Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 13 - Takamagahara: Chapter 39 - Indomitable Spirit

Lily had lost consciousness for only a minute or two, but when she came to, she found herself tightly bound by a rough, dark-golden rope forged from the divine power of the Amatsukami. Several Heroic Gods of the Celestial Stage were pressing her to the ground with their massive hands.

With Lily’s strength, even bound hand and foot, she could have shaken them off had she truly tried. Yet behind her loomed the towering shadow of Ame-no-Tajikarao, so what meaning would there be in struggling now?

“Hahaha! We finally caught her!”

“This woman injured several of my brothers!”

“You b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲, how dare you kill my father-in-law!” roared a Heroic God whose whole body was chestnut-red and covered in dark auburn hair. As the son-in-law of the courtesan district’s union master, he glared at Lily with venomous fury.

“Strip her!”

“Yeah! With a body that strong, let’s see what she really looks like!”

Though Lily’s robes were already in tatters, those Heroic Gods showed no mercy, their rough hands reaching greedily to tear away the last of her garments.

“Enough! All of you, stop this!” The bellow of Ame-no-Tajikarao shook the air. He struck several of the ringleaders aside with slaps so heavy they sent each man flying. “How many times must I say this? No one is to defile a female captive! We are the Yuten Army, not bandits or beasts!”

Barely turning her head, Lily saw that Ame-no-Tajikarao’s face had returned to normal color. His eyes no longer gleamed with madness, and the markings crawling across his muscular frame had stilled.

She had already steeled herself upon awakening. Though she hated the thought, if the situation truly crossed the line of what she could endure, she would have to call upon Rinne for aid.

Lily’s plan, even if she couldn’t defeat Ame-no-Tajikarao, was to escape using tactics. Yet unexpectedly, the Great Imperial God’s formation, which hadn’t activated earlier, had suddenly sprung into action just moments ago.

Why had that divine formation not been used earlier to seize Bishamonten? One possible reason was fear— fear of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi in her hands.

Because it hadn’t been deployed then, Lily had dropped her guard, and this time, that moment of unpreparedness had led to her capture.

She had been ready to beg Rinne for help, for being caught by a mob of enraged Heroic Gods could only end horribly. Yet to her surprise, Ame-no-Tajikarao’s roar had halted them.

As he looked at Lily, bound tightly and covered in torn silk, his gaze was no longer savage but held an almost imperceptible guilt.

“What… what have I done?” Ame-no-Tajikarao muttered, taken aback at the sight of her fragile, pitiful figure.

“Lord Ame-no-Tajikarao!” cried one of the soldiers. “That woman wounded hundreds of our brothers and freed Bishamonten! She’s the mastermind behind this whole Celestial Maiden rebellion. She must not go unpunished!”

“Make her suffer! Otherwise our brothers’ blood is spilled for nothing!”

Ame-no-Tajikarao looked down at his hands, as if questioning their violence. “Why… why did I strike her with such force? Had her strength been any less, I might have killed her outright…”

Surrounded by the clamor of his troops, he hardened his expression and barked, “Kagami Lily! You are a wanted criminal of Takamagahara, yet you dared to walk into our grasp. Now that you are captured, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“Nothing,” Lily said firmly.

“You—! This b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲ dares speak to Lord Ame-no-Tajikarao like that?”

“My Lord, order her punishment! We, the hundred-thousand soldiers of the Yuten Army, won’t let one woman mock us!”

“Even if we shouldn’t violate a female prisoner, this one scorns us! She’s asking for death, how can we let her go unpunished?”

Their fury flared again, a storm of killing intent surging as if they might tear Lily apart at any moment.

Ame-no-Tajikarao’s brow furrowed. If he punished his subordinates to defend Lily, it would crush their morale; yet if he didn’t, they might rush to commit an even greater crime. He was on the edge of losing control of them all.

“Kagami Lily!” he growled, swinging his meteor hammer. Its chain coiled around Lily’s waist, pulling her up with him as he launched skyward.

“You freed Bishamonten, wounded countless of my soldiers, and slaughtered citizens of my domain. I shall personally interrogate you!” Ame-no-Tajikarao roared as he dragged the chained Lily high into the air toward the top of the fortress tower.

Below, the army erupted.

“My Lord! Punish that b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲ severely!”

“Let her witness your power!”

“Kill her!”

The Yuten soldiers howled like a tide of beasts. Only Hirotake stood in silence, his heart conflicted. Ame-no-Tajikarao had always forbidden the mistreatment of female prisoners. Why, then, was he now taking Lily for a personal interrogation?

With his power, any such “questioning” would surely leave Lily in a miserable state.

After all, Lily was an extraordinary woman— courageous, gifted, powerful beyond belief, and beautiful in her pride. Hirotake couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity. Yet she had chosen to rebel against Takamagahara; there was nothing to be done.

For Ame-no-Tajikarao himself to step forth, his might unquestionable, the Yuten Army was ablaze with excitement, eager to witness the proud Lily brought to ruin.

Yuko and Riyuki stood at a distance, watching the scene unfold. Riyuki’s emotions were conflicted. Lily, that peerless genius of her generation, was she truly about to be defiled by Ame-no-Tajikarao?

“We must report this to Tennin-Mikoto,” Yuko said coldly, shooting Riyuki a sharp glance before turning to leave. Only she seemed suspicious of Ame-no-Tajikarao’s intent toward Lily.

