Rain still persisted at the dawn of the next morning. However, the girls didn’t know that the rain had seized its downpour on the other side of the mountain.
“Why is it still raining?” Ui stood at the entrance of the cave and grumbled.
“Since you dislike the overcast weather, aren’t you going to find a way to leave this island?” Lily asked.
“What’s the hurry? You’ll be handed over to Big Brother Tamurakonoe when we leave here. You should hope that we’ll never be able to leave.” Ui turned around while resting her hands on her hips.
“Yeah, yeah; it’s better to detain me here forever, right?” Lily replied in a perfunctory tone, her chest clearly undulating.
Ui approached Lily while frowning slightly, “Kagami Lily, don’t forget your current position. I always feel that you don’t respect me very much!”
A faint smirk bloomed on Lily’s face, gracing her in an elegant aura, “Oh, really?”
“Yes!” Ui scowled, “They say that women need to be spanked every day. Is your skin itching for some punishment?”
“Where do you get these strange arguments? Are you not a woman yourself?” Lily fumed.
Ui glanced outside the cave, listening to the sound of the pattering rain. She then turned around to gently stroke Lily’s silky hair, “What should today’s reward be?”
A sudden idea sparked in her mind, “How about we play horseback riding?!”
“What?” Lily was startled.
“Uh…” Just then, a strange presence tingled their senses at the same time. They both stared at the entrance of the cave where a translucent silver samurai stood dauntingly.
The tachi and armor equipped by the strange samurai were unlike those of the Heian Dynasty. They closely resembled the textbook depictions from Lily’s memory of her original world— only a bit more simple and primitive but boasting a unique ancient charm.
Ui was a little irked by the samurai’s sudden appearance because he ruined her ‘good’ plans.
Her kendama wasn’t efficient in enclosed spaces like the cave so she opted for Lily’s Crescent Moon instead.
“What kind of demon are you? I recommend you retreat quickly before you die.” Ui unsheathed Crescent Moon and pointed it towards the samurai spirit.
“How dare foreigners intrude upon the holy land. Kill!” The ancient samurai looked dull and stiff, seeming no different from the undead warriors commonly seen in the Heian Dynasty. He brandished his translucent sword as he slowly staggered forwards.
“I guess it’s useless to threaten someone with death when they have already died countless years ago.”
The samurai spirit was only a fifth stage Awakened so Ui didn’t put him in her eyes. She casually approached while studying his figure.
The samurai was about 1.9 meters tall, and the long tachi measured a little over a meter long.
When the distance between the two shortened, Ui simply raised the katana, intending to kill the weak opponent instantly. Although she wasn’t skilled in using katanas, she was confident that she could overwhelm her opponent using pure strength.
Lily, on the other hand, felt that something was off the more she observed the samurai spirit.
“Disappear—!” Ui roused her spiritual energy and slashed towards the samurai.
The samurai spirit retaliated with a swing of his own, though it wasn’t very fast.
Suddenly, Lily sensed some strange fluctuations that disturbed the stability of her soul. Realizing the danger, she quickly shouted, “Be careful!”
“Uh?”
Instead of colliding, Crescent Moon unexpectedly fazed through the samurai’s sword and body as if an illusion. Without any obstruction, the samurai’s phantom-like sword also passed through Ui’s body, causing no signs of physical injury.
But…
“Ah—!!!” Ui issued a shrill scream and jumped back violently, clutching her lower abdomen with one hand. When she landed on the ground, she was unable to stand and fell directly onto her knees. Although her face was pale and clearly contorted in pain, no wounds could be seen on her body; not even her clothes were torn.
Despite her seemingly unharmed body, Ui dug her fingers into the dirt while using one hand to cover her belly. Droplets of sweat fell from her forehead, and trembling moans constantly escaped her lips.
“W-what kind of attack is this? Ah, I obviously didn’t get cut so why does it hurt so much…?” Ui wailed miserably, causing saliva to flow uncontrollably down her chin.
Lily’s pupils shrank, “Could this be…”
At this moment, Kagura who hadn’t spoken for a long time cautioned Lily from inside the mirror, “Master, this is a soul attack! Don’t underestimate that ancient samurai spirit. He may look weak, but his body isn’t an ordinary spirit body, but a phantom soul body. Normal attacks and weapons won’t hurt him, and his sword cannot be blocked by armor or spiritual defense, nor can it physically injure your body. His attacks directly target and wound the soul!”
“Kagura, I thought you were going to stay asleep inside the mirror!”
“Master, no need to say anymore. Yuki-Onna and I didn’t want to spoil Master’s good time with that little girl so we didn’t interrupt. Don’t worry, we drove the dog into the storage room so he couldn’t see anything.” Kagura said.
“What do you mean by spoiling my good time?!” Lily couldn’t help shouting directly.
The pain-ridden Ui turned to look at Lily with a doubtful look. However, she had little attention to spare at this moment.
