Demon Sword Maiden

“Your Majesty!” Lily sensed that this matter concealed unimaginable secrets. Perhaps the queen was right—it might be better for her not to know right now, but in the future, she would need to know.

“Please tell me the truth! I know Your Majesty is doing this for my good, but while I can wait, my sisters out there cannot! I can’t let them continue to take dangerous risks in ignorance, and my… sweetheart, I don't know how long she can last! Your Majesty, please tell me!” Lily’s eyes were filled with determination.

“You… I’ve already told you so much, don’t you understand? Since you have fallen into Yomi, don’t think about returning to the mortal world—it’s impossible! Even if I tell you, it will only plunge your heart into darkness, making your journey in Yomi even more dangerous. What’s the point of telling you? Do you still not understand?”

“I understand Your Majesty’s concern, but… I’m sorry, I’ve kept one thing hidden from you.”

“What?” The queen’s eyes narrowed with fury.

But for Lily, even at the risk of angering the queen, this truth had to be spoken.

“Your Majesty, my real name is Kagami Lily. Right before I landed in Yomi, my name appeared on Takamagahara’s bounty list. The moment I arrived here, I was chased and pursued from all directions. I was almost captured or killed multiple times! Even if you don’t tell me the secret, I’m already in great danger! As soon as I leave the Female Queendom, I will be hunted by many forces!”

“Takamagahara’s bounty list?” The queen’s eyes flared with anger and surprise.

She raised a hand, grabbed Lily, and pressed her down onto the ground, pressing a thigh against Lily’s stomach while pinning her wrists and head.

“You little liar! Don’t push too far! Do you think the Female Queendom is so remote that those carrying the bounty list cannot reach it? You still dare talk nonsense? With your limited power, how could you end up on the bounty list? Do you think you can trick me? How many of your words are true? Even your name is fake!”

“Your Majesty, I’m not lying!”

“With your limited strength, how could you escape Yomi’s pursuit? How could you escape?”

“That’s because…” Lily suddenly realized how much she had lied to the queen, feeling a deep sense of shame.

“Your Majesty, can you please release me first?”

The queen wasn’t worried Lily would escape. With her methods, there was nothing Lily could do. So she released her.

Lily got up, her face crimson. She took a few steps back, knelt before the queen, and buried her head in shame.

“Your Majesty, before I confess everything, please punish me severely. I feel so much shame! If I am not punished, I won’t feel at ease!”

“…First tell me, then I will decide if you need punishment.”

“Yes…” Lily raised her head and began to recount the shameful story of how she was rescued by Rakshasa-Onna, how she was held prisoner and forced into the Night Parade of One Hundred Maidens, and how her arrival in the Female Queendom was a test, with her status as a slave being a deception.

Lily knew that confessing was a great danger, but it was also a gamble. It wasn’t that Rakshasa-Onna would deliberately put her in danger, but from what she had observed, the queen and generals of the Female Queendom were likely fallen celestial maidens from Takamagahara. If she didn’t confess the truth, the queen might never reveal the truth to her!

Compared to Rakshasa-Onna, Lily was more willing to trust in Chiya and the queen!

The queen couldn’t help but slap Lily across the face. In her anger, she slapped Lily to the ground. Lily remained lying on the ground, accepting the hit without any anger.

“You! You…! How many of your words are true? You say you were forced to do this, but your behavior! How is it different from a spy!? If there were a third person present, I would have been forced to execute you!” The queen shook with anger.

“Since I have confessed everything, I am prepared to suffer for it. To prevent my sisters from walking cluelessly into danger, for my sweetheart who is in endless sleep…”

“Ah… you… you… why are you so foolish? Your sisters, your sweetheart, are they really more important than your own life?”

“Yes! My sisters are the reason I fight! My senior sister, she is the reason for my existence! My everything!”

The queen stared at Lily in a daze. There are so many lovers in the world, but most would escape and flee when disaster struck. How many would walk towards death without regrets out of foolish love? Wasn’t Lily’s infatuation so very similar to her own?

The queen couldn’t help but sigh.

“…I really don’t know what to say. Rakshasa, you said?”

“Lynne, although your crime is infuriating, Rakshasa-Onna has once again orchestrated the Night Parade of One Hundred Maidens to make the women of Yomi suffer. Even women like you are forced into it. It’s hateful!”

