Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 13 - Takamagahara: Chapter 65 - The Eight Thunder Gods

The Eight Thunder Gods governed the eight paths of the Thunder Heavenly Path.

Among the Eight Thunder Gods, Wakarai’s strength ranked around the middle. A single Wakarai was far from a match for Lily, but if all Eight Thunder Gods gathered together, their combined might would surge explosively. At that point, they could be said to fear almost nothing, even when facing a Great Imperial God.

“Madam, it has been a long time.”

Among the Eight Thunder Gods, the tallest and most imposing figure stood atop a mountain peak. Balding with white hair, a long gray-white beard, and an extremely muscular frame, the old man was bare-chested, his body covered in countless blue lightning patterns. Wearing loose, tattered hakama, he radiated an overwhelming presence. This man was the leader of the Eight Thunder Gods, Orai.

Izanami slowly rose to her feet, lightly flicking her long sleeves as she took out a smoking pipe and casually lit it. She did not answer at once. Instead, she leisurely took a puff, suppressing her labored breathing as much as possible before speaking slowly. “Orai? Back when you followed me, you were just a black-haired lad with thick brows and bright eyes. Now you’re already white-haired and aged. You really did grow old fast.”

“Hehehehe! Madam, please do not mock me. When I first entered your tutelage, I was merely a seraph who knew a little about lightning, relying entirely on your guidance and cultivation. Thinking back to countless years ago, Madam was youthful and peerlessly beautiful. Now, your bearing is still as magnificent as ever.” Orai laughed.

“Then after all these years without paying me a visit, the entire Eight Thunder clan shows up today. Are you here to reminisce? Unfortunately, I still have matters to attend to. We can talk another day. Please excuse me.” With a casual wave of her hand, a ripple of spatial distortion spread out. Yet the fluctuation quivered briefly before dissipating into nothing.

“Hm?” Izanami frowned slightly.

“Hehehe. Madam, you did not forget the Octathunder Heavenlock Formation, did you? This formation was personally taught to us by y-y-you… Within the Heavenlock Formation, even your Great Imperial God husband c-cannot perform spatial teleportation!”

The speaker was a fat, potbellied brute with his chest exposed, bulging dead-fish eyes, and a bald head crowned with a black beard. He looked dull and unsightly, wearing flaming-red trousers, with a ring of lightning-fire hovering behind him and crackling in the air. This was the second brother, Kairai.

“Hehehe! Izanami, if you do not give us an explanation for our Fifth Brother today, do not even think about leaving!”

Although he had lost both legs in his battle with Lily, Fushirai had now replaced his lower body with a mechanical puppet spider. He hung upside down from a stone pillar, crawling eerily as he stared brazenly at Izanami’s chest.

“Fushirai! Watch your manners!” the Third Brother, Kurorai, shouted angrily.

With a sharp crackle, a brilliant crimson-violet bolt of lightning flashed. A bewitching woman with purple-red hair tied in a slanted ponytail spoke up. She wore archaic ninja attire, with a large rope knot bound behind her back. “Madam of Yomi, do you still remember Sairai?” This woman was the Fourth of the Eight Thunder Gods, Sairai. Though a female deity, her strength surpassed even that of Wakarai.

Nearby, hovering above the rocks, was a plump, pale-skinned oni child with a single horn, sitting atop a massive taiko drum. Golden eyes gleamed with malicious light as thunder crackled endlessly around the drum. He was the Seventh Brother, Meirai.

“Madam, Madam! Today, you must play with me properly!” the oni child Meirai shouted as he bounced excitedly on the drum.

“Hehehe, Madam. Among all our brothers, only Brother Wakarai is the most handsome. Why did you break your promise and refuse to marry your adopted daughter, Kagami Lily, to him? I’m not very smart, so could you explain it clearly for me? As the ruler of Yomi, why could you not lead by example and honor your word?”

The speaker was a sumo-like giant whose entire body resembled red clay, riddled with jagged lightning cracks. He was the Sixth of the Eight Thunder Gods, Dorai.

Izanami exhaled smoke slowly and brushed her hair back with a light touch. “Who gave you the nerve to use the Octathunder Heavenlock Formation against your own master? You lowly slaves who toy with lightning.”

At this moment, Herikaku City was flying through Yomi Hirazaka. It appeared slow, but because of its sheer enormity, its actual speed was astonishingly fast. Separated from Yomi by the power of the Three Realms, Lily and the others had no idea what was happening below.

The colossal fortress occasionally slammed into the surrounding mountain walls and the stalactites hanging from the cavern ceiling, yet it did not slow in the slightest. Everything in its path was effortlessly shattered, sending tremors rippling through Yomi Hirazaka again and again. The demons lurking there fled in terror, scattering in all directions. In their entire lives, they had never seen such a gigantic floating city. They simply could not comprehend what kind of existence it was.

Having broken free from Yomi’s restraints, Herikaku City no longer required any external traction in this area where suppression was weaker. It could now fly on its own.

Lily held the map of Yomi Hirazaka she had obtained from Rakshasa-Onna. The map displayed their current position, marked by a simple ink-brush drawing of a fortress tower that slowly drifted toward a massive mountain.

