Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 12 - Yomi-no-kuni: Chapter 240 - Lily’s Decision

“Sister Lily, are they really conspiring with demonkind to harm Lady Bishamonten? Why would they do that? Aren’t they celestial maidens?” Ryuen clutched Lily’s sleeve, her eyes wide with terror.

“Sister… what exactly happened to Bishamonten? What will happen to my sisters? What about Murasakiyo? That place is Takamagahara, isn’t it? Isn’t that the land we’ve revered since childhood, the place we trained for, competed for, and endured trials just to reach one day?”

“Ryuen, calm down!” Lily said firmly. Then suddenly, something struck her mind.

According to what Ryuen described, the so-called wife of Lord Shikikai should have already departed for Takamagahara with the celestial maidens several days ago. Still, Lily held onto a sliver of hope.

“Sister Shimizu, can you sense anything? Are those celestial maidens still within the Hekiraku Realm? If we can intercept them before they ascend, we still have a chance!”

Shimizu shook her head. “I’ve already pushed my senses to the limit just now. Within the range I can detect, I found no trace of any celestial maidens, or any Supreme God demoness.”

“Mama…” Lily turned a pleading gaze toward Izanami.

But unlike Lily and the others, Izanami appeared calm and unaffected by their growing panic. She gently shook her head. “Lily, the realm outside this door is the Hekiraku Realm, which belongs to this Shimizu girl. Only she can fully perceive its spatial fluctuations.”

The implication was clear, although Shimizu had reclaimed her original body, she hadn’t yet had the time to relearn many of the Supreme God secret arts or restore her former insights. She couldn’t yet monitor the realm in full.

“Please, Sister Lily, save my sisters… save Murasakiyo…” Ryuen continued her quiet, tearful plea.

In a shadowed corner of the room, Rei still knelt under the invisible pressure Izanami had placed on her. Apart from the name “Bishamonten,” the rest of Ryuen’s frantic voice faded into a murmur. Yet inside her heart, Rei felt the sting of icy resolve and a blaze of blue fire.

Though her mother had left her long ago, to Rei, she remained an irreplaceable figure more precious than life itself. For the sake of vengeance, Rei had once allowed herself to be captured, infiltrating Mount Ooe to assassinate Shuten Doji. She had been ready to die without regret.

And now, out of nowhere, she had heard her mother’s name once more.

She had long heard the rumors that Bishamonten had been captured and taken to Takamagahara, but those had remained just distant myths. To Rei back then, Takamagahara was an unreachable place, and she had convinced herself that her mother had likely perished.

But today, she’d heard something terrifying, some demon’s wife was on her way to Takamagahara to interrogate Bishamonten? Did that mean… her mother had been alive all this time? Held captive all these years?

Rei clenched her fists, heart still racing from her earlier outburst. But who could’ve stayed composed after hearing that?

“Lily… what’s going on? Are you hiding something from me?” Rei asked quietly.

“Sister Uesugi,” Lily replied gently, “that woman Ryuen mentioned, this so-called wife of Lord Shikikai, her husband was the vile man that Sister Shimizu and I killed during the Hekiraku battle: Lord Shikikai himself. We never imagined he had a wife, much less one even more skilled in torment…”

Lily sat down beside Rei, took her hand, and continued softly, “I shouldn’t have kept it from you. Please, let me explain everything.”

She proceeded to tell Rei and the other sisters everything, how they had learned of Bishamonten’s situation in Hekiraku Realm, how she and Shimizu infiltrated Lord Shikikai’s stronghold, and how they had finally slain him. She withheld only one detail: the fact that their mission had been ordered by Rinne.

Back when Izanami entered Hekiraku City with them, Rinne had sent Lily a telepathic message: “Lily, you don’t need to actively hide my existence from the Madam of Yomi, but unless she specifically asks, don’t bring me up either.”

Thus, in front of Izanami, Lily had omitted that part. Not because she intended to deceive her adoptive mother—after all, she now called her “Mama” and owed Izanami her life—but because if the truth later came out, she might suffer another of Izanami’s fearsome punishments. Still, she trusted that Rinne had her reasons for secrecy.

So long as Izanami didn’t ask, Lily reasoned, she wasn’t exactly lying.

Everything else, she told Rei and her sisters in full detail.

“Bishamonten… Mother…” Rei listened to everything in stunned silence. Her violet-blue eyes were frozen like ice.

“I’m sorry, Sister. I shouldn’t have kept it from you. You were the one who deserved to know the truth most of all…” Lily’s heart brimmed with guilt.

“No, Lily,” Rei replied, unexpectedly composed. She forced a gentle look at Lily. “To be fair, you did the right thing. At that time, even if you’d told me, it wouldn’t have changed anything. I wouldn’t blame you. My strength… wasn’t enough. Even if I had known then, what could I have done?”

Rei lowered her head with a bitter smile, shaking it slightly in resignation.

