Demon Sword Maiden

If she were forced to make Rinne take action here, it would be an utterly disadvantageous situation, one that might even trigger a chain reaction beyond Lily’s ability to control.

One wrong move, and everything would collapse!

But Lily had her own limits, and Rinne would never respect her if she allowed others to trample those limits.

However, the Maiden’s Ensnaring Collar restrained her far more than she had anticipated.

And precisely because of that, she found herself truly cornered, no longer pretending to be interrogated but enduring genuine torment. In that series of humiliations, Lily experienced real shame and degradation.

Bound together with Bishamonten, she could even sense the goddess’ emotions through their shared suffering.

This ordeal tormented Lily, yet it also pushed her Charm True Intent to unprecedented intensity. With the resonant waves of the goddess’ divinity mingling so closely with her own, Lily’s spirit crossed a threshold. At that extreme moment, she grasped a new layer of understanding in the Charm Heavenly Path.

When she and Bishamonten were being struck from both sides, Lily’s Charm Heavenly Path broke through, reaching the sixth stage.

That was the critical point, the level at which her remaining power could finally overcome the collar’s suppression.

Using the sixth stage of Charm Heavenly Path in concert with her Domain World and the Blood Lunar Force, she unlocked the collar from within. The Blood Lunar Force could unravel the sealing enchantment once her overall resistance exceeded the spiritual threshold. After that, the only thing left was a lock made of ordinary spirit-grade material, which her Domain World could easily destroy.

Without the sixth stage of Charm Heavenly Path, her overall might would have been insufficient to resist the collar. Without the Blood Lunar Force, she would have been unable to break the lock’s spellwork, and brute force alone would have left her still sealed.

Possessing these combined techniques, Lily shattered the collar’s restraint with minimal power.

Next, Lily materialized a dagger in her hand and pressed it against Furaku’s waist from behind. It was not her main weapon, yet fully unleashed, it was sharp enough to pierce Furaku’s Spirit Palace. Even for a Supreme God like her, being stabbed there would inflict devastating harm.

At that moment, Lily was shocked to find that Furaku’s strength, after being collared, had plummeted to less than a tenth of its original level. Though she fared slightly better than Lily had under the collar, she too was severely weakened by it.

A look of contempt crossed Lily’s face. So this was the so-called master interrogator? Deep down, she was nothing more than a lowly woman.

“Hand over the key to Lady Bishamonten’s shackles,” Lily said coldly, her tone brimming with killing intent.

Furaku immediately understood she was not joking. If she refused, she would pay dearly.

Her entire life’s pursuit lay in her training, and she still had great expectations for her future growth. If her Spirit Palace were damaged here, her progress would be crippled forever, a fate she feared most.

“Wait! Don’t harm my Spirit Palace!” Sweat dripped from her forehead, her flushed face trembling. “Miss Lily, please, let’s talk about this peacefully…”

“What’s there to talk about? Don’t waste time. If you dare alert anyone outside, I’ll make you regret it.”

Lily’s tone made Furaku shudder. Only moments ago, she had seemed helpless and pitiful, yet now she radiated such fierce dominance that Furaku was stunned. This girl truly had two utterly different sides.

Though unwilling to yield to someone who had just been groaning under her punishment, Furaku knew neither Bishamonten nor Takamagahara mattered to her. She was only here for treasure and merit, no reason to risk her life for their sake.

“Don’t be so forceful… Miss Lily, the key is in my storage anklet. Release me and I’ll hand it to you.”

“So it was with you,” Lily said. She had not been certain the key was on Furaku; trying to forcibly destroy Bishamonten’s shackles without the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi would have been nearly impossible and might have triggered the prison’s formation.

“No need for you to move. I’ll get it myself.” Lily crouched down, flipped up Furaku’s skirt, seized her slender ankle, and drew out her foot from the shoe, forcing her leg straight as she removed the anklet. “Everyone else keeps their storage treasures on their hands, yet you wear yours on your foot? Are you some kind of pervert?”

“Kagami Lily, what are you doing?! You want the key, fine! Bishamonten is Takamagahara’s prisoner anyway! But why are you taking my treasure?!” Furaku protested, panic rising.

Ignoring her, Lily searched Furaku’s body thoroughly, taking all the hidden storage treasures she found.

“Give them back! Return them to me! If you dare take my belongings, I won’t forgive you! I’ll call Ame-no-Tajikarao here, we’ll both perish together if I must!” Furaku cried out in desperation.

“Shut up, you filthy woman! You think I’d fancy your trinkets? I’m only checking for anything useful. The rest, you can have back later.”

“You—you can only take the key! Don’t touch anything else!”

¹

“Silence!”

Lily grabbed a rope from the floor and swiftly bound Furaku’s wrists and bent knees together, forcing her into a humiliating posture, tightly restrained.

