The village chief continued, “Although Fujiwara no Ayaka was just a teenage girl back then, she already possessed extraordinary talents and had become a great onmyōji that can be considered the best in Heian-kyo. Her status within the Fujiwara clan was also pretty high and she sheltered our branch clan, allowing us to live in her house. Her house was pretty huge and brimmed with beauty and elegance. I remember that there was a huge white dog as well. However, it was impossible for our branch clan to remain in Heian-kyo forever and Lady Ayaka also couldn’t contend against the imperial family openly. Therefore, she made it possible for us to get escorted out of Heian-kyo secretly and come live in seclusion in these mountains all the way to the east. Although impoverished, we were at least able to keep on living safely.1”
“However, these days didn’t last long as a group of monsters arrived in the mountains and plundered our village as well as the fields that we worked so hard to cultivate. It wasn’t as if our branch clan had no means to resist back then. Our matriarch, Kimiko, arranged for us ordinary clansmen to hide within a cave and Lady Kimiko led the mirror girl samurai as well as the mirror maidens along with her daughter Keiko to leave the village and have a decisive battle with the monsters.”
“However, our livelihood was doomed as a result of this battle. When I returned to check the village along with the man whose task was to defend the clansmen, we discovered that all the mirror girl samurai and mirror maidens had died. Even Lady Kimiko had… Lady Kimiko’s daughter, Keiko, alone managed to survive, but s-she… I couldn’t believe my eyes back then! She was actually together with the monsters! And she was even joking together with them in front of the bloodied, white-dressed corpse of her mother that was hung at the entrance of the village… sob…sob…”
Even the village chief failed to prevent her eyes from shedding tears after speaking until here, “Lady Kimiko’s death was too tragic. She fought to her dying breath in order to protect the clansmen, yet she was murdered cruelly by the monsters and had uncountable blade wounds on her body. As for her daughter, she was actually together with the monsters without the slightest injury! Keiko surrendered to the monsters in order to preserve her life and even though Keiko was a samurai woman as formidable as her mother, she didn’t fight to the very end like her mother and was only interested in saving her neck.”
“The monsters came chasing towards the cave we were hidden in quite quickly after Keiko betrayed us, so we were forced to carry as little baggage as possible along with the legacy books and scrolls. The old and young, both fled towards the depths of the cave and arrived in space, but the tunnel of the cave was then blocked by the monsters!”
“The monsters didn’t kill us to the last and instead forced us to do labor for them. The men were sent to excavate tunnels while the women were sent to serve them. They even… this still wasn’t enough to satisfy them, so they send some vicious monsters to invade the village and eat humans sometimes!” The village chief began to tremble while speaking2.
“What?!” Yoriko, who had been listening alongside until now, shuddered all over, and looked at the village chief with astonishment, “Don’t tell me that the women who went inside the tunnels to gather fruits and the men who went out to hunt actually…”
“How would a cave without sunlight have enough fruits and prey to sustain a whole village? It was a result of men’s labor as well as the women who served the monsters… A lot of people died from either exhaustion or humiliation…” The village chief stated with a gloomy expression.
Yoriko leaned back against the shelf crudely and knocked down a few books and scrolls before directing a blank gaze towards the village chief, “Why? Why didn’t you tell me this?”
“Yoriko, you are Lady Kimiko’s niece and the final bearer of the mirror girl progenitor bloodline in our branch clan. This is the reason we hid it from you until now, because we were afraid that you would fight those monsters to the death if you knew about it.”
Yoriko got up angrily, “I’m going to go fight those monsters to the death right now! There’s no way I am going to spend my life living like livestock under the fear of the monsters like the other villagers! What’s the difference between us and that woman if we act like this?!”
Yoriko grabbed her pike and intended to rush out but a powerful yet gentle hand caught Yoriko’s arm promptly.
“What are you doing?!” Yoriko turned around and found Lily looking at her coldly while grabbing her.
“Let me go! I said, let me go!” Yoriko tried to struggle free, but she discovered that although Lily’s hand wasn’t holding onto her arm tightly, no matter how hard she struggled, she failed to move to hand by even an inch.
“Sit down,” Lily stated silently.
Yoriko was unable to resist Lily, so she sat down unwillingly and dropped the pike to the ground before sobbing while covering her face, “Why?! Why aren’t you letting me go fight those monsters?!”
Lily stated calmly, “Can you defeat those monsters? Why do you want to forfeit your teenage life in vain?”
Yoriko lifted her head and replied with tears flowing down her face, “Although I’ve only lived for less than two decades, I’ve at least seen sunlight once. However, what about Yoshika and Yoshimaru? They had never ever seen what the sun looks like! Yoshimaru is long dead and can’t see sunlight anymore, but what about Yoshika? Is she supposed to live a purposeless life in this darkness and serve the monsters after growing up in the future? You’ve seen Yoshika, Lynne. Are you telling me that I can only sit back and watch as an innocent girl like her is forced to bear such a fate?!”
“Yoriko…” Lily didn’t know what to say for a while.
Around the same time, inside the hilltop temple thousands of meters above the house where Lily and the rest were inside.
Amanojaku was in the middle of drinking wine smugly while sitting on the couch while Haihime poured wine for this short-heighted yet extremely valiant monster.
Although Haihime was pretty strong, there was a considerable gap in strength between her and Amanojaku.
Amanojaku was an early Permanence Stage powerhouse.
Although the gap between the Permanence Stage and Spirit Jade Stage was just a single realm, there was a world of difference between them in terms of strength. Furthermore, the Amanojaku demons were the possessors of a highly unnatural bloodline amongst the demons, which was the very reason they dared to call themselves Amanojaku that held the meaning of Heavenly Evil Spirit!
