Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 13 - Takamagahara: Chapter 116 - Thousand-Man Slayer

Shizuka Gozen’s white hair fluttered wildly as she charged at Lily like a vengeful woman. In full view of everyone, she actually tried to tear Lily’s clothes apart. Her fan lashed toward Lily’s chest once again, intending to humiliate and punish her even further.

By this point, Lily had completely recovered. Based on physical strength alone, she was already several times stronger than she had been at her peak before their battle.

A chilling light flashed through Lily’s eyes as the white ribbon danced gracefully and with astonishing speed in her hands.

The white ribbon struck like a crashing mountain, slamming heavily into Shizuka Gozen’s chest.

“Ahhh…” A stifled cry escaped Shizuka Gozen as her chest tightened. Her body went limp before collapsing onto the ground, unconscious. Lily used the white ribbon to seize Shizuka Gozen’s blade before taking away Oborozuki Soul.

Two female tengu stepped forward and dragged Shizuka Gozen away.

“Wait!” Lily called out. “Madam Shizuka Gozen lost. According to our agreement, she should be coming with me!”

“Hehehehehe…” Amanozako walked down from the ceremonial platform with a smile. “Kagami Lily, that was merely your own proposal. Shizuka Gozen never seemed to agree to it.”

Although Shizuka Gozen meant virtually nothing to Amanozako, since Lily wanted to take her away, she deliberately refused to allow it.

Even Kiyoshi spoke up. “I am ashamed that Miss Kagami had to participate in such an unfair wager. However, Madam Shizuka Gozen truly never agreed to those terms. All the gods and demons present can testify to that.”

“……” Frustration welled up inside Lily. Strictly speaking, they could indeed interpret it that way. Although it had been unjust to let Lily accept Shizuka Gozen’s wager unilaterally before starting the fight, the other party truly had never agreed.

“Be careful. Don’t hurt her.” In the end, that was all Lily could say as she watched the female tengu drag Shizuka Gozen away.

Her mood had become utterly miserable. Lily turned around and glared furiously at the million gods and demons. “So? Shall we continue? Or are you planning to give me some time to rest?”

“In your dreams!” A massive black oni leapt down. “You just finished fighting that woman. That pointless battle gave you a brief chance to catch your breath. Stop pretending. How much could you possibly have recovered? Today, you’re destined to fall beneath my feet! Hahahaha!”

The black oni erupted with overwhelming power and charged straight at Lily.

However, Lily was no longer pretending to have recovered. She had genuinely recovered, and her physical strength had increased severalfold. Unless a tyrannical overlord like Ame-no-Tajikarao, whose physical body rivaled that of a Great Imperial God, descended upon the battlefield, there were truly very few Supreme Gods across the Three Realms who could claim superior physical strength to hers.

Moreover, Lily’s Charm Heavenly Path had now reached the Sixth Stage, even surpassing both her Lunar Heavenly Path and Sword Heavenly Path.

Killing that black oni required only a single slash.

But the million gods and demons simply refused to believe it. They remained convinced that Lily had already reached her limit. How could they possibly give up?

One after another, they stepped forward to challenge her, each believing they would be the fortunate one among countless challengers. Lily, however, was equally clever. Gradually, she began displaying signs of labored breathing, exhaustion, and failing strength. Again and again, she fought back tenaciously from what appeared to be certain defeat. Though she emerged victorious every time, each battle looked more perilous than the last, making it seem as though she was on the verge of collapsing.

She lured the demon gods into charging forward one after another, lining up to throw away their lives!

Three consecutive days of relentless battle passed without giving Lily even a moment to rest. Before anyone realized it, a thousand challengers had already fallen beneath her blade.

By then, no matter how deeply the gods and demons had been enthralled by Lily, no matter how bloodthirsty they had become, how unwilling they were to give up, or how much they still clung to hope, they could no longer ignore that something was wrong.

“Something’s not right!” A Fortune God with an unusually high forehead stroked his long beard. “Something is definitely wrong. After observing this woman for the past three days, I fear she still has plenty of stamina left. She’s been acting this entire time!”

Gradually, this realization spread among the assembled gods and demons. Although some who remained unaware continued stepping forward to challenge her, after several more crushing defeats, the million-strong demonic host finally came to a halt.

Everyone now sensed that something was amiss.

“Have we fallen for this woman’s seductive scheme?”

“She deliberately pretended to be on the verge of collapse, baiting us into throwing ourselves at her to die!”

“That vile b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲!”

The million gods and demons finally understood. Their realization was immediately followed by overwhelming fury.

“But even if it was an act, how did she do it? She truly never used any divine power! Even with the physique of a Supreme God, how could anyone defeat a thousand opponents in succession without exhausting their stamina? That’s impossible!” a demoness exclaimed in utter disbelief.

That was precisely the fundamental reason the gods and demons had never suspected Lily was deliberately luring them into battle. The strategy itself was simple. Logically, it should have been exposed after merely a few dozen battles. Yet no one believed it because accomplishing such a feat should have been utterly impossible.

Even Kujaku Myōō stared at Lily in disbelief. “Although I sensed something was wrong three days ago… even if it is Kagami Lily, her physical body shouldn’t possess such power. Could she have the physique of one of the strongest Supreme Gods? But even such a body should eventually reach its limit. How could she still be fighting?”

While battling continuously, Lily silently circulated the secret technique she had comprehended during her battle against Shizuka Gozen. It converted the boundless resentment permeating the Celestial Demon battlefield into the essence of the Charm Heavenly Path, replenishing her physical strength. Such an unimaginable phenomenon was something no one else could possibly know.

Those endless resentments were clearly filled with hatred, fury, jealousy, and curses directed toward Lily. In the past, her only method of dealing with them had been to resist them through sheer determination.