Lily felt her chest tighten. She remembered that once bold and radiant warrior, dancing across rooftops in the moonlight, blade gleaming as she slew demons. And now, Uesugi Rei sat in dismay, her spirit dimmed. Lily ached to comfort her, to pull her into a warm embrace and press Rei’s cool cheek to her own chest, perhaps to restore some measure of strength. But she knew: any such consolation might only deepen the wound for someone as strong and proud as Rei, who so rarely revealed her true heart.

Instead, Lily simply said, “Mama, could you release the restraint on Sister Uesugi?”

Ryuen remained emotionally unsettled. The very goddess she had revered as the guardian of all swordmaiden was suffering in captivity. Her younger sister Murasakiyo and her entire tribe had been captured. Her world had begun to collapse. For her to come here at all, risking her life to bring word, was already the limit of her strength.

Lily instructed Nanako to help Ryuen rest. Then she gathered with the Madam and her sisters in the great hall of Herikaku City to discuss what would come next.

As always, the Madam sat in the central seat of honor, while Lily knelt to one side. The others sat in two rows flanking the hall. Candlelight flickered against the dark stone walls, casting shadows and a heavy atmosphere.

“According to Miss Ryuen,” Lily began, “those Celestial Maidens were the same ones who previously lured members of the Shizutake Tribe into the hands of Lord Shikikai. Their leader is named Riyuki, a court-serving Celestial Maiden. Knowing Shimizu’s strength, they surely wouldn’t have lingered in the Hekiraku Realm. It’s almost certain that they’ve already escorted the demoness, Lord Shikikai’s so-called wife, back to Takamagahara.”

“Takamagahara…” The word itself stirred complex emotions among the sisters. For each of them, it carried deep and personal weight.

“I simply don’t understand,” said Asura-Onna. “Bishamonten was one of Takamagahara’s most important goddesses, a symbol of the Celestial Battle Maidens. Why would they list her as one of the most wanted for over a thousand years? She was even at the top of the list for a time! She led the battle maidens into battle for them. What are those celestial deities thinking? It’s like cutting off their own sword arm!”

Queen Kaguya and Chiya wore heavy expressions.

“Your Highness Asura-Onna,” Kaguya said quietly, “Takamagahara today is not what it once was.”

“What’s really going on up there?” murmured Ayaka, gazing through the veils of rising mist beyond the edge of Herikaku City. “Even the mortal world is being swallowed by darkness…”

All eyes turned to Izanami.

The Madam’s gaze stretched far into the distance, as if measuring something beyond the horizon. She held her long pipe, smoke curling in lazy spirals. After a long silence, her eyes flickered. “This chill of the Boundless Abyss… truly unpleasant.”

Without answering their concerns, Izanami rose and looked at Lily.

“Lily, the decisions ahead are yours to make. Once you’ve decided, come tell me.” With that, she flicked her sleeve and departed, leaving the sisters to their confusion.

“Madam…” Rakshasa-Onna murmured as she watched Izanami vanish into the shadows of the corridor, a look of uncertainty on her face.

All eyes turned to Lily, some seeking guidance, others filled with concern or debate. Only Rei remained silent.

She understood more clearly than anyone: What could she say? She was just a warrior of the Big Dipper Stage. Even if her mother had been captured by the gods of Takamagahara, what right did she have to ask others to storm the heavens on her behalf? That place was the seat of the celestial gods, rulers of all realms. Her mother had been declared a criminal by them. Could she really ask her sisters to risk their lives in open defiance?

Rei was not the kind of person to endanger others for her personal cause.

She stood up suddenly. “Everyone… I’ll take a walk.” With those words, she turned toward the veranda and began walking toward the vast abyss beyond.

“Sister Uesugi, where are you going?” Lily called after her.

Rei answered with a calm smile, “Nowhere. Just to get some air.”

Yet beneath the moonlight, that calm, indifferent profile struck deep into Lily’s heart. Because Rei was precisely the kind of woman who appeared the calmest when bearing the heaviest burdens.

“Sister, please wait,” Lily called again, her voice steady and resolute.

“Hm?” Rei turned and looked at her.

Lily gave a small nod, her eyes shining with unwavering resolve. She stepped forward, walked straight to Rei, and took her hand. She summoned the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, pressing the sheathed blade into Rei’s hands, both of them holding it together.

Lily looked into her eyes and said firmly, “Sister Uesugi, wherever you intend to go, come with me first. Let’s do one thing, together.”

“Eh?” Rei, usually so composed and unyielding, blinked in surprise.

Lily held tight to her hand, just as they had when facing Yamata-no-Orochi together. She turned to the others, and her usually gentle voice rang with clear conviction, “Sisters—whether it’s the Abyss of Yomi or the high heavens of Takamagahara, I don’t care what came before or what comes next. That demoness claiming to be the wife of Lord Shikikai wants to torture and torment Lady Bishamonten… I will not allow it!”

Lily took Rei’s hand and stepped boldly to the center of the hall. Her long hair swayed as she lifted her chin high, the silver flame of determination burning in her eyes. “Come with me—to Takamagahara. We’ll rescue Bishamonten.”