As for Mt. Fuji’s Amanojaku, he possessed powerful raw strength and also carried a huge fear-inducing scroll on his back! It was an item that Haihime didn’t even dare to look at though she was beside him right now.
Although he possessed a short stature amongst the demons, no one else except Lord Kamakura possessed the means to stop Amanojaku in all of East.
Even Amanojaku had become drunk after a few glasses of wine and ran his scarlet eyes over Haihime’s gentle and beautiful body. He itched to savor its taste since a long time ago, but a powerhouse on his level naturally possessed the ability to look at the big picture. Anyhow, he would have his way with her a few days later, so he wasn’t in a hurry.
“Haihime,” Amanojaku held the wine cup and said, “I heard that you’ve been associating closely with the chiefs of the major demons tribes like the cauldron demons and scarlet-eyed demons recently?”
Haihime shuddered all over and said, “Not at all. I’ve just been associating with them normally. It’s mainly to carry out your orders, Lord Amanojaku.”
“Is that so? Although you and I have the status of a married couple, I couldn’t really have you all these years. You didn’t do anything depraved shamelessly behind my back, right?” Amanojaku stared at Haihime’s cleavage viciously.
“H-How could I…”
“Hmph! The monsters who coveted you have all become skulls on this necklace of mine. However, it’s just that I haven’t killed that many monsters recently. You really haven’t betrayed me, right?”
“Not at all,” Haihime stated quite embarrassedly.
“Well, then. Let me check that thing again in that case,” Amanojaku stated while directing his gaze towards Haihime’s crotch.
“Eh?” Haihime felt extremely humiliated immediately, “I will become yours in the truest sense in a few days, so is there a need to check it again now…?”
“It’s not like I am without worries. Also, you’ve been mine since long ago, so it’s just been a matter of when I shall have you! The reason why I’m waiting until that day is because of the noble bloodline of my Golden-Horned Tribe. What has it to do with you? Come on now, let me look at it quickly!” Amanojaku seemed pretty drunk and chugged down yet another cupful of wine.
Haihime wore an extremely humiliated expression but sighed helplessly in the end. She got up, undid her sash and lifted the hem of her kimono towards both sides.
The region between her fair legs was hidden by a T-shaped undergarment consisting of a considerably thick horizontal and vertical leather strap that safeguarded her secret zone closely and the shattered mirror piece was also fastened to it. Furthermore, the joint linking the two leather straps also had a very firm brass button with a keyhole on it.
Amanojaku felt contented after seeing this thing in good condition and fished out a tiny key from his waist, fiddling with it in his hands, and grinned salaciously, “Hmph! You belong to me, Keiko. You’re mine. Hahahaha. I will open all of you with my own hands pretty soon!”
Haihime lowered her flushing head and kept her kimono’s hem raised to say the following words while bearing the humiliation, “Amanojaku. I will satisfy all of that you desire, so please don’t forget what you promised me.
“Promise?” Amanojaku’s scarlet eyes opened wide, “What promise?”
“What?” Haihime’s vision turned dark and her face paled as if she were enduring some kind of ultimate disgust and humiliation while shuddering.
“Hahahaha! Hahahahaha! Haihime oh Haihime, don’t get so angry now, will you? I was just joking with you, my dear wife. How could I forget that promise? I shall honor my promise to you properly on the day we become one with each other without fail!” A vicious glint flashed through Amanojaku’s eyes when he stated this.
Haihime sighed in relief and laid down her kimono’s hem.
“Come pour me another cup of wine,” Amanojaku commanded.
“Yes.”
Around this time, within the house in the underground space.
The village chief had returned to rest because of her age while Lily thumbed through the contents of the ancient foundational swordstyle.
“Could this be… the reason I found it difficult to progress past the seventh stage of Tsukuyomi Swordstyle’s first segment? I felt that something was lacking, but I didn’t know what exactly it was until now. It’s possible that my corresponding foundation wasn’t firm enough!”
Lily felt enlightened after realizing this and placed down the scroll to go outside.
“Hey…” Yoriko didn’t know why Lily had got up suddenly, so she went out as well and observed her from the doorway.
“Clang!” Lily drew her katana out and a bright light flashed through the dark world accompanied by a cry.
“Ah!” Yoriko’s heart pounded intensely as she gasped for air. It was her first time seeing such a draw in her whole life. Although it was something that she had seen before and the first movement of the foundational swordstyle practiced by the mirror girls countless times using a wooden sword, what they performed was a movement while what Lily executed was true swordplay!
That fierceness, determination, obsession and sword intent just made Yoriko feel as if Lily’s sword was the extension of her will!
Human and sword, heaven and earth, it seemed as if everything seemed to mobilize under her with her as the center in this instant!
Lily began practicing meticulously in accordance with the foundational swordstyle and although Lily possessed extraordinary strength, she acted like a modest novice who had just begun learning the sword recently at this moment and immersed herself in executing this simplest and basic sword art passionately.
Lily’s posture, realm, and the rhythm between successive movements seemed as if they were the incarnation of the sword moves within that ancient book.
It was as if the dancing movements had simply come alive to play the fluid and beautiful sword score!
“So… this is what the Mirror Girl Swordstyle really is…” Yoriko ran short of breath and became utterly intoxicated in appreciating Lily’s swordplay.
As for Lily, she had also become completely immersed in the beauty of this basic and simple swordplay and didn’t even notice that Yoriko had become utterly attracted by her swordplay3.
Lily was immersed in the world where only she and the sword existed.
