Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 11 - Yamata no Orochi: Chapter 65 – From Heaven To Hell

The lightning bolt, resembling a golden ray severed from the sun, lacked a discernible start or finish. It pierced through the enormous Ship of Ascension effortlessly.

With a deafening explosion, the vast ship disintegrated

¹ instantaneously

²!

Beneath her, the ground swiftly gave way, and a dreadfully powerful force catapulted Lily into the air

³.

Her world spun chaotically, the sky clouded with smoke, and fragments of the Ship of Ascension drifted before her. Countless figures were hurled skywards.

Amidst this formidable force, feeble cries reverberated through the sky. Fierce winds and shockwaves enveloped Lily, as she sensed numerous souls, akin to fading stars, vanishing sequentially.

The lightning’s residual energy jolted Lily’s frame, disorienting her completely.

Yanked downwards by an overwhelming force, Lily began her descent!

With her fall accelerating, the tumultuous wind tore at Lily’s garments and unraveled her hair, embodying the violent rush of air that accompanied her rapid descent.

Both her inner spiritual energy and the power of her soul world proved futile against the force.

The murky gray clouds, akin to towering deities in the expansive sky, stretched their limbs, each glaring fiercely at the plummeting girl, as if she were a mere flower petal descending from Takamagahara.

Lily’s descent persisted, far removed from the vanished fragments of the destroyed ship and its numerous inhabitants.

Alone, she faced an interminable fall.

Breaking through the dark, oppressive clouds, she unveiled the terminus of the immense sea. Here, seawater plunged like a colossal waterfall into an infinite chasm.

The sea transformed into a turbulent mist under the scalding heat, revealing a sprawling void below, its contents hidden beneath the fog.

Plummeting into the immense mist, Lily had descended thousands of kilometers below sea level, her fall unceasingly extending further.

Beyond the mist, green mountains and rocks faintly emerged, veiled in gray. It appeared Lily had descended into an enormous ravine.

Shrouded in unrelenting darkness, Lily was blind to her surroundings, feeling only the intensifying heat of the mist and the oppressive force of gravity tearing at her.

A sudden rush of wind heralded her emergence from the darkness.

Emerging from the void after what felt like an eternity, Lily found herself in a new and forbidding realm.

Lily descended into a dimly illuminated world, marked by flickers of fire, weaving rivers of lava, and countless barren mountains.

Massive stone pillars, each stretching thousands of kilometers tall, connected this realm to the dark, rocky heavens above.

Observing the specks of fire below, Lily felt as though she was gazing upon a colossal, deserted city from afar, or witnessing the scorched remnants of a world reduced to ashes.

Struggling to control her body, Lily found that even the power of her soul world was insufficient to decelerate her fall.

Time stretched on indeterminably once more.

With a thunderous impact, Lily collided with a massive black mountain, tumbling down its fractured slope strewn with heated rocks, ricocheting through mountain gaps until she came to rest at its base.

Despite her clothes being in tatters and her black stockings punctured with numerous holes, Lily’s porcelain skin was left untouched, shielded by her potent spiritual energy that absorbed the brunt of the impact against the rugged terrain.

What deeply unnerved her was the bolt of lightning and the harrowing force that seemed to rip through her as she plummeted.

Indeed, while Lily’s garments were severely damaged, barely concealing her form, they were no ordinary attire. Had they been less remarkable, she would have been completely stripped by the descent.

Nearby, on the slope of a rocky hill, a diminutive demon traversed upside down. Catching sight of Lily, his bright yellow eyes gleamed even more intensely.

He bared his pale white teeth, showing a grimace that was more horrifying than any smile.

The diminutive demon, with its dark gray complexion and curved spine, constantly propped up a wooden frame with its stubby legs. Adorned with a talisman, the frame concealed its broad and muscular back. A closer look revealed that its body was supported by four stout hands, each resembling the segments of a lotus root, as it moved.

Utilizing his legs, he extracted a frayed piece of yellow parchment from the frame, upon which was depicted a female samurai in red, clutching a parasol. Her image exuded a mix of allure and charm, yet it was rendered in a style more crude and suggestive than the dignified wanted posters of Takamagahara.

Nonetheless, the content of the poster remained identical.

“Ranked as the 99th most sought-after criminal and the blade maiden of disaster in a world of chaos, Mirror Girl Lily. A bounty of 10,000 Blood Spirit Magatamas has been declared.”

“Impossible…” the diminutive demon muttered, “I was drawn here by a booming sound in the mountains, thinking a treasure had emerged. Never did I imagine I’d find a spectacle far surpassing any jewel.”

“Could it truly be her? The enchanting deity depicted in the artwork has descended into Yomi? Even from afar, her beauty surpasses even that of her portrayal!”

“After centuries of dedication, the mere sight, let alone the thought of such breathtaking beauty, was beyond my wildest dreams! It’s clear why her bounty issued by Takamagahara stirred such commotion in Yomi.”

“Yet, who could have predicted… Hehehe, that such an exquisite goddess would find her way into our domain of Yomi. Hehehe, hehehehehehe!”

Observing Lily as she struggled to rise, her every movement imbued with an ineffable grace that could captivate any onlooker, the demon remained wary. Knowing she was deemed worthy of Takamagahara’s wanted list, even at rank ninety-nine, signaled she was a force he couldn’t reckon with. Any hasty approach on his part spelled certain doom.

He silently withdrew behind the stones.

