Demon Sword Maiden

Lily and the other two pushed themselves to full speed, flying at breakneck pace until they reached the first checkpoint of Thundercloud Gorge.

The Yuten Army stationed there had already received the warning. However, the checkpoint consisted of barely a hundred Big Dipper-level soldiers and three ordinary Celestial Stage guards. There was no way they could hold them back.

“Stop right there!”

“Intercept them, no matter what, you must stop them!”

From atop the battlements, the Yuten soldiers fired arrows and hurled spears at the three goddesses flying in from afar. They even prepared nets, hoping to snare them midair.

“If we can capture them, it’ll be a tremendous merit! And they’re those legendary, beautiful goddesses!”

The Yuten soldiers’ morale surged, but a raging cherry blossom storm swept through the ranks, scattering the Big Dipper-level troops in complete disarray. Amid the chaos, only three generals managed to force their way forward to intercept them.

“Don’t even think about escaping!” the leading Yuten general roared as he flew in.

“Knowing full well you’re no match, yet you still come to die?” Lily replied coldly.

“Conquering powerful women is the true mark of a real man of the Yuten Army!”

The Yuten general stood four to five meters tall. He reached out with his massive hand, grabbing straight toward Lily.

Lily evaded him effortlessly, seized his arm instead, and unleashed a terrifying surge of strength. She flipped the giant brute overhead and hurled him violently away. He smashed straight through the checkpoint’s gate.

Rei struck with her sword, severing the weapons in the other two generals’ hands along with their thick arms in a single flash.

The three of them shot through the checkpoint like streaks of light. There was no stopping them at all. They sped through Thundercloud Gorge, bursting through the second checkpoint as well. This one was not even guarded by elite Yuten troops. Lily simply unleashed the power of her domain, instantly crushing the entire garrison.

The three broke out of Thundercloud Gorge without the slightest delay.

Lily still remembered the direction they had come from. She led Rei and Bishamonten straight toward Mokuri island.

At this point, none of them bothered to suppress their auras. Divine power erupted freely as they flew at maximum speed.

Meanwhile, inside Mokuri Fortress.

The Kegaretsu city lord who had once threatened Riyuki had just received an alarm from the checkpoints. The Yuten Army had not even bothered to notify the Mokuri city lord, never considering such rabble to be real fighting strength.

“What? Someone broke through the checkpoints in reverse? And they’re women?” Kuromon set down his wine cup and stood up.

“I’m in dire need of fresh women right now. For three women to break through the checkpoints, they must have some strength. I like capable women. Most of them are proud and defiant. Capturing them, interrogating them, conquering them… that taste is exquisite!”

Kuromon immediately issued orders, leading three hundred Kegaretsu troops from the city as they mounted a flying cloud formation to intercept them.

After all, Lily and her companions were no longer concealing their divine power and had already been spotted by forward sentries.

Outside Kuromon’s city tower, a Kegaretsu clansman stood with two Celestial Maidens following behind him.

“Hehehe, the pills you two refined for me works wonderfully. My strength has increased greatly. Let me show you just how powerful I am now!” the man said with smug confidence.

The two Celestial Maidens had been forced to refine pills and beaten regularly. They were furious but dared not speak.

Still, one of them could not help but say, “My lord, those three were able to break through Thundercloud Gorge. Their strength is likely extraordinary. My lord should be careful.”

“Hahahaha! Careful of what? We’re going with several hundred brothers. Dealing with three women will be effortless. I’m going to get my share too. Otherwise, when they’re caught, I won’t have participated and it’ll be embarrassing to line up afterward!”

The two Celestial Maidens fell silent. The older one stopped the younger from saying anything more, a foreboding rising in her heart: those who bring disaster upon themselves cannot be saved.

Above the fortress, dark clouds churned. Three hundred Kegaretsu troops beat drums and raised banners as they surged forth under Kuromon’s command, blocking Lily’s path.

“Lily, they’re all trash. No need to deal with them. Just go around!” Bishamonten shouted.

“No…” Lily recognized Kuromon and several of the Kegaretsu troops among them, the very ones she had once witnessed humiliating Celestial Maidens. Back then, she had swallowed her fury, unable to act. But now?

“The passage to the Hekiraku Realm lies just ahead of this Hakanajima. If we ignore them, they might notice our trail.”

As she spoke, Lily flew straight toward them.

“They’re here!”

“Damn, so fast…” Kuromon was still calculating the distance between himself and the approaching woman, pondering when to strike.

Voom—!

A streak of crimson light suddenly filled his vision.

Psh!

A slender, elongated crimson blade-line sliced through the clouds.

Kuromon’s head fell.

“What?” The Kegaretsu troops had not even seen what happened.

They only saw a razor-thin crimson thread, the same line that had taken Kuromon’s head, sweep across the entire army with a piercing hum. It carved through the ranks twice in swift passes, and the Kegaretsu troops instantly went rigid. A heartbeat later, beneath the roiling dark clouds, blood began to rain from the sky.

“That… what was that…”

“It looked like… a goddess just flew past…”

“All… all the Kegaretsu auras are gone!” The two pill-refining Celestial Maidens, shoulders and faces still bruised, clutched each other’s hands and trembled as they stared up at the heavens.

Lily and the other two swept past the floating island and arrived at its edge, where vast clouds and sky stretched endlessly.