The ancient samurai spirit slowly walked towards her, raising its sword and slashing down mercilessly. Usually, such a slow attack wouldn’t pose any threat to the agile Ui, but the constant stabs of pain in her soul hindered any controlled movements. She could only roll to the side in a panic, causing the phantom-like sword to sweep through her calf without hints of any harm.
“Master, as long as the phantom soul sword doesn’t hit the location of your soul, you won’t suffer any injuries. Of course, there’s no guarantee that the residual energy from the sword won’t affect your spirit palace!” Kagura reminded.
“Then, how can I destroy that samurai spirit?” Lily asked.
“Ordinary attacks cannot damage the phantom soul body even when paired with spiritual energy. The only ones that can damage the phantom soul body are other phantom soul bodies, a spirit body, or something with attack power characteristic of the soul. Master should keep in mind that while a spirit body can be annihilated by spirit energy, a phantom soul body is a pure soul-level existence that is unaffected by spiritual energy.” Kagura explained.
Just as she finished speaking, the ancient samurai spirit looked over at Lily before walking in her direction.
Lily’s hands were still tied behind her back so her movements were restricted somewhat. She intensified her focus and sat motionlessly, waiting for the perfect moment to roll and avoid the slash. Although her hands were tied, it was relatively easy to dodge such a low-level attack.
Lily tumbled towards Yasutsuna that was leaning against the cave wall and bit onto its hilt.
“Master, that ancient samurai spirit doesn’t seem to have an evil aura so Yasutsuna’s evil-slaying power won’t work on him!”
Lily was unable to speak since the katana occupied her mouth so she conveyed her thoughts through the mirror, “Got it!”
“Demon hound, come out!”
Lily tightly bit onto the hilt of Yasutsuna and flicked it forwards, causing the blade to spark with a dazzling radiance. Wisps of scarlet resentment condensed and materialized into a phantasmal white dog that pounced towards the ancient samurai spirit. Its translucent claws dug into the samurai’s armor with a sonorous ‘clink’ and sent chips scattering everywhere. Due to the impact, the samurai spirit was knocked to the ground.
The ancient samurai spirit reacted clumsily, wanting to stab the demon hound but failed. The demon hound easily outpaced the samurai’s movements and pushed him to the ground again, mauling viciously. Pieces of armor flaked about and limbs were violently torn apart, slowly dissipating into the air.
“Foreigners…hateful foreigners shall never invade the holy land! Destroy… foreigners…”
Even as the samurai’s soul scattered into dots of light, his remaining hand twitched and trembled with the will to fight.
The demon hound grabbed the mostly intact arm which held stubbornly onto the tachi and intended to rip it apart.
“Wait a minute!” Lily shouted.
The demon hound looked at Lily suspiciously with the hand still munched between its jaws.
This thing might be useful, Lily thought greedily.
“Demon Hound, bring that arm back!”
Lily connected to the mirror space using No-Thought where the demon hound also returned.
After the demon hound appeared in the mirror space, it dropped the arm and sword onto the ground which drew curious gazes from Kagura and Yuki-Onna.
Lily nodded in satisfaction upon confirming the successful transfer of the phantom soul sword into the mirror space.
Meanwhile, Ui leaned weakly against the wall of the cave, pain racking her features.
She still retained some surprise at the scene just now, “What is that? Is it a shikigami?”
“That’s the embodiment of my cursed katana’s resentment,” Lily answered while loosening the ropes binding her hands. She took advantage of the time between Ui’s soul injury and the demon hound’s fight to free herself using Restraint Release.
Lily also conveniently stored the celestial undergarment and her Crescent Moon inside the mirror space.
Ui was helpless to do anything. Although she was physically unharmed, the damage to her soul consequently weakened her body and blurred her concentration when channeling spiritual energy.
Lily pointed Yasutsuna at Ui’s neck.
Though cornered against the wall, Ui’s eyes still burned with unrelenting stubbornness, “Mirror Girl, don’t get too cocky. Your body is still afflicted with the Flower Rain Cursed Seal. If you kill me, you’ll suffer a fate more tragic than death! You still have to listen to my orders, otherwise, I won’t give you a reward. Lower your sword immediately!”
“Ui, don’t forget who saved you just now.” Lily looked at her calmly.
“Hmph, you only saved yourself. If I die, your curse will act up and no one will be able to save you— you’ll become a madwoman!” Ui’s face was pale but she retorted defiantly.
“Tamamo, the head of the three demons of the Heian Dynasty, is known for her unpredictability and cunning nature. How do you know that she didn’t sell you a fake spell?” Lily sneered, “How about I take a gamble and kill you?”
“How is that possible?! I’m not qualified to make dealings with Tamamo-no-Mae at my current level. I got it from a reputable black market merchant in the Sinless Domain. It’s absolutely impossible for him to sell me fake things. Mirror Girl, are you stupid?” Ui’s voice trembled with a bit of nervousness. Although she believed in the seller’s credibility, it wasn’t 100% reliable. At this moment, she was unsure of what to do.
“Hehehehe,” Lily daintily twisted her waist and blossomed into laughter, “I’m kidding, you don’t need to take it seriously~”