“Hmph, those fools of the Yuten Army,” she muttered as she disappeared into the crowd of soldiers. “Can’t they see it? That brute doesn’t have the heart to harm her… if not for—” Her voice trailed off into the din of the marching army.

High above Yuten Castle, in the upper halls of the fortress tower, Ame-no-Tajikarao dragged Lily into his grand hall.

He sat cross-legged upon the dais, his heavy frame exuding divine pressure. With a yank of the chain, he pulled Lily closer, the clinking metal echoing across the chamber.

His massive hand gripped the chain tightly, nearly lifting her off the floor as his rugged face glowered down at her. “Insolent fugitive, Kagami Lily! I tried time and again to spare you. If only you hadn’t aided Bishamonten’s escape! But you defied me, and now look at you. If I had captured her myself, you would’ve been charged merely as an accomplice. But now you alone bear all these crimes. Look at you, such a frail little girl! How could someone like you possibly shoulder such a burden?”

His booming voice filled the grand hall, divine might surging from his body like a storm wind that whipped Lily’s hair and tattered garments about. The entire hall trembled beneath his anger.

“Ame-no-Tajikarao, you have your military orders, and I have my principles,” Lily replied, her tone steady. “There’s nothing more to say. If abandoning Bishamonten and my sisters was the price of survival, I wouldn’t have come here to save them in the first place. That’s something I’ll never do. You’ve caught me now, so what is it you intend to do?”

Though her power was nearly spent and her limbs tightly bound by rope and chain, not the slightest hint of fear or submission crossed Lily’s eyes.

Even if Lily had no trump card left to rely on, she still wouldn’t have bowed. And in truth, she did have one trump card in hand.

She had taken this risk only because she had two layers of protection. The Fivefold Tower, a gift from Izanami-no-Ōkami, should have been enough to safeguard her life. But unexpectedly, the Great Imperial God’s formation, which had remained dormant before, activated suddenly at the worst possible time. She had been caught off guard, struck unconscious by Ame-no-Tajikarao, and woke up tightly bound. In such a state, she couldn’t even summon the tower, much less enter it.

That left only one last resort—Rinne. Yet how could she let her Senior Sister fall into another deep slumber for her sake? Unless things reached the very limit, she would never invoke that option.

Lily had expected that Ame-no-Tajikarao would treat her brutally after bringing her to the hall and was already prepared to unleash her final trump card at the first sign of violation. But to her surprise, he began by… reasoning with her. That, at least, did not frighten her.

“You!” Ame-no-Tajikarao roared in fury. “You speak so lightly! Have you forgotten that you’re known as the most beautiful woman across the Three Realms? A woman like you, once captured by the Yuten Army, do you have any idea what fate awaits you?”

“What fate? Hah, what a joke. You, the commander of the Yuten Army, have to ask me that? Whether I know or not doesn’t matter. I’ll never let Lady Bishamonten fall into your hands again and suffer further humiliation!” Lily retorted coldly.

“You—!” Ame-no-Tajikarao’s rage flared again. “Foolish woman! I have strict military orders, no female prisoner is to be violated! But you’ve injured so many of my men. If I let you off lightly, how could I answer to my troops?”

“Then what is it you plan to do?”

“This… ah, damn it all!” He stomped in frustration, glaring at her. “You vexing woman! Must you really force me to break my own military code? The most beautiful woman in the Three Realms, fallen into my hands… sigh! If only that Taira no Furaku hadn’t fled amid the chaos, I’d have left your punishment to her! As it stands, not even those Dark Celestial Maidens would dare touch you now.”

“Ame-no-Tajikarao, the more you speak, the less I understand,” Lily said sharply. “It almost sounds as though you don’t actually want to capture me. What’s your real intention? Don’t tell me you’re trying to protect me?”

“Silence! Utter nonsense!” he barked. “I, Ame-no-Tajikarao, am a man who stands tall between Heaven and Earth. I caught you myself, and I will uphold the military code. I will not abuse a female captive. Even if you’ve committed grave sins against Takamagahara, your punishment will be judged by Heaven’s law! The trial is not for me or the Yuten Army to conduct.”

“I, Ame-no-Tajikarao, stand upright and just. I am not like those deceitful Kunitsukami, nor like you cunning women who scheme with your hearts instead of your blades! Don’t think that because you’re beautiful or… charming, that I’ll go soft on you! This is law, the foundation of the gods themselves, understand?”

“Yes, yes, I understand…” Lily replied, her tone exasperated. She hadn’t expected him to be so earnest. If not for being enemies, he might have stood alongside Brother Tenba, Lord Kiyoshi, or Uncle Matsuda, the kind of man she could have called a trustworthy ally. But alas, this straightforward brute stood on the side of the Dark Heavenly Path.

“You… woman!” Ame-no-Tajikarao raised his hand, nearly striking her, but stopped himself at the last moment.

He sighed heavily and turned away, sitting back down. “Miss Kagami… though the Yuten Army will not harm you, you are still a wanted criminal of Takamagahara, and now you’ve committed a crime beyond redemption. You’ll soon be escorted to the Palace of Ritsuten for judgment. When that time comes, you’ll face interrogators not only among the Celestial Maidens, but also the brutal executioners of the Kegaretsu Clan. No one escapes their cruelty. Your fate will be a miserable one.”

Lily did not tremble at his words. Instead, her mind stirred. ‘Escort…? If it’s not Ame-no-Tajikarao personally leading me, then there might still be a chance to escape.’