CHAPTER 69 – THE BURNING HONGANJI TEMPLE

The Uesugi cavalrywomen and Tsunaga sisters were utterly powerless in front of the tide of demons charging towards Honganji Temple.

A horde of demons with reddish black manes breathed fire on the temple hidden within the darkness, giving rise to explosions. The demons blasted through the defenses of the samurai women and lit fires everywhere in the old temple.

The fires illuminated Lily’s beautiful face.

“Just surrender, Kagami Lily. Valor and fighting spirit are no use in front of overwhelming strength. Although you are an amazing woman, you are still not strong enough to protect your beauty. The more you stand out, the more disaster befalls you! Hahaha!” Ibaraki’s expression morphed under the illumination of the fires.

Lily clenched her blade’s hilt tightly. The fact that Kimiko had not come to save her meant that her call for help had not reached her. After all, no matter how strong Kimiko was, she was still not one of the gods.

Lily feared that she had no way out of her current situation. However, that did not mean she was willing to surrender to Shuten and let him violate her.

“I know what you are thinking, Kagami Lily. You’re planning to fight to the last stand instead of surrendering, right? You deserve praise for that. You’re just like a certain sister of yours,” Ibaraki said suddenly.
“What?!”
“Let me show someone to you.”

Ibaraki waved his hand and made the transmission orb levitate in front of him. Lily raised her head and saw the image inside the orb. The orb showed a dark cave where demons raged and howled.

The image moved upwards slowly, making it clear that someone was controlling it on the other side. A pair of fair feet restricted by crude iron chains came into view next.

“No!” Lily blanked out. A mere look at these feet was enough for her to realize what Ibaraki had meant.

The image in the orb moved upwards again, and showed the chain-bound chest of a powerless silver-haired woman.

Rei, who Lily had always considered invincible and treated as an unparalleled war goddess, had blood leaking from her lips right now, and was being suspended in the cave by the chains that restrained her limbs.

The image in the orb zoomed out suddenly and showed the howling demons underneath the suspended Rei.

“Sister Uesugi! Sister Uesugi!” Lily reached out towards the orb desperately even though there was no meaning in that. However, the orb moved farther from her and returned to Ibaraki’s hands immediately.

“How dare you chain Sister Uesugi1?!” Lily almost broke down. “Return her to me! I won’t allow you to hurt her!”

“Hahaha!” Ibaraki chuckled, “Neither the court nor your most beloved person can save you now! You have no choice but to surrender in front of Lord Shuten’s incredible power and strategy, woman! Uesugi Rei has already fallen into the lord’s hands now, so despair is all that awaits you! You better surrender now!”

Lily lowered her head and remained silent for a long time, her beautiful hair covering her expression.

They’ve really caught Sister Uesugi.

There was already nowhere left for Lily to retreat now, so Ibaraki just looked at her with interest on his spectral hand.

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“Airi, Ijuin.” Lily did not sound as desperate as Ibaraki expected her to sound and sounded as calm as ever as she spoke in a low-pitched, absolute tone.

“Take the surviving sisters with you and retreat from the hidden tunnel right away.”
“Huh? What are you saying, Lily? The monsters aren’t going to just stand back and watch us escape, you know?” Ijuin asked puzzledly.
“I’ll stop the monsters.”

Lily kept her head lowered, her long hair making it hard to see the expression on her face.

“Huh?”
“That’s just impossible, Lily. You aren’t Ibaraki’s match!” Airi said worriedly.
“Yes, Lily. Do you think we are the same as those men from the court? We shall die in battle together even if death’s the only outcome left!” Ijuin said straightforwardly.

“Shut up!” Lily raised her head suddenly, her hair flinging back as she pushed the pair back. “Just listen to me. I don’t want to hear what you have to say. Take everyone and escape from here right now!”

“But it’s impossible even for you to stop—”

“Just go!” Lily screamed almost hysterically. Although her voice sounded hysterical, it carried an unbendable resolve in it and awed all the sisters present in Honganji Temple.

Airi and Ijuin arrived at the same conclusion at this moment and nodded blankly before looking at each other. “Let’s go.”

Ijuin shouted loudly, “Follow me, sisters!”

Many of the Tsunaga sisters and the Uesugi cavalrywomen were still at a loss about what to do right now.

Airi also followed after Ijuin and ordered, “Do you still consider yourselves cavalrywomen of the Uesugi clan? If so, obey the order you’ve received.”

The cavalrywomen and Tsunaga sisters were all shaken up by the incredible resolve contained within Lily’s voice. It was almost as if they had lost the ability to think, so they followed the orders they received obediently and retreated inside the temple one after the other.

“Thinking of leaving? It won’t be that easy!”
“You are our spoils of war!”

The demons leaped onto the temple’s steps and rushed towards the sisters.

Lily swung the blade in her hand and launched a crimson sword beam towards the demons rushing towards the girls, killing dozens of them in one go.

“Just stop resisting!” Ibaraki raised the purple glowing blade in his hand and infused it with terrifying power.

