It was around noon now, but it was still an extended night. Lily’s eyes filled with a tinge of sorrow as she saw the maids drag Shizuru away.
“Enough of it!” Lily stepped forward and looked at the samurai of the Taira clan and the attendants who were dragging Shizuru away roughly across the arena.
The ones dragging Shizuru gave Lily looks of stupefaction.
Shizuru’s pretty hair had scattered and her face was a sobbing mess. Her dress was tattered, and her top had risen up to her breasts. Even her skirt had risen up, exposing her groin…
“She’s still someone who made it into the semifinals and is a genius from your clan. Can’t you even show the minimum respect needed?” Lily thundered.
“Heh! A forfeiter has no qualifications to gain respect. The samurai of our Taira clan choose to die in battle. Even if they’re bad at using the blade or ill-fated, they die a glorious death. But this woman? She’s a woman who ceded to her opponent and also a thief who stole our Taira clan’s legacy treasure! Do you want us to sit and watch as this coward makes a disgrace of herself in front of everyone instead of dragging her away, huh?!”
“Yeah! A defeat is a defeat. If she refuses to leave the arena in denial, she has no value left as a human then!”
The Taira samurai argued back with conviction. It was clear that they were from Sadamori’s faction who had received a cold reception from the imperials because of the annulment of the marriage proposal and were losing power in the court even now, so a lot of them still resented Shizuru.
Lily waved her hand, Whoosh! and a gust of wind blew by, hurling the samurai and attendants everywhere, even knocking a few of them into the pillar.
“I’ve had enough of your hypocritic criticisms. You’re just trash who can’t even withstand a single attack from her when she’s in her best condition. How could you mistreat her when she’s down in life? Scram off now1!”
These men obviously didn’t mean to do anything to Shizuru. However, after seeing her lose her power after losing so miserably and ending up in a feeble state from Shenzu’s attacks, they seized the chance to abuse her. This was how the minds of many weaklings worked, they were bullies with dark minds.
However, Lily wasn’t like them. Shizuru’s blade arts were better than hers in some aspects and Lily admired her talent for achieving this. Although she had resorted to dishonest means to resist her fate, Lily too had done the same, the only difference was the outcome of their actions.
This was bound to gain Lily’s sympathy. She waved her hand and summoned Kagura.
“Ah! A familiar…” The attendants and samurai lying on the floor didn’t dare to utter a word as they weren’t clear about Lily’s strength, but as she hadn’t received any injuries until now, it was certain that she was stronger than them.
“Kagura, use my carriage and take Shizuru to the inn Mizue has rented so she can rest for now,” Lily didn’t want to see a talented girl like her undergo punishment by the Taira clan after already going through such a miserable defeat.
“What… about her injuries?” Kagura inquired.
Lily considered whether it was worth it to use the Life-Recovery Magatama to heal her.
“I-I… have medicine… It’s an elixir my master gave me.”
Shizuru replied feebly, seemingly having heard Lily’s and Kagura’s conversation in her disoriented state.
The master she’s referring to must be the living sacred relic, Raccoon Mita. The elixir should be good enough to recover then.
Lily called the Fujiwara clan maids that took care of her daily chores yesterday and they lent an arm to Shizuru alongside Kagura, taking her away from the arena. However, they were blocked by a bunch of Taira clan samurai at the gate.
“Halt!” The broad faced samurai leading them hollered.
“Please move aside,” Kagura could care less about the Taira or the Genji as they were nothing in her eyes.
“You want me to move aside?” The samurai’s face filled with amazement, “She’s from our Taira clan. Where do you think you’re taking her without our permission?”
“So what if you’re the Taira clan? I’m just following my master’s order. I don’t give a damn about which clan she belongs to,” Kagura stated crudely.
“Hah?” The Taira clan samurai were taken aback by the response.
“Are you sure you have a sound mind, lady? It’s our clan member who’s lost the match and suffered injuries, while you serve one of the competitors, Kagami Lily. How did you even think it’d be fine to take her away?”
“Moreover, the woman has also violated the rules of the Taira clan. She also ruined the clan’s reputation by shamelessly ceding to her opponent after losing the match. She must pay the price for her crimes!” The Taira clan samurai surrounded Kagura, resolute in barring their path. Although the Fujiwara clan maids possessed some strength, even they felt that their actions were quite inappropriate, so they looked at Kagura with wavering gazes.
“I already told you. I don’t give a damn whether she’s a sinner or not. I’ll take her away, just as my master has commanded,” Kagura stated emotionlessly.
“You have quite the bold mouth, lady! Do you think our Taira clan is that easy to handle? Put her down right now, or else we will use force!” The Taira clan samurai threatened.
“Let’s go,” Kagura walked forward forcefully while supporting Shizuru.
“How audacious!” A few samurai stepped forward and pulled the maids away, dragging Shizuru to the side as one of the tall-heighted ones attempted to grapple Kagura’s arm away from her.
“Scram!” Kagura shot him an icy gaze.
A powerful gust of wind blew by as she turned her palm over and it sent the man flying after it struck his torso, knocking him into the viewing platform’s pillar.
Kagura’s strength had ascended to the peak-stage Permanence level after using a large amount of Emishi spirits. Moreover, the enlightenments, realm and skills of her past were all pretty high-leveled. Kagura’s current strength was already comparable to an early-stage Throne, so these ordinary Taira clan samurai were no match for her.
Kagura lent one of her arms to Shizuru and gently pushed her other palm forward, Boom!
A sakura-colored circular energy wave rippled out with Kagura as the center and blew away the four Taira clan samurai before them, knocking them into the junk in front of the nearby memorial.
A samurai sneaked up on her from behind, but Kagura just leaned forward and kicked backward, blowing him away as well.
“Sir Sadamori. Even if she’s a woman, the Taira clan cannot have a samurai who has conceded in public. We must not let her get away with it!”
“The woman has even robbed our Taira clan’s legacy treasure. We have to punish her severely after taking her back!” Taira no Sadamori stated mercilessly. He already held a grudge against Shizuru for ruining the marriage proposal he had brought in. The Taira clan’s influence among the imperials would’ve strengthened greatly had she accepted the proposal to wed Prince Narinaga, and the imperials also needed the reinforcement of such a patron.
As the duo discussed Shizuru’s punishment, a commotion had risen up outside the viewing platform.
Boom!
A few Taira clan samurai flying across the sky entered the Taira clan elders’ eyes at this moment.
“What’s going on?!” The Taira clan members were all stunned.
It wasn’t just the Taira clan members. Ayaka and Prince Narinaga, who were at the center of the viewing platform, as well as the judge and the other spectators also looked at the screaming Taira clan samurai in puzzlement as they dropped down.
“Tch, that Kagura!” Lily knew an incident must’ve occurred outside, so she turned around and sprinted towards the arena’s exit.
Whoosh! Taira no Mori, the strongest expert of the Taira clan, a thin and tall man with a sharp gaze, also got up firmly, “I’ll go have a look, Sir Sadamori!”
Someone had picked a fight with their clan’s samurai right in front of the clan’s high officials. This was equivalent to throwing mud at all the elders’ faces and required his immediate attention2.
