Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 13 - Takamagahara: Chapter 47 - Battle Against Ame-no-Tajikarao

The Yuten soldiers regrouped and reset their formation, with one contingent guarding the captured Celestial Maidens while the rest encircled Rei, Lily, and the others. Even so, none of them dared approach.

Only Ame-no-Tajikarao stepped forward, towering and imposing as he hefted the massive stone pillar upon his shoulder, standing proudly before his three female opponents.

“You three, lay down your weapons and surrender on your knees. If we truly fight, I fear you will be gravely injured. You are either old acquaintances or young and beautiful. I truly do not wish to cross blades with you,” Ame-no-Tajikarao declared.

He pointed at Rei. “You are Uesugi, yes? Since Bishamonten has already passed the Divinity to you, no matter what your mother has done to defy Takamagahara, you were not involved. Come with me to the Palace of Ritsuten to accept judgment. Perhaps the higher-ups will show leniency and allow you to return to your post among the Celestial Battle Maidens.”

“And what about my mother and Lily?” Rei asked.

“They are both grave offenders of Takamagahara and must be punished according to law. I have no say in the matter,” Ame-no-Tajikarao replied.

“You truly live in a world of your own,” Rei answered coldly.

Ame-no-Tajikarao’s gaze hardened as he looked at the three of them. “It seems none of you intends to heed my final warning.”

“Ame-no-Tajikarao, I respect you as a man of integrity,” Lily said, “but surely even you are not foolish enough to believe that the upper echelon of Takamagahara shares your righteousness. You have never harmed me, but if we fall into their hands, what awaits us… do you truly not know?”

“Come with me and accept judgment! I, Ame-no-Tajikarao, swear that you will only face the law’s ruling. Beyond that judgment, no one may touch you!” he shouted.

“I fear those people above are not as upright as you. And if the law condemns us as slaves of the Kegaretsu Clan?” Bishamonten asked.

“That… I believe in the law’s fairness! If the law condemns you as slaves, no matter what kind of slaves, then you must obey and do what slaves are meant to do!” Ame-no-Tajikarao declared loudly.

“Then… what more is there to discuss?” Lily lifted Oborozuki Muramasa, her voice cold.

Ame-no-Tajikarao’s brows sharpened, a fierce light rising between them, and he silently hardened his resolve.

“Miss Lily, I… you… you are a good woman. But as a high-ranking retainer under Amaterasu-Ōmikami and as a general of Takamagahara, I must obey the military order and uphold the Heavenly Way. Do not blame me.”

Suddenly, a small cage appeared in his hand.

Before Lily and the others could discern what it was, the cage expanded dramatically and shot into the sky.

A strange power enveloped the area around them. Within a radius of barely a hundred meters, everything was covered by the descending cage.

“This is the Heavenly Cage of Combat! It is a Great Imperial God formation! Until I, Ame-no-Tajikarao, decide our victory or defeat, none of you will escape. No one outside can enter either!” he roared.

“What!?” Lily and the others were shocked. Lily had planned to fight side-by-side with Rei for a few rounds, then seize an opening to escape. Even if they could not win, working together, they might have slipped past him. The only reason she had not attempted it yet was the dilemma of rescuing so many captured Celestial Maidens at once.

But before she could think of a solution, Ame-no-Tajikarao had locked them inside the cage.

A hundred meters of space looked empty, yet for fighters of Supreme God level, their speed and force were so great that they would reach the cage’s edge before they even finished accelerating. Fighting in such a cramped arena heavily favored Ame-no-Tajikarao, whose defense and raw strength far surpassed theirs, and disadvantaged Lily and her companions.

“This is bad. Must we fight him to the death?” Bishamonten muttered anxiously.

“Ladies, I will make my move now!” Ame-no-Tajikarao announced, standing tall. It was perhaps the last courtesy he would offer.

“Mother, get to the far corner!” Rei shouted.

Before Ame-no-Tajikarao moved, Bishamonten already flew to the edge of the cage.

Ame-no-Tajikarao, stone pillar in hand, ignored Bishamonten and charged toward Lily and Rei like a flying mountain.

The massive pillar came crashing down. Lily and Rei darted apart, the blow punching a huge hole through the drifting cloud layer beneath them. But only dozens of meters farther was the cage itself.

After splitting off to dodge, Lily and Rei exchanged a glance and immediately counterattacked from both sides.

Ame-no-Tajikarao swung the pillar single-handedly, blocking the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, while his other palm ignored Lily’s blade entirely as he struck toward her.

Lily possessed a fierce heart. She refused to retreat and slashed decisively. Since they were trapped in a cage match to the death, she fought with everything she had. A sweep of dark lunar sword aura cut across the air.

Splash!

Crash!

Lily was blasted away by the palm strike, smashing against the cage only a few dozen meters behind her. The golden bars crackled and unleashed violent currents of electricity.

“Ahhh!” Lily screamed as the Great Imperial God formation shocked her entire body with brutal force.