Yet constant dripping wore away even stone. No matter how hard or resilient something was, there would eventually come a day when it broke. But now, Lily had gained an entirely new understanding of the Charm Heavenly Path.

With the boundless acceptance of a maiden, Lily embraced all things beneath heaven, carrying the countless lives of all beings within her heart.

She accepted every ounce of resentment lingering across the ancient battlefield with a woman’s limitless compassion, gently embracing everything without rejection. In doing so, her Charm Heavenly Path embarked upon an entirely new and unprecedented road.

Accept everything. Embrace everything. Bear everything. Even your criticism, your jealousy, your anger, and your desires toward me… I shall accept them all, embracing and dissolving them with boundless tenderness.

Rather than resisting them by force. First accept them. Then dissolve them. Resentment itself was formless. It possessed no fixed capacity. How much one could bear depended entirely upon the breadth of one’s heart.

By honestly facing everything and embracing all things with an open heart, Lily astonishingly endured that endless sea of resentment, even refining its essence into power for her own use.

A woman possessing such immeasurable magnanimity was likely rarely seen throughout the Three Realms.

“They… whether good or evil, whether right or wrong… are all unfortunate souls who perished upon this Celestial Demon Path. Why should I continue fighting them? Why should I fear them or hate them? Poor souls… if your resentment still cannot be put to rest, then let me bear it in your stead. Let me suffer. Let me endure humiliation. Even so, I will never resent you. I will carry the thoughts of these countless vengeful spirits alongside my cursed blade and continue forward until the very moment I fall.”

Having attained this miraculous secret art that transformed resentment into her own strength, no prolonged battle of attrition could threaten Lily any longer. By this point, the million gods and demons had also stopped issuing challenges.

They could not continue fighting like this. The countless gods and demons looked at one another, completely at a loss. To simply give up now was something none of them could accept. Wouldn’t that truly mean that this lone woman had looked down upon all one million of them?

Yet they also understood that continuing to challenge her individually would only play further into her scheme of defeating them one by one.

“Damn it! Why are we being so stupid? We don’t worship that damned code of chivalry! Why are we taking turns and following some sense of honor? Let’s all attack together, subdue her, seize the Oborozuki soul, and then share this woman among ourselves! Isn’t she so capable? Didn’t she fight a thousand opponents alone? Pin her to the ground and let everyone take turns. Let’s see how many powerful men she can endure then!” A fiend from the Boundless Abyss, realizing he could not win through fair means, finally revealed his true vicious nature.

Having suffered such devastating losses, countless gods and demons immediately echoed his words, clamoring to gang up on Lily. Only a small number of the Amatsukami and Fortune Gods, who held themselves in high regard, protested that such actions would violate all honor.

“Everyone… everyone, I’m afraid this is inappropriate…” Hakushaku repeatedly tried to dissuade them, but the fury of the crowd had already erupted. The million gods and demons, together with every major faction, had suffered irreparable losses. There was simply no calming them down.

“Everyone!” Kiyoshi suddenly rose to his feet. Endless darkness surged from his body, making the already firelit Celestial Demon Path seem even darker. The overwhelming pressure he released intimidated the assembled gods and demons, causing them to quiet down somewhat.

Kiyoshi looked toward Lily. His gaze was gentle, yet unwaveringly resolute. His armor emitted cold metallic scraping sounds as he descended from the ceremonial platform and walked toward Kagami Lily.

Once again, he performed the formal salute of a samurai before her. “Miss Kagami, it appears that everyone has developed considerable resentment toward you. They can no longer continue challenging you under the rules you proposed,” Kiyoshi said.

“Ashikaga Kiyoshi! Once we’ve subdued this woman fairly, we’ll divide her Oborozuki soul equally! If you want to buy our shares afterward, you can have the woman too!” Kuroyoku bellowed.

“That’s right! Let’s all attack together!”

“We’re a million gods and demons! Are we really incapable of defeating a single woman?”

“At a time like this, who cares about saving face? If we let her walk away after tricking us out of so many Oborozuki souls, that’s the real disgrace!”

“Exactly! No matter what methods we use, as long as we defeat her and then let all the powerful ones take turns violating her, no matter how heroic she once was or how righteous her cause may have been, in the end she’ll still be the one who loses, and the one who suffers the humiliation as a woman!”

The overwhelming majority of the gods and demons had become more united than ever before. They no longer cared about honor or righteousness. They were determined to gang up on Lily no matter the cost.

After all, over the past several days, they had suffered far too greatly at her hands.

Those she had defeated and killed were not ordinary individuals. They were the elites among the million, renowned champions and leaders. Every one of them had numerous friends, powerful backers, and loyal subordinates.

This time, Lily had truly made enemies of every powerful figure present.

“Everyone!” Kiyoshi’s aura exploded outward as he roared, “No matter what has happened, this Celestial Demon Assembly was convened by me, Ashikaga Kiyoshi! I pledged my samurai honor that every participant would receive fair treatment! If you defeat Miss Lily through such disgraceful means, it will become the greatest shame of my life!”

Although Kiyoshi’s aura was overwhelming, faced with the wrath of a million gods and demons, who still feared him?

Facing the furious crowd, Kiyoshi roared again, “Please… wait! Such tremendous losses have occurred, and as the host of this gathering, I bear undeniable responsibility! Give me one chance! I, Ashikaga Kiyoshi, will give all of you an answer!”

As he spoke, Kiyoshi drew a katana radiating endless darkness. It was a supreme Dotsu Artifact.

“Miss Lily, I carry three hundred Oborozuki souls upon me. Let me become your final challenger!” Kiyoshi’s hair billowed wildly as his burning eyes shone with absolute sincerity and unwavering resolve, just as they had when he had once been prepared to lay down his life for Lily.

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