The howling wind and rain swayed the suspension bridge hanging above the roaring river, and the dark iron cables glowed with a bleak light.
Hatano and Nakajou stood on the other side of the suspension bridge, staring incredulously at everything before them.
“Minamoto no Kenki! Why are you doing this?! Aren’t you our captain, big brother? You b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲, I’m going to kill you!” Nakajou drew his katana with one hand. Although he was a noble son who had burdened the team, at this time, he had the blood of a samurai boiling in his body.
No matter what, he was still a man!
Hatano and Nakajou exchanged looks and nodded, “Even if we have to risk our lives, we have to save Sister Uesugi!”
The two people’s Spirit Jade spiritual energy erupted as they prepared to rush back to the other side. However, they were not as strong as those powerhouses among the thousands of demons.
“Don’t come over!” Uesugi Rei, who was lying in the rain and withered leaves, shouted. Her snow-white thighs trembled as she slowly stood up, and her silver hair fluttered in front of her in the wind and rain, occasionally revealing her violet eyes which glimmered with a bleak light.
“Do you want to die?!!” Uesugi Rei turned her head and shouted at the two of them on the other side of the river. There was a faint blush on her fair skin. Although she was stunningly beautiful and cold, her eyes were firm like the incarnation of the ancient King of Wrath1.
“But, Sister Uesugi, we can’t just watch you…”
“Shut up!” Uesugi Rei trembled, her resolute voice echoing in the wind and rain!
“Hahahahaha! Do you think you are still the Land of Snow’s Goddess of War? You are just a prisoner now!” Kenki formed a seal with his hands and activated the two bronze puppets.
Clang— Clank! The two puppets tightened the chains.
Uesugi’s Rei’s arms were pulled and forced apart!
“Don’t be stubborn! Right now, you are no match for these two Permanence level puppets. Be careful of your arms being ripped off!” Kenki said smugly. He always seemed to have a strong desire to destroy beautiful things.
The puppets continued to tighten the chains around Uesugi Rei’s arms and neck. She lowered her head and her silver hair covered her eyes. Her arms seemed to be in pain as they were pulled to the limit, and the thick black chains glinted with a cold light as they rattled with metallic clanking sounds in the rain.
“Kenki, since the battle at that wild samurai’s lair, I began to suspect you. You are the one who led us step by step into Shuten Doji’s trap…” Uesugi Rei’s tone was a little shaky, as if enduring the pain caused by the pulling of the chains.
“That’s right! I thought of sealing your power and letting you slowly weaken until you despair, so I could borrow the power of a demon to easily catch you. Then, I probably wouldn’t need to expose myself! But, I didn’t expect you to use the stolen sword as a cursed blade and get more powerful!”
Kenki’s face distorted as he looked at Uesugi’s back, “I have to say, you are an extraordinary woman. I designed this step by step to push you into a desperate situation, but you are instead getting stronger and stronger! Today, even the two Throne Stage demons couldn’t subdue you, forcing me to take action and compromise my identity as a direct descendant of the Eastern land’s Genji!”
At this moment, Aokiba, who had been watching the infighting with the other demons from the sidelines, asked, “I say, who the hell are you?”
Kenki raised his head proudly. Currently, his decayed and distorted face was no different from that of a demon, “Please allow me to introduce myself again. I am Minamoto no Kenki, a corpse demon from the Nara ancient domain under the command of Shuten Doji!”
Uesugi Rei suddenly tightened her grip on the chains and pressed down with her long legs as an incredible force erupted from her body.
Whoosh—! She actually yanked up one of the puppets and threw it into the air.
Then, she used her chained arm as a pivot to lean over and turn.
She pulled the puppet and smashed it in the middle of the group of demons with a ‘boom’, after which, she used the momentum of this attack to yank up the other puppet.
Bang!!! The bronze puppet smashed Kenki’s already ugly face into a more distorted shape and sent him crashing through multiple ancient trees!
“Minamoto no Kenki? You don’t deserve to be called by that name anymore.”
Following Uesugi Rei’s will, the phantom image of Bishamonten reappeared with its sharp sword raised high.
Clink! Clang! Clang! It cut the shackles binding Uesugi Rei’s body.
The two Throne Stage demons watching this scene were dumbfounded.
“I say, didn’t this woman get shot by a poisoned arrow? Why is she still so powerful?” Touko Chakura asked.
Among the collapsed trees, Kenki struggled to push the puppet off his body. His face and body were smashed and deformed, looking even uglier.
“This body has long since died, but it doesn’t matter. His Highness Shuten Doji promised to give me a new body. Uesugi Rei…you don’t need to struggle like a trapped beast anymore. I chose to act at this time because, even if I can’t capture you with my own means, do you think you can escape from the hands of the two Throne Stage demons after being hit by the poisoned arrow His Highness Shuten Doji gave me? Although this poisoned arrow won’t kill you, it’s enough to make your body weak. His Highness Shuten Doji values you very much! Hahahahaha!” Though injured, Kenki did not care about this decayed body at all and laughed in a twisted manner.
Uesugi Rei picked up her tachi, Nameless, and dragged it along the ground as she faced the surrounding army of demons and ghosts at the entrance of the suspension bridge.