Boom!

Lily spread her legs and leaned forward before swinging her crimson sleeve wide.

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An ancient formation appeared on the ground the next moment, and the several meter tall avatar of Mita, the Racoon Dog Deity, appeared in front of her along with a cloud of smoke.

The raccoon dog avatars hiding within the temple changed into streams of light and flew towards Mita immediately afterward, fusing with Mita’s avatar.

The aura of Mita’s avatar soared up, and he jumped up onto the magic cloud formed from the spell formation with a staff in his hand before shooting towards Ibaraki.

“It’s no use! A mere trick isn’t enough to defeat me!”

Ibaraki slashed at Mita’s avatar.

Boom!

Ibaraki’s staff collided with Ibaraki’s blade, the resulting force sending the weaker monsters and those climbing the cliff flying away.

The fusion with the six small racoon dogs had made Mita’s avatar stronger than before, so even though he was at a disadvantage, he was still able to hold his fort against Ibaraki’s attacks for now.

“What?!” Even Ibaraki was stunned by this.
“Grab those women! They are our slaves!” Kamaki ordered the demons.

The demons howled once again and charged towards the women.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A series of sword beams shot towards the charging monsters, though, and turned them into corpses immediately, killing more than a hundred demons.

“Let’s see what tricks you still have left, Kagami Lily!” Kamaki’s body gigantified into a nearly ten meter tall demonic size as he strode towards the temple and dashed towards Lily.

“Watch out, Lily!” Ijuin shouted from inside the temple right after entering it.

Lily still had her head lowered and did not seem to notice Kamaki, though. The gigantic Kamaki stabilized his footing after arriving in front of Lily and clawed at her with all his strength.

Lily still remained unmoved.

“Lily!” Airi and Ijuin shouted simultaneously.

“You’re mine, woman!”

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Splurt.

A purplish crescent moon flashed by as Lily unleashed a full-strength strike that was comparable to that of a peak-stage Throned Sovereign, and Kamaki’s gigantic hand got severed clean like the smooth surface of a mirror.

“What?!” Kamaki’s eyes widened.

Lily jumped up suddenly and flung her hair back as she performed a half-spin, launching a powerful kick infused with the power of the Purple Moon at him. Kamaki’s ten meter tall figure was sent flying as a result of the kick, and his chest caved in, leaving him with several broken ribs as he fell down the cliff.

“What?!”

The demons were all shocked by this scene as Kamaki’s strength was second only to Ibaraki, their commander, and was a late stage Throned Sovereign level archdemon who could use the demon god gigantification. However, Lily had sent the gigantified Kamaki flying with just her physical strength.

The kick has shocked all the demons surrounding the temple and made them stop in their tracks momentarily.

The Uesugi cavalrywomen and the Tsunaga sisters had already retreated into the temple by now and were fleeing towards the hidden passage. Even Ijuin and Airi, who were standing at the temple’s entrance with clenched fists, felt shocked by the sight.

“Let’s go.”

They knew that they would be letting down Lily’s resolve if they stayed behind no matter how this battle ended2.

The pair looked at Lily’s poignant back with grief and withdrew into the temple as well, wasting no time to flee towards the hidden passage.

Mita’s avatar had already begun battling Ibaraki in the sky now. The avatar was much weaker than him, but he still did his best to hinder him since he did not fear death. However, it did not take long for him to exhaust his strength.

Boom!

Ibaraki sent Mita’s avatar crashing down towards the gates of the temple with a slap from his spectral hand, and the six small racoon dogs unfused from him, falling on all sides in an injured state.

“It’s best if you give up now, Kagami Lily!” Ibaraki descended down and charged towards Lily with a group of demons, blowing a gust of wind towards her and the Mita avatar with a wave of his spectral hand.

Lily stabbed Yasutsuna into the ground to resist the wind force, but it still tore open her sleeves. Mita’s avatar was also unable to stand up because of the wind and the small raccoon dogs were also sent flying up, each one of them crashing onto the steps of the temple.

“Do you have any tricks left, Kagami Lily? The only reason I haven’t launched a deadly attack yet is because I don’t want to harm your beautiful body. Don’t make me run out of patience now! Kneel before me and surrender now!” Ibaraki approached her with a group of demons following behind him.

Lily stood up with much difficulty and told the injured Mita avatar, “I’m sorry to ask this, Mr. Mita, but can you buy me some more time?”

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Although Mita’s avatar could not speak, he still opened his eyes wide and heaved his body up while holding his wooden staff in front of the burning Honganji Temple before nodding firmly.

The six small racoon dogs also transformed into blade weapons and lined up above the temple’s steps. They showed no fear even when facing an endless horde of demons, their naïve eyes filling with the firm resolve to protect their master even if they were to perish today.

Lilly clenched her blade’s hilt and turned around, grabbing her torn kimono before throwing it into the flames, making them illuminate her white yukata-clad body as she glanced back with contempt and entered the burning Honganji Temple.

References

Robinxen: Exactly!Robinxen: I’m glad they’re not idiots.