Demon Sword Maiden

The journey from Yuten Castle to the Palace of Ritsuten was long and arduous.

The deeper the escort moved, the closer they drew to the central reaches of Takamagahara.

After leaving Yuten Castle, Lily was escorted by Ame-no-Tajikarao’s army along with several escort officers. The large procession traveled northeast through the skies outside the fortress, using flight formations to maintain their course.

Her prison carriage was pulled by a Black Ox, a celestial draft beast even sturdier and more powerful than the Azure Ox.

As for the hundreds of soldiers under Ame-no-Tajikarao, they rode upon the Yuten Army’s aerial formation known as the Dense Cloud Sea.

In reality, it consisted of massive, heavy cloud clusters. The Yuten soldiers were large and not adept at aerial combat, so they relied on stepping upon these clouds to drift through the sky.

“An opening… where could an opening possibly appear…” Lily lowered her hair, though her cautious gaze continued sweeping the surroundings. But with Ame-no-Tajikarao positioned only a short distance behind her, she had no chance to act.

“What are you staring at!” One of the escort officers, Hisashiki, glared at her lecherously. “You woman, your eyes have been sharp this whole way. Still dreaming of escape, are you? Strip her bare and whip her a few hundred times, then we’ll see how she plans to run with her backside exposed!”

“Yes, sir!” Several burly officers pulled open the prison carriage’s iron door, preparing to climb inside. Carriages built for transporting empyreans were enormous, almost ten meters tall and ten meters wide.

“Fools! What do you think you are doing!” Ame-no-Tajikarao bellowed.

“My lord, this little wretch must be plotting something. To avoid trouble, we should give her a harsh lesson first!” Hisashiki insisted.

“What crime she has committed and what punishment she deserves are matters for the Heavenly Law. Once she reaches the Palace of Ritsuten

¹, she will stand trial, and only then will an execution officer carry out the sentence. Our duty is to escort her safely. Along the way, the prisoner is not to be humiliated or abused!” Ame-no-Tajikarao roared.

“Yohohoho, Lord Ame-no-Tajikarao is well known for being righteous and upright. You would never soil your hands with such things, we all know that. But a prisoner who is not disciplined is a problem. Let us handle it. It will not tarnish your reputation,” Hisashiki said, unfolding his fan.

“Absolutely not! Before judgment is passed, no one is allowed to engage in such disgraceful behavior under my watch!” Ame-no-Tajikarao’s glare sharpened, divine pressure erupting from him.

Hisashiki and the other high-ranking officers recoiled in fear. They no longer dared to approach Lily, though their frustration was palpable. Abusing female prisoners during transport had long been their habit.

But who would dare truly anger Ame-no-Tajikarao?

They could only vent their irritation by kicking and striking the prison carriage, causing Lily inside to be jolted back and forth.

The convoy eventually reached the Thundercloud Gorge, a passage leading deeper into Takamagahara. There was no checkpoint on this side. The defensive gate was located on the opposite end of the gorge.

They entered the gorge and reduced their flying speed.

On both sides, rolling thunderclouds pressed in at scarcely five kilometers apart, creating an oppressive atmosphere. Along the way, massive floating mountains drifted overhead, below, and all around. Some were half-hidden within the clouds, making the entire passage appear even gloomier.

“This terrain is treacherous. There might be an ambush ahead. Stay alert,” warned Hirotake, the vanguard commander of the escort.

“Treacherous terrain…” Lily raised her eyes to the Hizans overhead and to the sides.

Suddenly, beams of brilliant light shot out from between several Hizans ahead. The light bolts slammed into the Yuten soldiers and the cloud platforms beneath their feet.

“Watch out! There really is an ambush!”

Many Yuten soldiers at the front were struck by these spell-forged light bolts. Their defenses were extremely high, so even the Big Dipper soldiers did not suffer serious injuries despite the surprise attack.

However, the formation at the front of the escort fell into chaos. The flight clouds were torn apart, and many soldiers began to plummet.

“Cloudbreak Arrows!” Hirotake shouted in shock.

These light bolts were actually specialized arrows. Their damage to powerful individuals was limited, but they were designed specifically to disrupt cloud-flight formations.

Many Big Dipper soldiers who could not fly independently plunged straight down into the endless sea of thunderclouds.

“What!?” Lily was startled as well.

From between the Hizans ahead, numerous figures leaned out. One after another, Celestial Maidens revealed themselves, bows drawn, firing another volley toward the escort from behind.

The thunderclouds masked divine sense to a significant degree, and those Hizans were no ordinary rock. Anyone hiding behind them could hardly be detected unless a Supreme God employed specialized divination arts, a divine treasure, or possessed exceptional perceptive ability. Otherwise, even a deity would struggle to notice an ambush.

Ame-no-Tajikarao never feared ambushes in the first place. He was not adept at detection and had not bothered to survey the path. In his view, since he was present, who would dare attempt a rescue? Anyone who tried would simply be throwing their lives away. Why waste caution on impossibilities?

He did not expect those Celestial Maidens to use Cloudbreak Arrows.

“Fools!” Ame-no-Tajikarao roared as he struck out with a massive airborne palm. A gigantic palmprint swept across half the sky, shattering every incoming Cloudbreak Arrow.

But at that moment, he felt the clouds beneath his feet begin to convulse. Explosions punched gaping holes through the cloud platforms, shattering countless layers, and many Yuten soldiers around him plummeted.

“F̲u̲c̲k̲! What’s happening!?” Ame-no-Tajikarao shouted in shock.

