From outside the interrogation hall, flashes of lightning could be seen, a cold damp wind blew in.
“Boom——” The reverberation of thunder shook the hall.
“What a good deduction! You can use inference as evidence?” Lily questioned.
“No, no matter what, I saw with my own eyes, you murder my lady, and then infered!” The old woman forced a reason.
“That’s right!” Hirohikari flicked a sleeve at Lily, “The old lady is just a regular person, she couldn’t see clearly in the darkness, maybe you hid a treasure, or switched a blade!”
“Then why did that blade have Madam Yoruko’s blood on it?” Lily interjected.
“Maybe you used many blades!”
“…adding trumped up charges to condemn!” Lily coldly retorted.
“Kagami Lily, the old woman said you stole Madam Yoruko’s ancient mirror, is there such a thing?” Kimura asked.
“Laughable! The world knows me as a mirror girl! Yes, I have an ancient mirror, but when did it become I stole it from Madam Yoruko?”
“So you have an ancient mirror? Hand it over, we shall judge.” Kimura ordered.
“Impossible.”
“What!??”
Hirohikari thundered, “Kagami Lily, know your place! You are a criminal suspect! You dare hide evidence, search her!”
The men holding her in place stretched out their hands to search her.
‘This is senior sister’s body, how dare your dirty hands touch it!’ A cold chilling intent filled her heart.
With a flick of her sleeves, Lily’s body burst out with a crimson aura. That aura smashed against the men holding her, sending them flying. Without hesitation, she dashed toward the old woman.
In her hand, a seventh grade tachi appeared, with a brutal crimson flash, she chopped down at the old woman.
“You old thing dare frame me? Die!”
Lily’s attack was too fast and unexpected, Yoshitada had never thought Lily would dare resist in front of him, by the time he reacted, Lily’s blade had already chopped down on the old woman.
“Clang!”
All the torches in the hall were blown out by the impact, leaving a dark hall.
“CraAaaSh——” Thunder rumbled through the hall.
A low white light flickered illuminating the old wrinkled sinister face of the old woman. In one hand she held a thick three pronged spear, in the moment between life and death she had barely managed to block Lily’s tachi strike.
Instantly, the entire courtroom was dumbfounded.
“Kagami Lily, you dare attempt to silence a witness? You crazy woman! Lord Yoshitada, hurry! Take her down!” Hirohikari shouted.
But, Yoshitada stood there without moving.
“Right Division General!”
“Lord Hirohikari, please be patient.” Yoshitada’s cold eyes didn’t leave the old woman.
“Didn’t you say you never trained? You can actually receive a permanence ranked attack? Did you infer that from your hearing? Or maybe your sight?” Lily’s fair expression was illuminated by the white light.
The old woman’s eyes showed a ferociousness as she stared at Lily, growling, “Mirror girl, I should have killed you earlier at the Fayumi household!”
“Old woman! Who are you? Why do you hide your power?” Yoshitada rebuked, “Explain, or I shall take you down as well!”
The old woman’s hands and feet were trembling, though Lily had only used a third of her strength, the old woman was almost unable to receive the attack.
Lily also had doubts, in that instant between life and death, Lily could tell that the old woman had used all her strength to resist. That sort of strength was completely insufficient to harm Madam Yoruko. This old woman was not the murderer, but was definitely an accomplice.
Then who was the real murderer?
Lily had seen Yoruko’s sword skills, she was very clear that Yoruko was at a level of strength that a Permanence staged warrior could never harm her, prepared or unprepared. The murderer, either used a method Lily could not imagine of, or was of unparalleled strength.
“Yes, I have some abilities, to protect my lady, I’ve always pretended to be an ordinary mortal. Though I saw this woman murder my lady, my strength was inferior, I could only hide and report her!”
“This…old woman, who are you, report your name! What you said is somewhat unbelievable!”
“My name is Maji! Much of what I said may not be believable, but it is all the truth! Can you prove it is not the truth?”
“Bang!” Lily bounced and kicked the old woman flying straight through a wooden column.
“You despicable backstabbing old witch! If it weren’t for tracking down Madam Yoruko’s real killer, I’d kill you on the spot!” Lily fluttered down to the ground in anger.
“Outrageous!” Yoshitada suddenly moved, his huge body creating afterimages. A huge palm of thick aura slammed into Lily’s side, sending her flying and skidding on the ground.
The group of samurai all surrounded her with swords and staves.