Meanwhile, from Ame-no-Tajikarao’s palm up along the inside of his thick upper arm, a deep gash several inches long opened. The Dark Lunar Force gnawed at his powerful muscles, evaporating blood with a hissing sound and curling smoke.

“Dark Lunar Force… impressive! Miss Lily, that was a vicious strike. Exhilarating! Hahahahaha!” he bellowed, laughing despite the gruesome wound.

But Lily had been imprisoned and bound for so long that her strength had recovered barely half. After taking his heavy palm strike and then the shock of the formation, her condition worsened sharply.

“Be careful! You must not crash into the cage again!” Bishamonten warned.

The cage attacked indiscriminately, but clearly worked against them. Their bodies were light, meaning they were more easily knocked back. Normally, being flung away helped dissipate force, but here, no matter the direction, they would always slam into the cage. Almost all room for maneuvering was cut off.

Rei gave Ame-no-Tajikarao no chance to continue laughing. She stomped down hard on one end of the giant pillar, using it as a sturdy pivot, forcing it to sink and unbalancing him.

Seizing the moment, Rei vaulted over the pillar and slashed at his rugged, stubbled face.

“Oi oi!” Ame-no-Tajikarao dared not take the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi head-on. Though his other arm was injured, the burly man seemed unaffected. His massive palm unleashed a powerful phantom force. That phantom could not stop the blade, but the strike itself hit the side of the sword from below.

The impact was both powerful and precisely angled, knocking Rei’s long blade upward and deflecting her strike.

Then he swung the massive pillar upward and thrust it toward Rei’s back.

“What!?”

Ame-no-Tajikarao possessed overwhelming strength, but his reactions and speed were equally fierce and swift. With her footing disrupted by his earlier palm strike, Rei failed to dodge perfectly. The pillar scraped across her body and hurled her away with terrifying force, sending her crashing even harder than Lily into the top of the cage.

Another burst of heart-stopping electricity rampaged across her body.

“Baby girl!” Bishamonten, despite her weakened state, rushed toward Ame-no-Tajikarao with a spare katana materializing in her hand.

Ame-no-Tajikarao kicked the katana clean in half, sending both blade fragments and Bishamonten flying.

She slammed into the cage. Even a single blast of its current nearly shocked her into unconsciousness. She collapsed onto the cloud layer, body paralyzed and trembling, her clothes torn apart by the surge as she lay gasping, unable to rise.

“Mother!” Rei forced herself to recover from the electric shock and descended from above, bringing her blade down in a fierce arc.

“Come!” Ame-no-Tajikarao raised the stone pillar to meet her strike.

Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi crashed onto the pillar, the impact shaking heaven and earth. Suddenly, a brilliant blue flame erupted behind Rei. Her power surged violently, and behind her rose the towering phantom of an ancient deity.

Caught off guard for a moment, Ame-no-Tajikarao’s colossal body was forced downward, pushed through the cloud layer until his feet planted directly onto the cage. Golden lightning exploded from the cage and shot up through his legs, attacking even Ame-no-Tajikarao.

Yet instead of faltering, he stood firm within the currents, letting out a bold laugh. Veins bulged across his body, his skin thick and unyielding, and his warrior’s spirit only grew more ferocious. The intense shocks seemed to make him even mightier.

The lightning was about to jump to Rei next. She had no choice but to withdraw her strike, and that brief opening allowed Ame-no-Tajikarao to drive the pillar toward her again. This time she was in a favorable position and managed to retreat while sidestepping the massive sweep.

But the cage was too small. Any evasive step required her to slow down, or she would crash into the cage’s walls.

Ame-no-Tajikarao, still crackling with lingering electricity, swung the pillar toward Rei once more with terrifying momentum.

The sight of it shocked all three women inside the cage.

Rei had been driven into a dead corner. Forward was the raging god, behind was the electrified cage.

“Sister!” Lily suddenly threw several white ribbons, each adorned with drifting sakura petals. They wrapped around Ame-no-Tajikarao’s legs and slowed his charge.

Ame-no-Tajikarao grabbed the ribbons with one hand and yanked hard, dragging Lily toward him as his palm shot forward in a crushing strike. Caught in the pull, she had no way to dodge and could only shut her eyes as the blow surged toward her.

But just then, a soft floral breeze swept past. Rei appeared at her side, one arm circling Lily’s waist while the other swung her blade, unleashing a chilling arc of swordlight. The icy strike, empowered by the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, froze even the divine palm imprint before shattering it into countless fragments of ice that scattered across the enclosed space.

“Sister…”

It was that familiar feeling again. The strong, reliable Rei she once knew had returned.

Lily, still weak and far from fully recovered, leaned into Rei’s arm. Her cheek pressed against Rei’s tall, firm chest.

“As expected of Bishamonten’s descendant. But for me to acknowledge you as the new Bishamonten… you still have a way to go. The Bishamonten of old could beat me until I had no fight left!”

Ame-no-Tajikarao hurled his other favored weapon toward them. It was a dark-gold chain hammer.