Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 12 - Yomi-no-kuni: Chapter 222 - Dark Lunar Force

“Kagami Lily! You’re just a pretty-faced slave. How dare you appear here and throw yourself into death?”

Lightning flared from Wakarai’s spear as he lunged toward Lily. She spun around, unsheathing Oborozuki Muramasa in one swift motion, releasing a burst of crimson energy.

Crimson sword energy surged from her blade, infused with the fury of her Blood Lunar Force and the deep Resentment Energy born from years of oppression and humiliation in Yomi. All of it erupted in that single strike.

Her blade met his lightning spear, and a deafening blast tore through the darkness. Blinding arcs of lightning scattered as the crimson energy sliced through.

A crushing, razor-sharp force slammed into Wakarai, sending shockwaves through his body. “What?!” he gasped, staggered by a blow unlike anything he had endured in the past hundred thousand years. His bones felt as if they would splinter, and his muscles screamed in protest. Even his protective lightning aura flickered under the force. He had underestimated her. Unprepared, he took the strike head-on.

A fiery pain erupted in his chest. Blood surged up his throat, but he swallowed it down, refusing to show weakness. His organs were torn, his face swollen, and his eyes bloodshot with fury and humiliation.

But Wakarai was no ordinary demon. Arrogant even among Yomi’s Supreme Gods, he looked down on most of his peers. To bleed in front of a woman he once sought to dominate would be a disgrace beyond imagining. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed the pain, veins bulging as he flared his lightning energy to reassert control. He refused to falter.

He was fortunate the blow hadn’t landed dead center. If Lily’s Lunar Force, with its power to counter divine energy, had struck him directly, the damage could have been irreversible. Even so, he bore the brunt of it, silently channeling divine power to begin mending his internal injuries.

“Am I seeing things? That’s Wakarai, one of the eight thunder gods, locked in battle with her? Who is that woman in red?” A Big Dipper adept from Yomi stood on a nearby cliff, disbelief etched across his face.

“Isn’t she Kagami Lily, the Boundless Imperial Princess’ bride?” said a humanoid demon samurai beside him. “Wasn’t she just some harlot who seduced powerful men?”

“Kagami Lily? The fugitive from Takamagahara? I thought she was nothing more than a pretty face. People call her the most useless beauty in all three realms.”

“She may be the most beautiful, but she’s fighting Wakarai head-on. No tricks. Just raw strength.”

Around them, demon and human adepts alike stood frozen in awe, struggling to reconcile rumor with reality.

“Kagami… Lily?” muttered a gaunt spirit trailing behind a group of stronger warriors in the dark canyon. Clad in broken armor, he leaned on his weapon for support. He had only just entered the Throned Stage and lacked the strength to join the battle. Trembling, he climbed a rocky slope and stared into the distance at the warrior confronting Wakarai.

“Kagami Lily… Is it really her? Or are my eyes deceiving me?” he whispered. Once a mortal swordsman of great skill, he had died and fallen into Yomi, his expertise granting him a second life as a spirit warrior. Though weak, he had trained hard and risen to the rank of Throned General. Now, he wandered through a world where life had long lost its meaning.

Yet now, hearing her name, he remembered the gentle noblewoman who once visited his estate, clumsy with a blade, full of dreams. And now, that same woman stood tall in battle, cutting down demons like a goddess of war. She was no longer the girl he remembered. She had become something awe-inspiring.

A faint flame flickered once more within the weary samurai’s soul, reigniting with quiet but undeniable strength.

A long-healed wound ran across his stomach and dented chest plate, a remnant of a fatal blow from his past life, still etched into his spectral form.

In the midst of her battle with Wakarai, Lily suddenly sensed a faint, fleeting pulse of energy from beyond the sea of demons. It held an emotion… relief, perhaps even peace. But the sensation vanished almost as quickly as it came, drowned by the overwhelming tide of demonic energy. Still, something about it stirred a deep sense of nostalgia in her heart.

“No… Impossible! Kagami Lily, what have you consumed? How could you be this strong?” Wakarai shouted, finally stabilizing his bleeding. “It hasn’t even been that long since our last battle, and now you’re matching me in strength?”

“Matching?” Lily’s voice was cold, detached. She gave a soft scoff, unimpressed. Oborozuki Muramasa suddenly ignited with dark, flowing flames. Lily whispered, “Dark Moon.”

With a swift motion, the blade unleashed a stream of dark flames that surged upward, nearly invisible but filled with Eldritch and divine energy. The fire roared high, almost licking the heavens.

Wakarai’s eyes widened as the Dark Lunar flames erupted, overwhelming his lightning aura. Though not as forceful as Lily’s earlier strike, the energy was insidious. It clung to him, devouring his divine power from the inside. In an instant, his strength waned.

“This is your punishment for ever thinking you could humiliate me!” Lily’s voice cut through the chaos.

She knocked his spear aside with one fierce motion, then brought her sword down in a sweeping arc. A wave of Dark Lunar energy burst forth, blinding him with its intensity. “Agh!”

Wakarai raised his spear in defense, catching the brunt of the blow. The devouring force struck like a tidal wave, hurling him backwards. Divine blood seeped from his hands, arms, and shoulders as he struggled to hold onto his weapon.

He could hold it in no longer. A spurt of blood escaped his lips as he cried out. Despite blocking the blow, tendrils of Dark Lunar Force had seeped into his body, rampaging through him like wildfire. He channeled his divine energy in a desperate attempt to contain the damage, but his efforts proved futile. His wounds multiplied, and his power dwindled rapidly under the strain.

Though Wakarai now ruled as one of Yomi’s overlords, he had originally descended from Takamagahara ages ago, much like the Madam herself. In his past, he had been an Amatsukami Supreme God, embodying one of the nine divine aspects of thunder.

The Dark Lunar Force, however, was a natural bane to all Amatsukami, directly countering their celestial essence.

This power was originally bestowed by Tsukuyomi no Mikoto under Amaterasu’s divine authority, crafted to execute divine judgment upon Takamagahara itself.

“What… Wakarai, one of the Eight Thunder Gods, sent flying by a single blow from Kagami Lily? Am I hallucinating?” Lord Umashi muttered in disbelief, watching from a short distance away.

He had deliberately chosen not to intervene, fearing Wakarai might mistake his assistance as an attempt to steal the woman for himself. Yet to his astonishment, Wakarai had been overwhelmed in mere seconds. With only a single exchange, he was hurled through the air like a ragdoll, utterly defeated in less than a minute.