CHAPTER 18 – CRISIS RESPONSE

As she sat on the ground, still feeling the sadness of having to fight a lethal duel against such an amazing samurai, a sudden sense of dizziness hit her.

For an adept of her level, such dizziness was strange, much less a strong enough one to tilt her off balance while sitting. Lily was quite confused, she wasn’t injured, where was this coming from?

“What’s with me? Why do I feel so powerless…” Lily silently wondered.

Did the violet lunar energy overdraw her reserves? That didn’t seem too possible.

By her estimates, her last attack was struck with her full might and violet lunar energy. This strike should be comparable to a late-stage throned sovereign’s mighty blow.

Though it was only half a level superior to Yaiba, the further one practiced, the greater the difference in power between stages.

That blow had almost emptied her spirit power reserves.

“Nn!?” Suddenly she felt some changes within her spirit palace. The stars and moon above her spirit ocean dimmed, especially her violet moon, it only emitted a weak light almost imperceptible in the night sky above her spirit ocean.

However, as Lily absorbed magatamas and anima, the stars and moon above her spirit ocean recovered extremely slowly.

She estimated that with this speed, even after her spirit power reserves fully recovered, the light would not have. She could not estimate how long it would take to recover.

“Master, are you alright?” Kagura rushed over, Kiyoko who recovered also ran over.
“Miss Lily, you, are you fine?”
“Kagura, help me up.”

Kagura and Kiyoko helped Lily stand up.

“Miss Kiyoko, right now, use the side roads to immediately descend the mountain, ignore everything and get back to Heian-kyo!”

“Eh?” Kiyoko was bewildered.

Lily looked at that ruined shrine and battlefield, “Kiyoko, you should have seen what happened, the Fujiwara clan’s important ministers and the son of the Imperial Chancellor have all died. Do you really think you can still stay here safely?”

“Miss Lily, don’t worry, I will handle the cleanup. You should leave, you only got involved to save me, I will definitely not implicate you!” Kiyoko resolutely replied.

“This is not a matter of implicating or not, Kiyoko, don’t you understand? You already know the secret of them trying to trap Lady Ayaka. Shrine Master or not, they will not spare you, you’re in the most danger here! Before those at the bottom of the mountain arrive, you should quickly descend through the side roads. That teleportation array is too risky, I think you will have to travel back on foot. The road is dangerous, I will have Kagura accompany you, keep your path a secret and you should be safe!”

They could see lights and noises coming from the main road, it was obvious the people at the bottom of the mountain were already rushing to the shrine, whether they were enemies or friendlies was unknown, but it wasn’t necessary to know.

“But, what about Miss Lily? What about you? Can’t we go together?”
“I have a destination I must go to, I cannot return for the moment.”
“Master…If I’m not by your side…” Kagura was very worried.
“Kagura, I still have Yuki-onna by my side, and I’m not that helpless, help me protect Kiyoko! Take her safely to the Chief Advisor’s mansion, do not relax before getting there!”

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“…I understand master.” Though Kagura worried, in such an emergency, she chose to believe and obey.

“Miss Lily…you’re very strong, but your condition…it’s worrying, we should return together…” Kiyoko didn’t want to separate with Lily and could not hold back her concern.

But the people below had almost reached the mountaintop.

“Quickly leave! Kiyoko, I do not need your worry.”
“But…Miss Lily, what you have said might be correct, but I have a feeling there may be unimaginable dangers where you plan on going. We should return together!”
“There’s no time! Go!”
“But, Miss Lily…”

Lily grabbed Kiyoko and spun her around, before heavily slapping a spirit energy-covered palm against her perk rear.

“Obediently return to Heian-kyo! Do you not want to aid Lady Ayaka!?” In this emergency, Lily no longer cared and gave a stern command.

Kiyoko held her stinging rear, she had never been spanked in her life. To think Lily would be her first…

“Lady Ayaka…I…I understand!” Lily’s spank had woken her up, what she had witnessed could become a weapon or aid to help Ayaka punish those who would dare harm her. She would become a useful woman for Lady Ayaka! She understood she would become involved in the chaos and mess of this world!

“For Lady Ayaka…” Kiyoko’s eyes hardened with determination! “Miss Lily, I will wait for you in Heian-kyo. Do not forget…what you promised me…”

A light crimson blush covered Kiyoko’s strong, intelligent face. Lily’s chest heaved as she gulped, she didn’t reply, only nodded.

There was no time to pack, Kiyoko turned and ran towards the side road with Kagura.

“Master, the sakura parasol!”

Lily received the parasol Kagura threw without hesitation.

Kagura could be counted as half of a throne realm adept, as long as they covered their tracks, they should be safe, also, Kiyoko wasn’t exactly weak either.

