punish her severely as an escaped prisoner. I will show no mercy!” Ame-no-Tajikarao roared.

“Good. Then we shall see your performance.”

At that moment, a streak of purple light flashed across the distant sky.

Another squad of a hundred Celestial Maidens arrived. Each wore flowing yet revealing red garments, and every one of them had their eyes bound with black silk blindfolds.

The red-clad Celestial Maiden leading them knelt before Tennin-Mikoto. “Lady Tennin-Mikoto, by the command of Takamagahara’s War Goddess, Suseri-hime, I, Amani, have come to lend my strength.”

“Oh?” Tennin-Mikoto glanced over, then straightened slightly. “So you are Amani, one of Suseri-hime’s Five Shining Stars.”

Standing among the commanders accompanying the Yuten Army, General Hirotake looked up at the hundred blindfolded Celestial Maidens and could not help but marvel inwardly. “These Celestial Maidens all look like blind women, yet the aura of just a hundred of them is this sharp and formidable. As expected of warriors personally trained by the new War Goddess. Compared to the other Celestial Maidens we have employed, their presence is on an entirely different level.”