The queen pulled Lily up and gently traced a finger over her bruised cheek. “Does it hurt? Did I hit you too hard?”

“No, Your Majesty, I deserve to be hit…”

“Yes, you deserve to be hit, but thinking it over calmly, the main culprit is Rakshasa-Onna. You are also a victim. Although you have repeatedly deceived me, for your sweetheart, you really had no choice. If it were me, I would have done the same… only, you should have told me everything earlier. You wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.” The queen looked at Lily’s red cheek with a mix of anger and concern.

“Your Majesty, the Heian Dynasty is shrouded in darkness. My sisters and I worked so hard to ascend to Takamagahara, but the result was disastrous. I fell into Yomi and was hunted by tens of thousands of demons. Your Majesty, please tell me the truth. I don't know where we went wrong. Why? Why do my sweetheart and I have to be treated like this… sobs…”

This time, she sobbed into the queen’s lap, feeling utterly lost.

“Lynne, do you really want to know?” The queen stroked Lily’s long hair. Lily’s cries stirred up old, painful memories, filling the queen with sadness.

“Your Majesty, please tell me, please tell me the truth!” Lily wiped away her tears and got up. No matter how weak or wronged she felt, she had to be strong and accept everything.

“Lynne, I didn’t want to tell you to protect you, but your determination is stronger than I thought. Since you have risked execution to confess, perhaps… I should give you the choice.”

The queen stood up and, with a wave of her hand, a luxurious light blue long-sleeved kimono appeared on her body.

The queen’s demeanor and gaze were filled with sadness.

“Lynne, before I tell you the truth, I must give you a warning. Even if you know the truth, you won’t be able to escape Yomi. It won’t help your sisters escape danger, nor will it save the mortals of the world. The truth can plunge you into never-ending despair! Like me… you might lose all thoughts of practice, you might feel that living in such a dark future is unbearable, and that it would be better to die and live in self-deception. You may choose to end it all rather than watch your loved ones leave one by one. Even so… Kagami Lily, do you want to hear the truth?”

A terrifying wind blew through the room, making Kaguya’s silver hair and long-sleeved kimono flap in the now chilly and murky air.

Lily felt unprecedented pressure pushing her down into a pit of darkness where only ignorance could bring short-term happiness. Never! She refused to pity herself, the lonely and withered celestial maiden, nor did she fear the ghosts and demons of Yomi. She was the girl with the parasol, marching forward with the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons!

“I, Kagami Lily, have come to this world to awaken my senior sister. I want to go home with her!”

Lily raised her head, her eyes shining with determination. With a wave of her hand, a white robe appeared around her body. She glowed in the night, illuminating the room like moonlight.

“Your Majesty, I beg you, tell me!” Lily implored, without hesitation or fear.

Who said Yomi had no moon? As long as she was here, there would be no true darkness!

“Lily…” The queen was shaken by Lily’s determination and the energy she radiated. Although it was weak, she no longer hesitated.

Kaguya walked to the door and opened it, gazing at the night sky.

"Lily, listen carefully. It has been an incredibly long time since Amaterasu-Ōmikami responded to the prayers of living beings. Thousands of years ago, during that cataclysmic battle, Takamagahara’s Prime Battle Goddess Tsukuyomi vanished… she might have… fallen1."

Kaguya’s words seemed to be drenched in sorrow as she stood there, saying nothing more.

Lily felt time freeze, as if years were withering away in an instant. It was as though thousands of years were passing in a single moment.

Her eyes were bright yet vacant, her mouth open in silent disbelief…

Amaterasu-Ōmikami hasn’t answered the prayers of living beings for ages?

Tsukuyomi no Mikoto. Lily had no right to meet her, but she had been following the goddess’ guidance. It could be said that her true mentor was the great goddess herself. Tsukuyomi no Mikoto had gone missing in that battle thousands of years ago? She could have… already fallen?

Then… what had been the purpose of all their efforts? The destiny of the mirror girls, their prayers to Takamagahara, and the thunder retribution at Mount Izumo—what did it all mean?

Lily remained kneeling, momentarily forgetting everything—who she was, what she wanted to do…