Demon Sword Maiden

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Umashi’s divine power surged violently, yanking the already weakened Queen closer to him. The Queen, ever the proud warrior who had never been humiliated even in the fiercest battles of ancient wars, gritted her teeth, resisting with all the strength she had left against the force pulling her toward Umashi.

Suddenly, a sliver of hazy moonlight blade energy sliced through the air towards Umashi. Unfazed, he roared, “Who dares interrupt my victory?” With his right hand still firmly gripping the chain and his left hand swiping at the air, he moved to disperse the approaching blade energy.

Though Umashi succeeded in dissipating the moonlight blade with a powerful sweep of his divine palm, a sharp pain pierced his arm. Glancing down, he saw a deep gash, from which blood shimmered in a crimson-gold hue, oozing freely.

“Cowardly trickery! Who dares ambush me?” Umashi, completely absorbed in his attempt to subdue the Queen and brimming with confidence in his power, had ignored his surroundings. Now, turning towards the direction of the strike, he spotted Lily charging forward.

“Kagami Lily? That woman actually came herself?” Behind Lily, Umashi could feel the presence of powerful figures closing in fast, led by none other than Rakshasa-Onna and Asura-Onna.

“So it’s them!” Umashi’s eyes widened in surprise. While still pulling the Queen closer, he bellowed, “Asura! Rakshasa! What is the meaning of this? Is this a sneak attack? Do the Asura and Rakshasa dojos seek war against Rindo City?”

Umashi, confused, assumed the moonlight blade had come from either Asura-Onna or Rakshasa-Onna.

It wasn’t long before he noticed the relentless flow of blood from his arm. Even as he summoned his Supreme God power to close the wound, the bleeding refused to stop, his divine abilities hindered by an unseen force.

“Asura! Rakshasa! We’ve never had disputes! And yet you strike from the shadows with such malice! Come then! If you think I’ll cower before your combined strength, you’re mistaken! I’ll fight you both to the death!” Though his words were filled with bravado, Umashi felt a growing unease. He had been moments away from subduing the Queen, and now their interference threatened to ruin everything. Wakarai’s next move could decide the outcome.

Hovering in the air, their robes billowing in the wind, Asura-Onna spoke, “Umashi of Rindo City, we hold no grudge against you. But what grievance do you have with the Queen of the Female Queendom to justify such a vicious attack?”

“This is none of your concern! Are you really willing to meddle in my affairs? You know this would violate Yomi’s rules!” Umashi retorted, his voice harsh.

Wakarai, preparing to deliver a final blow to incapacitate Chiya, paused when he noticed the arrival of the Rakshasa and Asura dojo leaders. His brow furrowed. “What are those women planning?”

Asura-Onna spoke calmly, “We’re well aware of Yomi’s rules. You may plunder and pillage to your heart’s content, so long as it doesn’t affect the interests of the Asura or Rakshasa dojos. Normally, we would not interfere. But today, we are acting under special orders. This is not mere meddling.”

The laws of Yomi state that if you come across another's battle for treasures or women, you may join if you're after the spoils. However, if you have no interest, you must not interfere or act righteously, as doing so would pit you against all of Yomi. Any actions that harm others without personal gain are strictly prohibited.

"Following someone's orders, are you?" Umashi’s thick brows knitted in anger, his four demonic eyes burning as they locked onto Lily. "So, it was you, you wretched girl, stirring up trouble! Fine, if you're intent on ruining my plans, I’ll disregard the Asura and Rakshasa dojos altogether. I’ll crush all of you until you're pleading for mercy!"

“We don’t wish to become your enemies if it can be avoided. Will you release the Queen of the Female Queendom?” Asura-Onna asked calmly.

“What? Is this a joke? First, you ambush me with some underhanded attack, and now you make this request?” Umashi's body seethed with violent energy, poised to erupt.

Rakshasa-Onna cut in, “We never attacked you. It was her—she's been chased by your men all this time. How can you claim she ambushed you?”

Umashi turned to Lily, disbelief on his face. “Her? Impossible! Don’t be ridiculous! There’s no way someone of her strength could injure me.”

“Umashi! Release the Queen!” Lily demanded, her sword aimed at the towering, four-eyed demon.

“You dare bluff before me? Let me show you the true depths of Yomi!” Umashi swung a casual palm strike toward Lily, its force stretching hundreds of meters. He didn’t aim to kill, but to teach her a harsh lesson.

Though a casual strike, it was imbued with immense power, constricting the surrounding space and limiting Lily’s ability to dodge. “So, even brute force can be used to deal with agile fighters,” Lily thought. Channeling all her strength into her blade, she swung at the incoming crimson palm, her sword light flowing like a river.