This time, the Cloudbreak Arrows had come from below. The Celestial Maidens had counted on his carelessness and had set up a perfect three-dimensional ambush.

“Dammit! All troops, switch to divine-power flight formations!”

Though the earlier ambush had caused many soldiers to fall, the Yuten Army quickly restored order. They abandoned the easy, energy-saving cloud formation and split into numerous squads, using divine power to maintain flight as they rose through the air.

“Attack!”

“Rescue Miss Lily!”

From between the Hizans came the shouts of the Celestial Maidens. Hundreds of them surged out from the mountains, charging toward the escort army from every direction. Asazora, Meishin, and the other squad leaders led the charge.

“Do not panic!” Ame-no-Tajikarao bellowed, shaking the clouds. “They are merely weak Celestial Maidens. Reform your squads and crush them. Capture every last one of them alive. Hahahahaha!”

Ame-no-Tajikarao remained seated upon a drifting cloud, pulling out a jug of strong liquor and drinking heartily. Such opponents were beneath the standard required for him to lift a hand.

But the Celestial Maidens numbered in the hundreds as well, not fewer than the Yuten soldiers, and they possessed similar counts of high-tier fighters. The two forces quickly became entangled in chaotic battle.

One Celestial Maiden seized the opportunity to rush toward the prison carriage.

She swung her naginata, trying to hack through the bars, but with only Big Dipper strength, she could not cut the restraints.

A burly Celestial Stage officer behind her slammed a heavy fist into her back, sending her crashing into the carriage before rebounding onto the cloud platform. The man pinned her beneath his thick leg, tore her weapon from her hands, and began ripping apart her clothing.

Two more celestial maidens, driven by fury at the sight of their sister being pinned beneath the officer, rushed straight toward the prison carriage to save her.

“Hehehe, courting death!” Hisashiki flicked his fan, and from beneath his sleeve shot several red tendrils. The writhing appendages easily disarmed the two maidens and bound them midair.

“If I cannot amuse myself with Lily, then I will enjoy you women who deliver yourselves instead. Hehehehehe!” Hisashiki laughed wickedly.

The Celestial Maidens who failed to rescue their sisters cried out in a mixture of agony and shame.

“Enough.” Lily, even with her hands bound behind her and shackles locked around her ankles, lifted her elegant pale legs. Himiko’s Longbow manifested along her ankles, and an arrow appeared between her lips. She bent her body backward, her flexibility unquestionable, biting the bowstring while her feet drew the bow and set the arrow.

She aimed straight at Hisashiki.

Thwack!

The arrow shot forward.

How powerful were Lily’s legs? Stronger than her arms by far. The shot tore through the prison carriage bars with blinding speed. Hisashiki had no time to react. The arrow punched a gaping hole straight through his chest.

Lily possessed power on par with a Supreme God. Though her raw power did not reach the level of Ame-no-Tajikarao, her leg-drawn bowstring rivaled the strength he could exert with his arms.

This shot had only one possible outcome.

The arrow pierced Hisashiki’s spiritual sea. His Kunitsukami divinity shattered instantly, killing him on the spot.

Lily twisted her hips and lower back, rotating her body despite the shackles, and drew the bow again. Though it was her second shot, her movements were decisive, swift, and seamless like flowing water.

Thwack!

Another arrow fired, piercing the high-rank officer who had pinned the maiden. It entered through his left arm and exited through his right, splitting his entire torso in half. He died immediately.

“Oh?” Ame-no-Tajikarao raised an eyebrow. “What a ferocious woman.”

He extended his hand. A surge of golden divine power penetrated the barred carriage, gathering into a giant hand that slapped Lily violently. She slammed into the thick wooden pillars of the cage before rebounding to the floor. The divine hand snatched away her longbow before withdrawing.

Ame-no-Tajikarao rose and strode toward the carriage, glaring down at her.

“Kagami Lily, where did you get that bow!?”

“Hmph.” Lily bit the hair that had fallen over her face, refusing to answer.

‘That makes no sense. The Celestial Maidens should have searched her thoroughly. My divine probe found no storage treasures on her. Where is she hiding it?’

“Kagami Lily! Hand over your storage treasure!”

“What are you talking about? Did you not take everything already?”

“Silence! You must still be hiding something. Hand it over, otherwise…” Ame-no-Tajikarao’s forehead bulged with veins, his face flushed red.

“Otherwise what?” Lily replied coldly.

“Otherwise I will…” He stared at her body, breathing harshly, blood boiling. “I will…”

“Vile woman!” Ame-no-Tajikarao slammed his palm against the carriage, nearly smashing it apart. Cracks splintered across the hardwood.

He spun away, furious, and sat on the cloud behind the carriage.

“Why must you be a woman? If you were not, I could search you entirely. Curse this!” Ame-no-Tajikarao growled as he took out more liquor and drank violently.

Hundreds of kilometers away, within a distant Hizan.

Beneath a roaring waterfall, cold blue divine power spread outward. Slowly, the entire waterfall began to freeze.

Inside a cavern, Uesugi Rei was locked in the final struggle against Bishamonten’s divine power.

Footnotes:

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   Syl: So far, the author has used 3 different names (律天宫 / 法天殿 / 罪天城) to refer to this place they’re being escorted to. I’m actually not sure if the author is simply referring to different districts within the same sphere of influence or are they actually different locales, but to prevent confusions, I’m just gonna keep referring to them all as Ritsuten until the author clarifies otherwise.