Unknown to him, concurrently, numerous malevolent gazes from at least seven or eight observers were surreptitiously watching Lily from behind the mountainsides and rocks.

The demons inhabiting this realm were exceedingly sly, with none daring to reveal themselves hastily.

Irrespective of their awareness of the bounty, the mere fact that an individual could descend from such heights while radiating a human woman’s aura indicated they were no ordinary being.

Exposing themselves would likely result in their demise.

Had Lily not been overwhelmed by dizziness, particularly exacerbated by the sweltering heat, she would have detected their presence much earlier. The shock from the recent impact was both severe and abrupt.

“Ugh..” Lily groaned softly as she gradually regained control over her body.

She softly brushed back her long hair and unconsciously adjusted the ripped section of her clothing, inadvertently exposing part of her chest. Subsequently, she rearranged her shredded skirt into some semblance of decency and hoisted her stockings up her pale thighs.

Only after these adjustments did she manage to rise to her feet slowly.

As the vertigo subsided, her vision cleared, stabilizing her perspective of the world.

Lily glanced around, murmuring, “Where… where am I?”

Though her voice was melodious, amidst the savage Land of Yomi, teeming with bloodthirsty demons, it resonated like a celestial hymn.

Merely a few words from her were enough to captivate the nearby demons and spirits, sparking malevolent intentions and aggressive urges within them. Nevertheless, the habitat of these demons in Yomi was far more perilous than the surface, instilling deep-seated caution within them.

Despite her beauty, this woman, marked on Takamagahara’s bounty list, was likely a harbinger of demise. None dared to reveal themselves carelessly, particularly with no one eager to make the first move. Nobody wished to squander their lives, thereby handing an advantage to any subsequent challengers.

The Land of Yomi brimmed with danger, deceit, and threats lurking at every turn!

Yet, it also brimmed with potential. Even the lowliest of demons could one day ascend to rule over Yomi!

Take, for instance, stumbling upon a female outlaw with a price on her head.

“Ah! Madam Shizuka Gozen, and everyone else!”

Lily’s memory flashed back to their recent voyage on the Ship of Ascension. She had been admiring the expansive, gloomy sky from the ship’s bow when, suddenly, two colossal figures, each towering over a hundred meters, materialized before her. One beat drums that summoned thunder, while the other hurled lightning, annihilating the Ship of Ascension instantaneously!

Fortunately, being at the ship’s bow placed her a safe distance from the lightning bolt that targeted the hull. While she felt its impact, it did not claim her life on the spot.

As for the others… Shizuka Gozen had been on the ship’s upper balcony!

The two giants were a horrifying sight, and that bolt of lightning surpassed any force Lily had previously witnessed!

Standing upon the wide, charred ground, her eyes mirrored the terror and disbelief that lingered within…

Shizuka Gozen, subjected to such a ferocious lightning assault, couldn’t possibly have… No!

Hadn’t their mission been to ascend to Takamagahara and beseech Amaterasu-Omikami?

Had they not adhered strictly to the mirror girls’ paramount quest, enduring untold hardships to construct a vessel for Takamagahara?

How did it come to this? Was the mirror girls’ mission a grand deception all along?!

“Lily!”

“Lily!”

In that moment, Lily’s senses began to sharpen, and she could discern calls emanating from the mirror space. It appeared these summons had persisted for an extended period, rendering her sisters’ voices noticeably strained.

Her sisters! At least they remained. She was eager to transition into the mirror space.

“Lily!” Nearly all her sisters were there. Upon Lily’s arrival, everyone visibly relaxed in relief.

Ayaka and Rei hurriedly stepped forward to grab Lily’s spirit body.

“Lily, what occurred?” Ayaka inquired with concern, “The sky darkened abruptly, accompanied by thunder and lightning above the clouds, then… all the transmission orbs and formation connections pre-established on the Ship of Ascension disconnected. We couldn’t reach Madam Shizuka Gozen at all, and even in the mirror space, your response was absent!”

“What truly transpired?” Rei questioned, gently shaking Lily.

Yet, Lily’s hair was in disarray, her demeanor reflecting a state of distraction.

“Lily… what ails you?” Ayaka, noting Lily’s troubled expression, couldn’t conceal her alarm. Kimiko, Shimizu, and the rest drew near, their concern evident.

In that moment, Lily yearned to weep; to seek solace in her sisters’ embrace and let her tears flow freely.

Yet, a fervent resolve blazed within her. Despite facing trials, deceit, and unfathomable loss, a steadfast voice within insisted: Lily, tears are not your recourse!

Faith in Takamagahara had been shattered! Her only reliance was on herself!

Suppressing her tears, sorrow, and trepidation, Lily spoke with a semblance of composure, “Upon ascending into the clouds, our vessel was besieged by two formidable entities from Takamagahara. It seems the gods intervened directly. The ship met its destruction, and aside from myself, the whereabouts and conditions of all others remain uncertain.”

“…”

A wave of shock, confusion, and disbelief washed over her sisters momentarily.

No one would doubt the authenticity of what Lily said, but this was too unbelievable.

“Lily, can you repeat that? Can all you’ve stated be factual?” Ayaka’s face took on a grave expression, her eyes brimming with sorrow. She clasped Lily’s hand firmly, seeking confirmation.

(End of Volume 11

⁴)

Footnotes:

Silva: Wao, several months of effort, destroyed in the blink of an eye

Robinxen: I seriously got stuck trying to work out if this should be “instantly” or not…

Silva: Lily falling from the sky, part 2

Robinxen: And on that bombshell…