A deafening tremor rippled through the landscape, shattering nearby rocks. The shockwave was so powerful that it hurled the Big Dipper Stage members of both the Rakshasa and Asura dojos backward.

“What a terrifying impact!” Chiya, hovering in the air, her clothes billowing violently in the wind, exclaimed in shock. “If it had been me, I’d have been obliterated! Is Lily mad? Taking a Supreme God’s strike head-on? Then again, what choice does she have? The sheer divine might of a Supreme God can paralyze lower-tiered powerhouses.”

When the shockwave subsided, Lily’s clothes were in tatters, her hair whipped wildly by the wind, and the mountain beneath her lay in ruins. Yet, she only flew back a hundred meters or so before landing steadily on her feet.

“Hm!?” Wakarai, not far away, was utterly stunned, his eyes flashing with lightning as he struggled to hide his shock.

"Ouch…" Lily winced as the pain from the palm strike coursed through her body, numbing her arms. The sheer power of a Supreme God’s casual strike was indeed overwhelming.

Though she had managed to deflect most of the force with her counterattack, the residual pain was undeniable. If not for her resilience, she might have let out a scream.

"Ouch!?" Umashi's stern face twitched, his four eyes narrowing. Despite it being a casual strike, it was still delivered by him, a Supreme God known for brute strength. Yet this Big Dipper woman had sliced through the palm's energy without suffering serious injury, only voicing that it hurt? Did she consider a Supreme God's strike nothing more than a minor inconvenience?

How could this be? Umashi's brows furrowed deeply. Surely, she must have some heaven-defying protective artifact or some hidden technique at play.

Little did he know, Lily had no such artifact. Her Celestial Maiden Garment was a basic issue from Takamagahara, far inferior to what the Queen or Chiya wore—perhaps even slightly weaker than Yoshiya's. Lily had endured the palm strike due to her incredible slashing power, which negated much of the force, and her natural physique, which was comparable to that of a Supreme God.

With a body comparable to a Supreme God's, it was no surprise that she wasn’t visibly harmed by such a strike, though other aspects of her strength were far inferior. Still, the pain from the blow was significant. For a Big Dipper Stage warrior to survive a Supreme God's casual palm strike was already a remarkable feat.

Umashi, having gauged Lily’s strength, had used only a fraction of his power. If an ordinary Triple-soul or Quadruple-soul Big Dipper had been on the receiving end, they would have been reduced to pulp.

"Kagami Lily… what kind of secret is this woman hiding?" Wakarai glared at Lily from a distance, his mind racing. "The madam protected her last time, and now, her strength has skyrocketed in such a short period? She must have found some extraordinary artifact. There's no way a mere Big Dipper woman could reach such heights otherwise."

At that moment, Wakarai's interest shifted from the battered Chiya, who lay among the rubble, unable to rise. He became a flash of lightning and swiftly approached Lily and her group, a smile playing on his lips, one he believed irresistible to any woman. "Kagami Lily, you’ve come to me willingly, so don’t blame me! Whatever tricks you have, they’re mere amusement before me. Your strength, your defiance—they’re all just part of the charm that makes conquering you so entertaining."

"Wakarai!" Rakshasa-Onna interjected, "Didn’t you vow to the madam that you wouldn’t touch Lily for three years? Why attack now? Are you really going to break your oath?"

Encased in crackling lightning, Wakarai sneered, "Had Lily stayed obediently in your Rakshasa dojo, I’d have left her alone. But she recklessly roamed Yomi, making herself known and dressing so provocatively—was she not tempting Yomi’s powerhouses? She flaunted her beauty and allure. Can you blame me for breaking my word?"

Wakarai knew that if the madam had disapproved, she would have already intervened. Her silence meant she was either too occupied or tacitly allowing it. Since Lily had ventured out on her own, capturing her didn’t breach his promise.

Wakarai pressed on, "Think about it—if a man promises not to harass a woman, but she deliberately teases him in the dead of night, is he to blame if he can’t resist?"

Asura-Onna, already disgusted by Wakarai’s lustful tendencies, scoffed, "Sister, there’s no point arguing with someone like him. His perverse nature is obvious, yet he dares blame the woman. Such power is truly wasted on someone like him."

Turning to Wakarai, she declared, "Wakarai, you may have your reasons, and we have our mission. We’d prefer not to fight. Release the Queen, Chiya, and Lily, and we’ll let you and Umashi leave in peace."