“This is the interrogation hall! It’s not a place for you to decide right or wrong! If you dare move again, I shall cripple you first!” Yoshitada ruthlessly warned.
But he also ordered attendants to surround Maji with swords.
He then turned to Hirohikari, “Lord Counsellor, this case seems to have some confusions, would you like to call other witnesses?”
“Ah! Yes.” Although Hirohikari wanted to convict Lily, he was well aware that Maji’s testimony would no longer hold weight in the court of law. He could not shamelessly claim that he believed Maji’s testimony in front of his fellow officials.
“A witness from the palace.” Kimura announced.
An Onmyoji and two samurai walked in. There were many people who escorted Lily to jail last night, she couldn’t remember them all.
Kimura asked, “Soldiers of the Imperial guard, you’ve worked hard. Please testify.”
The Onmoyji started, “This Kagami Lily snuck into the palace last night, she was in a panicked state and fled after discovery. We chased her to the garden where she attempted to hold Prince Narinaga as a hostage. Fortunately we were able to subdue her on the spot and sent her to the heavenly prison, something like that.”
The two samurai agreed, “Sir speaks the truth.”
Kimura turned to Lily, “Kagami Lily, if it was as you said, that Madam Yoruko was fine when you left, why did you intrude into the imperial palace, and attempt to capture Prince Narinaga?”
“I’ve already said that I was chased by a group of demons and accidentally fled into the palace. And what capture Prince Narinaga, what nonsense, if I wanted to capture him, the likes of these guards would be able to stop me?”
“You dare! You ignorant girl! You dare despise the strength of our Imperial guard?”
Hirohikari, “Enough, who would be willing to admit their guilt? Right Division General, subdue this demon girl, we shall torture a confession out of her.”
“This…” Kimura was hesitant.
“Secretary of Justice! Do you know who is responsible for this trial? You said it was not appropriate to punish before the trial, but now the trial has been held. This woman not only refuses to confess, but has also acted out multiple times! This is because of your weak attitude! How can we demonstrate the power of this court if we do not use punishment!” Hirohikari scolded.
“Sigh——” Kimura helplessly looked at Yoshitada.
Yoshitada was also uncertain, “If this goes on, the case will be deadlocked. As Kagami Lily’s suspicion is the greatest, under the laws of Heian-kyo, punishment shall be used!”
Hirohikari added, “And if she resists?”
Yoshitada walked up to Lily, his hand on his blade, “Kagami Lily, I shall remind you, in accordance with the law and a necessary procedure of interrogation, punishment shall be used. If you dare resist, I shall cripple you first.”
“Good!” Hirohikari was overjoyed, boastfully waving his hand and ordering “Punishment! Strip her, and beat her with a hundred paddles!”
Those men stepped up, confident with Yoshitada’s backing, intending to grab Lily and strip her clothes off.
This time, Lily didn’t immediately resist, but lowered her head, her hair covering her face, whispering, “F̲u̲c̲k̲ the law.”
“What!??” Outraged, Hirohikari demanded, “Kagami, Kagami Lily, what did you say? You dare repeat it?”
Lily lifted her head, her eyes cold and unforgiving, “You bunch of sanctimonious so called high officials of the imperial court. You can’t tell between black and white, commiting wrongs in the name of right. All this so-called evidence, I’ve disproved them yet you still force this crime on my head. You bunch of big high ranked overpaid men, so shameless and you still want to torture a woman in public! Trash! Scum! F̲u̲c̲k̲ your court! F̲u̲c̲k̲ the law!”
“Outrageous! Strip her, beat her to death!”
Lily lowered her head, her heart and mind as one, bringing the phantom soul Crescent Moon to her mind.
Once she brought out Crescent Moon, there was no return.
Even if these were important members of the imperial court, since they wanted to torture and humiliate her, she could only retaliate!
“The Lord Chief Advisor has arrived——” A samurai guarding the entrance outside shouted loudly.
“Eh?” Lily’s eyes narrowed.
“What? Lord Chief Advisor?” Hirohikari, Kimura and Yoshitada were all surprised.
The group of big men about to attempt punishment on Lily were also stunned, momentarily they didn’t know if they should continue the punishment. They didn’t know that momentary pause didn’t save Lily’s dignity, but saved their lives.
“Why did the Lord Chief Advisor arrive here1?” Hirohikari asked in confusion, their eyes attracted to the movement outside the doors.