Then Lily tore off a strip of white silk lining from the inner side of her own skirt, infused it with her Charm Heavenly Path, and tied it firmly over Furaku’s mouth, knotting it behind her head.

Furaku tried to struggle. Earlier, because they only wanted the key, she had not resisted; but now that Lily was rummaging through her treasures, she fought as if her life depended on it.

“You b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲! You sold yourself to demons, and I killed the ones who took you. Instead of gratitude, you go on tormenting other women, even Lady Bishamonten herself! Know your place!” Lily spat.

As she spoke, Lily caught the motion of Furaku’s upturned hand, slipped past it, and snatched the jet-black artifact from her grasp. In one swift motion, she lifted Furaku’s skirt, brushed aside the folds of fabric, and without hesitation, turned the artifact against its former master.

“As a woman, you used such a device to torment other girls. Don’t you think that’s too much? Today, you’ll taste the power of your own favorite toy.”

“Ugh—!” Furaku’s reaction was beyond description.

Lily ignored her, placing a foot firmly on her back before beginning to inspect Furaku’s treasures.

“Hmph, all worthless trinkets. No wonder you’re so desperate for treasure. I’ve never seen a Supreme God this miserably poor.”

Furaku’s face flushed deep red. Her greatest insecurity was her lack of treasures, and to be called poor so casually humiliated her beyond words. Tears welled in her eyes, burning with shame.

But Lily felt no sympathy. This woman had tried to use that jet-black artifact on her, she had crossed the line. And Lily was not someone who forgave such things.

“Trash. Trash! It’s all trash!” Lily threw piles of useless items onto the ground before Furaku. Those items had been precious to Furaku, yet hearing them scorned as garbage was like being cursed herself. Her shame deepened.

In the end, Lily only picked out a few items, including the black paddle, and some secret techniques. The rest she left scattered across the floor, not even bothering to collect them. She tossed the remaining storage trinkets casually toward the wall; if they rolled into cracks between the stones, that would simply be Furaku’s bad luck.

Holding the ring of keys in her hand, Lily tossed her hair back, looking down at Furaku with open contempt.

“I’ll let you live for now. As for your final judgment, that will be up to Lady Bishamonten.” With that, she stepped lightly yet firmly on the other end of the jet-black artifact.

The sudden pressure and threat to her life sent a wave of unbearable shock through Furaku’s body. Her vision blurred, and she nearly fainted.

Lily ignored her completely and turned toward Bishamonten. She began unlocking the chains one by one.

Bishamonten felt the bindings that had shackled her for countless years suddenly release. Her body, unaccustomed to freedom, swayed as she lost her balance and fell forward. Lily quickly caught her.

“Lady Bishamonten, are you all right?”

Bishamonten steadied herself with Lily’s support and stood upright. Her silver hair shimmered like flowing waves, and her eyes brimmed with emotions too complex for words.

“Lily… you saved me. I thought I would never… I had almost given up hope. I was only waiting for the moment to make my final decision, to self-destruct my divinity and perish together with Yuten Castle. But their formations and those cursed shackles… they wouldn’t even let me end my life. I wanted death, but even that was denied to me…”

Even this strong, the mature goddess could not stop her tears from falling.

“Lily!” she cried, and without hesitation, threw her arms around her, holding her tightly, so tightly that Lily could feel the goddess tremble.

The power of a Supreme God was immense; killing them was nearly impossible, and even self-destruction required an extraordinary effort.

That was the cruelest and most humiliating part of Bishamonten’s imprisonment. “Lily… thank you. You don’t know how it felt, all these years… No matter how they tortured me, I couldn’t choose death. I couldn’t even die… uuuu…”

“Lady Bishamonten…” Lily could feel the sorrow flowing through her. Through the closeness of their bodies, she sensed their Silver Lunar Forces intertwine, soothing and warming each other. Lily allowed Bishamonten to hold her tightly, even let the goddess’ trembling hand rest around her waist.

But after a while, Lily began to feel uneasy. It wasn’t Bishamonten’s fault, it was hers. After all, Bishamonten was Uesugi Rei’s mother. Earlier, when they had been bound together, she had no choice but to endure it. And just now, Bishamonten’s emotions had been too intense; Lily had let her embrace her for comfort. Yet if this went on any longer, it would be improper.

Bishamonten might not know Lily’s relationship with Rei, but Lily certainly did. And besides, this was hardly the time to dwell on such thoughts.

Lily gently pushed Bishamonten away and said softly, “Lady Bishamonten, it’s too soon to speak of rescue. We’re still trapped within the prison of Yuten Castle.”

Bishamonten finally came to her senses. Though reluctant, she let Lily pull away. Her gaze turned toward Furaku—still kneeling on the ground, her body trembling, humiliated beyond words beneath the punishment of her own artifact.

Footnotes:

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   Syl: Y’know… even I’m starting to feel bad for her now…