Her face was flushed, her breaths were shallow, her skin was as white as snow, and her sweat was mixed with the rain. Her body seemed abnormally hot, and there was a trace of white mist in the air. The strength in her body was constantly flowing away. The clothes covering her slender legs and buttocks were torn during the battle and she was almost bare, but at this moment, she was shaking uncontrollably and it seemed very difficult for her to even stand.
Her vision became more blurry and hazy. She looked back at the constantly swaying suspension bridge and her two helpless companions on the other side of the bridge.
“Sister Uesugi…”
“Miss Uesugi…”
“Prepare yourself to be captured! The efficacy of the drug will only get stronger and stronger. You’d better surrender yourself early so you can maintain some dignity and not lose too badly! Hahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!” Kenki laughed wildly.
Uesugi Rei barely managed to raise the sword in her hand. After all, Nameless was heavy and she even stumbled a bit as she struggled to lift it up.
“How is it?! Where did all that momentum just now go? The effect of the drug has completely kicked in. Let’s see how long you can hold out!” Kenki shouted from the side.
Uesugi Rei’s breathing became increasingly rapid and her body trembled more and more as she held the tachi. Saliva, sweat, and other fluids were flowing from all parts of her body, as if the power of this beautiful goddess of war was constantly flowing away, but there were no tears.
Even in such a desperate situation, Uesugi Rei still showed a reckless smile on her face.
Boom—!!! Uesugi Rei suddenly turned around and cut the suspension bridge behind her with a decisive silver-white blade light.
The crowd of demons including Kenki was shocked!
“What??? You cut off the suspension bridge and your only chance to escape?” Aokiba asked incredulously as he approached the already unsteady Uesugi Rei.
The iron cables of the suspension bridge swayed loosely and made distinct clattering sounds as it smashed against the cliff on the other side of the river before breaking and shattering, most of its pieces falling into the Tanba river.
“Sister Uesugi!!!” Hatano looked at Uesugi on the other side of the river in disbelief and couldn’t help but cry out.
“Leave, Hatano. Go back to the world where you belong2. In the future, don’t come back again. For a girl like you, it’s better to find someone to marry. Adventuring is not suitable for you…” Uesugi said with her head lowered and a reckless gleam in her eyes.
“Sister Uesugi…” Hatano covered her mouth.
“Leave.” Uesugi turned her head with a rare expression of sadness and softly said.
“Wuuu—” Hatano ignored her words and started to wail. After a while, she gritted her teeth and pulled up Nakajou, who had lost too much blood and became drowsy. She ran along the opposite side of the river bank towards the port, which was only a few miles downstream.
Uesugi Rei seemed to smile with satisfaction. She turned her head and staggered, nearly falling. She stood and supported her body with the aid of Nameless. Her beautiful silver hair was scattered and drooping, and her slender fingers grasping the thick hilt of the sword was constantly trembling.
“Uesugi Rei, you stupid woman! You severed your own chance of escape just to save those two insignificant wastes? Don’t worry, I don’t care if those wastes live or die. As you know, the person that His Highness Shuten Doji really wants to capture is you!” Kenki shouted, “Two Lords of the Ten Demon Enforcers, this woman can’t even stand up. Quickly capture her and hand her over to His Highness Shuten Doji!”
“Minamoto no Kenki, although I don’t quite understand why you betrayed your human Genji and turned into a demon, we can now capture this woman easily thanks to you! She is indeed difficult to deal with.”
The two Throne Stage archdemons, Aokiba and Touko Chakura, together with thousands of demons, continuously approached Uesugi Rei.
In the face of these demons and ghosts that surged towards her like a black tide, Uesugi Rei’s silver hair fluttered and glowed with a holy light in the rain and mist, and her trembling slender hands gripped her tachi.
“Hehehe… The long-awaited climax is just about to begin…” The silver-haired girl’s eyes glimmered with a resolute and arrogant light.
“Yah—!!!” Uesugi shouted. The heavy sword dragged across the ground and generated sparks despite the mud and rain. Her long silver hair was like a dancing river in the sky as she charged defiantly towards the overwhelming group of demons3!!!
…
…
Before dawn.
Lily abruptly opened her eyes and awoke from her spring sleep.
She sat up in confusion, her jet-black hair falling on her shoulders, and looked at the pasteboard wooden door that filtered the first rays of misty dawn.
“Sister Uesugi? I think I heard Sister Uesugi’s voice…”
Today was the day of the expedition.
(Volume VI – End)
Thank you, dear readers, for your continuous support. No matter how beautiful and moving the story is, it will inevitably be tempered by wind, frost, snow, and rain. Starting from the seventh volume, the plot of this book will be more intense than ever! But don’t worry, it won’t be heartbreaking.
|･ω･｀)
This is the first time that Lily is really facing the great demon that even the Heian Dynasty is unable to do anything about!
Shuten Doji!
Ayaka is far away in the Heian-kyō, and the heavenly way is gradually collapsing. The threat of the divine punishment that haunts Lily makes her feel like she has nowhere to run to.
In such a situation, one of Lily’s most important sisters, Uesugi Rei, falls into an unprecedented crisis.
Lily came to this Heian world as a powerless girl who walked at night under a parasol. It was her sisters who supported her in her battles and gave her endless courage!
Lily remembered her vow:
‘Even if it is a path towards Yomi and the reincarnation cycle, I will break through the gates of hell and go!’
The plot of the seventh volume will be beyond your imagination, so stay tuned4.