Lily sensed the direction, led the other two into the clouds, searched briefly within the mist, and soon found the end of a luminous path.

“Follow this light path straight ahead, and you’ll reach the Hekiraku Realm,” Lily said.

Rei nodded, her emotions surging. “Mother… we’re finally going to escape this place.”

Lily and Rei stepped onto the light path, preparing to move forward.

“Huh?”

When Bishamonten descended toward the path, her ankle passed straight through it, as if stepping on nothing at all.

“What’s going on?” the two turned back.

“You… can stand on this light path?” Bishamonten asked in confusion.

“Yes.” Lily even rubbed her high-heeled shoe back and forth against the surface of the light path.

Yet no matter how Bishamonten tried, she could not step onto it. To her, the path was nothing more than an illusory shadow.

“How could this be?” Lily and Rei were both stunned.

¹

Before setting the escape plan in motion, Lily had considered every possibility over and over. A surprise maneuver, escaping through the enemy’s rear via the teleportation array, then sealing it from the other side to trap the main force within, that was Lily’s strategy and cunning at work.

However, the situation at this moment turned out to be completely unexpected.

“T-this… what should we do?” Rei was also stunned.

They could not help recalling what had happened on their way here. Among all the sisters, only one person had been able to walk this path together with Lily, and even Lily herself had been unable to make the journey back and forth alone.

“Could it be that the principle behind returning is the same as when we came?” After the long, frantic flight, Lily was drenched in fragrant sweat, her chest rising and falling rapidly with each breath. Now, she found herself at a complete loss.

“What principle?” Bishamonten asked.

Rei explained to her mother the hidden meaning behind the saying, “Those with love may ascend to Hekiraku.”

“Legends about Hekiraku… I think I once heard something like that long, long ago,” Bishamonten said slowly. “But it was too far in the past. Without experiencing it firsthand, I had long forgotten. To think such an unbelievable thing could truly exist…” She, too, had no solution.

What should they do?

Even these three decisive, formidable goddesses were left frozen in place.

“Although we’ve shaken off the main army for now, we never concealed our auras along the way. Our trail has long since been exposed,” Lily said with concern. “Even if I wiped out those Mokuri troops, the main force will soon reach Mokuri Island. This place is already at the very edge of Takamagahara. Is it really possible that none of our enemies know the legends of the Hekiraku Realm? And even if they don’t, they’ll surely conduct a massive search nearby. It won’t be difficult for them to discover this place.”

“That’s right,” Rei agreed. “If we leave now, we might be able to hide somewhere for a while, but that would only draw even more pursuers. In the end, where would we run? Are we supposed to remain fugitives in Takamagahara forever?”

“No, we must return to the Hekiraku Realm as soon as possible, back to our sisters’ side,” Lily said anxiously.

She immediately sent a transmission through the mirror, asking whether there were any other paths back to the Hekiraku Realm or to the mortal world. The reply from Rinne was disheartening. Without the power of a Great Imperial God, it was impossible to force entry into those routes.

Lily then asked about the Hekiraku path itself, whether there was any way to break through it. This time, Rinne did not answer.

There was no time left for Lily to press further. The three goddesses were completely stumped.

Not far from the luminous path stood a small Hizan. The three flew into it first. Within the mountain lay a valley, where they descended. Streams flowed gently, clouds and mist drifted about, and the scenery was ethereal and beautiful, almost like a paradise.

“Lily, we won’t be able to hide here for long,” Rei said. “We need to decide our next move as soon as possible.”

“Sister Uesugi, you’re right, but right now, I…” Lily had calculated everything, only to misjudge this one step. Regret churned in her heart. How had she failed to think of this back then? With pursuers behind them and a dead end ahead, she was tense herself. How could she possibly come up with a solution so quickly?

At this moment, amid the drifting mist, Bishamonten stood staring blankly at the mountain waterfall and the clear pool below.

Within that pool bloomed several snow-white lotus flowers, aloof and pristine, yet incomparably beautiful. Watching the lotus and listening to the sound of water, Bishamonten’s heart seemed to drift back many years.

Back then, when the Celestial Maidens were still in Takamagahara, it had been at some unknown mountain pool like this one, where they played freely across the vast heavens…

At that time, there had been a slender fairy in white robes who always stood alone by the water’s edge, gazing coldly into the distance, never joining the other Celestial Maidens in their laughter and games. And yet, it was precisely that solitary, aloof figure that had deeply drawn Bishamonten’s attention.

“Those with love may ascend to Hekiraku…”

Bishamonten turned her head, looking at Lily’s back, then at Rei. “Miss Lily… Baby Girl…”

“Mother? What is it? Why are you looking at Lily like that?” Rei asked.

Without realizing it, a shy flush spread across her mature face. Standing before the two young women, she found herself so flustered, and felt a trace of self-reproach. She lowered her head, her waist swaying unconsciously, one hand resting at her lips as she looked at the emerald pool in confusion. “N-nothing… it’s nothing…”

Rei was puzzled. “We should still decide our path quickly and leave this place. The road to the Hekiraku Realm is no longer passable.”

“But… this place is so beautiful… and… there are only the three of us here. Staying a little longer… shouldn’t matter…” Bishamonten said, her breathing growing faintly unsteady.

Footnotes:

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   Sylphie: Nah… ‘tis not surprising, remember how you were only able to step on it with the two of you only?