The Imperial Chancellor would not treat Kiyoko as a serious opponent to eliminate, nor would a person send a real powerhouse to chase Kiyoko down. Therefore, the sakura parasol should do more good in Lily’s hands.

Watching Kiyoko and Kagura quickly travel down the mountain, Lily let out a sigh of relief.

A light shone as someone reached the mountaintop with a torch.

Quickly reacting, Lily quickly jumped off the cliff and into the forest below. She could hear the screams and exclamations.

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“Lord Shigeyuki, Lord Shigeyuki was killed!”
“Not good! The Imperial Chancellor’s young lord was…”

A few dozen meters below the cliff was a densely forested hillside. Perching on a large tree, it was easy to jump onto the hillside.

Detouring behind the tree, no one would be able to discover her on such a shadowed hillside. Only then did she allow herself to collapse powerlessly against the tree.

Concerned, she started to sense her physical condition. Deep within her spirit palace, there was still no starlight or moonlight, looks like it really would take a lot of time to recover.

She needed to find a safe place to recover.

With her violet moon dark and silent, her strength was limited to what she had just before she broke through to the permanence level. The lunar true intent was still there, but her body was in a state of severe overdraft.

As a whole, it seemed as if she had the power of a mid-staged throned general. As long as she did not encounter a powerhouse sent by the Fujiwara clan, she should be invincible in this shrine.

Only, with her physical and spirit energies severely overdrawn, she would avoid combat if she could.

Pulling out the map and activating her domain, she confirmed her location.

“The Izumo mountain entrance is two hundred meters forward, but it’s only the outermost entrance, many people can travel there. On the top of the first mountain after entry, is the Izumo Mountain Giant Goddess Statue! Before going there, I must recover first.”

Though Lily had killed the Imperial Chancellor’s son, they were committing crimes and she was not afraid of being hunted.

Plus…she knew that the area around the Izumo Mountain Statue was a holy land controlled by the royal family. The Fujiwara clan would not dare use force there.

Lily planned on appearing below the statue to draw attention and prevent them from thinking she was traveling back to Heian-kyo and accidentally encountering Kiyoko.

Confirming the direction, Lily walked toward Izumo Mountain’s outer entrance. There was no road, it was nothing more than a steep bushy sloping path.

“Demon Hound!”

Summoning the giant white dog, she jumped onto its back before it swiftly left the shrine’s surroundings.

On the demon hound, Lily pulled out the voice transmission orb in an attempt to contact Ayaka. Only there was no reaction, the orb remained like an ordinary jade ball.

“Perhaps Lady Ayaka is busy, or in court…”

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Lily was not worried about Lady Ayaka encountering harm, afterall, the scroll of Ayaka’s weaknesses was still within her hands. If those people could deal with Ayaka, why would they bother to attempt to retrieve this scroll?

The Chief Advisor, one of the Imperial Courts three, no, it should be two top powerhouses. Though she didn’t know what sort of methods Ayaka had, she knew the forces under Ayaka were both numerous and powerful. Even amongst the Fujiwara and other noble clans her supporters existed, it was not just one big block of enemies.

To forcibly attack Ayaka in Heian-kyo was nothing more than a fantasy unless you possess the ability to completely destroy the Heian dynasty itself.

Though the cloistered emperor and royal family were not of one heart with Ayaka, they should not act against her. If the Chief Advisor was constrained, then there would no longer be any constraints against the shogun, that would not be good for the royal family.

“Exactly who is acting against Ayaka? And who gets the most benefit from it? Is it really only the Imperial Chancellor? If Ayaka was removed, he might think he could remove her, but the man sitting across from him would be the Heian-dynasty’s most unfathomable man, Minamoto no Yoritomo! Can he sit firmly in that position? How would the Imperial Chancellor dare? Therefore, he should be acting in concert with other forces!” Lily analyzed while putting away the orb.

After traveling a dozen miles away and confirming that she would not be pursued, she activated her domain and located a cliff with a clear pond below it.

Descending to the bottom of the cliff, she sat on a large stone beside the pond where she was illuminated by the moonlight.

With a thought, she summoned Yuki-onna.

“Miss Yuki-onna, I’m injured now, I need to circulate my spirit energy and recover my powers. Can you guard me for now?” Lily requested, after all, Yuki-onna did not consider herself to be Lily’s shikigami.

“Well, I saw what happened in the mirror. You look too pitiful, I’ll reluctantly help you out a bit.” the snow maiden in a long white dress replied.

Though Yuki-onna spoke with such a tone, she was trustworthy. Lily closed her eyes and felt the hazy moonlight shining on her.

The method of restoring her spirit energy was not something she needed to consider, but how should she go about restoring the light of her violet moon permanence spirit?

Although it was automatically recovering, the speed was just too slow.