“Mount Fuji,” Lily read the name softly, a hint of emotion in her voice. Herikaku City was enormous. It would emerge from the largest passage between Yomi and the mortal world, directly through the volcanic crater of Mount Fuji. Only a colossal volcano like Mount Fuji could accommodate Herikaku City’s passage. Although, at this point, it would not have been impossible to forcibly tear open Yomi Hirazaka with Supreme God power and return to the human realm, Lily feared that such a disturbance would rival an ancient, cataclysmic earthquake, causing countless innocent casualties. Moreover, that method would take time. Traveling from below along an existing route was faster.

After all, Cherry Blossom Valley lay near Mount Fuji.

“Madam!” Wakarai bowed with notable composure. “How would we dare make things difficult for you? We used this formation only to ask Madam to spare us some time. There are certain matters we wish to ask clearly.”

“Ask clearly?” Izanami replied coldly. “I have no interest in answering you today. Release the formation at once. Each of you, get as far away from me as you can. When I have time, I will summon you myself.”

“S-See, I told you!” the second brother, Kairai, said haltingly. “If we didn’t use the Heavenlock Formation, she definitely wouldn’t bother with us! Madam, today, I a-advise you to still give us an explanation, so everyone doesn’t lose face.”

“Madam!” Wakarai raised his voice. “Since you are our master, and we Eight Thunder Gods were once your capable generals, fighting and dying for you, why did you turn your back on us for the sake of a mere human woman? You broke your promise and even took action against me, Kurorai, and Fushirai for that woman! Why, exactly, was that!?”

“Yes! What is the reason!?”

“What reason!?”

The Eight Thunder Gods pressed forward, their voices overlapping.

Izanami replied icily, “Blame yourselves for breaking away from my rule back then, coveting power in Yomi and setting yourselves up as independent overlords. I failed to cleanse you in time. Since you chose to leave me, how do you still have the face to accuse me of wronging you? As for Lily, Wakarai, do you not feel ashamed bringing her up again? Who was it that repeatedly broke their promises?”

“You can’t put it like that,” Fushirai said sharply. “Yes, Lily looks strong, but there hasn’t been an official match yet. The three-year pact hasn’t arrived. How can you be so sure that the Celestial Stage expert we sent couldn’t defeat her?”

“That’s right! An agreement is an agreement! No matter how strong that woman is, you were the one who broke it! Give us an explanation!”

“Give us an explanation!”

The Thunder Gods shouted in unison, lightning raging violently between heaven and earth.

Izanami understood clearly that since the Eight Thunder Gods had already deployed the Heavenlock Formation, all these so-called accusations were merely pretexts. What truly interested her was just how far these creatures had decayed in Yomi, and exactly how shameless they could become.

“Fine,” she said coldly. “What kind of explanation do you want?”

“Ideally, you would hand over Lily, so my worthy younger brother Wakarai may calm his heart,” said the bald, white-bearded, powerfully built elder, the leader of the Eight Thunder Gods, Orai. “But since Lily has already been sent away by you, Madam will surely say that even you cannot bring her back from the mortal world, correct?”

At that moment, a vicious glint flashed through Wakarai’s eyes. He sensed that during the standoff, Madam was also slowly recovering her strength. Although a Great Imperial God’s power, after such massive expenditure, might not fully recover even in decades, Madam’s methods were far too unpredictable. He could not allow her time to stall.

Wakarai bared his fangs. “Madam, since everyone knows that Lily cannot be handed over, then as the saying goes, the mother answers for the daughter. Since you are her mother, we can only trouble you instead.”

“Ha?” Madam let out a bewitching laugh. “What did you just say? When I took you in, you were nothing but a naked brat without a single hair grown. And you dare say something like that to me? Hehehe, your appetite is far too big. Be careful you don’t choke yourself to death.”

“Hehehe, Madam misunderstands,” Wakarai said, his tone suddenly respectful. “How would I dare offend Madam? In my heart, you have always been a revered elder, a great goddess. But after this incident, us eight brothers have utterly lost face in Yomi. It would be one thing if only I were humiliated, but my eldest brother is highly respected, my second brother honest and straightforward, and the others—how will they ever hold their heads up in Yomi again? If that happens, how are we Eight Thunder Gods to establish ourselves there? How are we to rule over our territory?”

“Madam, given your exalted status, we dare not ask for much,” Wakarai continued. “We only ask that Madam grant each of the eight brothers one Dotsu Divine Artifact, and that you marry one of those two women—Rakshasa-Onna or Asura-Onna—to my brother Fushirai, whose lower body has suffered severe injuries.”

Izanami’s gaze froze like ice. “Wakarai, what did you say?”

“Madam!” Wakarai’s voice carried overwhelming pressure. “I’m not finished yet. Beyond that, we will gather all the powerful figures and overlords of Yomi. Madam, you will publicly apologize to me, Wakarai, before the myriad demons of Yomi!”

“……”

“Of course, we wouldn’t force an existence like Madam to kneel before me. That would be far too much for us brothers to bear,” Wakarai added with a grin. “Madam only needs to stand and offer an apology, and that will suffice. If Madam fulfills these three conditions, then this matter will end there.” Standing atop the mountain peak, he looked down at Izanami with reckless arrogance. “Consider this an explanation for you letting my wife go and betraying our Eight Thunder Gods. What do you say?”

Izanami’s entire body trembled, her face deathly pale. At the moment when she was at her weakest, she had never imagined that the Eight Thunder Gods would utter such monstrously rebellious words.