Demon Sword Maiden

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"Help you?" Shimizu wandered through the dark cave tunnels, her steps unsteady. "Lil Lily, how can someone like me help you? No… anyone who draws close to me will only suffer. I can't save you. I only bring harm."

"Sister Shimizu? What are you saying? What's happening to you?" Lily had sensed something was wrong ever since they entered the forest. Now, Shimizu's words only deepened her confusion.

But Lily was in danger. There was no time to unravel whatever had affected Shimizu. She needed help now.

Lord Shikikai stared at Lily with a lecherous grin stretching across his massive face. "So, you're a fugitive of Takamagahara. I don't care what your crimes were. I'll make sure you receive the punishment you deserve."

As he took in her appearance, his composure slowly broke. "But more than that, your strength makes it obvious. You were never here for the trial. You came to assassinate me. Soon, you will regret ever trying."

He activated the Nine-Headed Wyvern whip, its black coils dragging Lily toward the torture rack that loomed in the center of the chamber.

"You pervert! Don't even try!"

Despite being restrained, Lily unleashed her Soul World. Waves of cherry blossom and frosted lunar energy burst out, striking the torture device. Though the contraption was built from ancient wood and dark Arcane Iron, its mechanisms were complex and fragile. The precise components shattered on impact, rendering the whole device inoperable.

"You dare!" he roared and lashed the whip with its full might.

Lily gasped as her breath caught in her throat. Her arms and legs were yanked in opposing directions. The strain tore through her limbs, wracking her body with searing pain.

Her breathing grew ragged, but she clenched her teeth and endured. No matter how painful, she refused to call on her senior sister. If her sister acted now, she might fall into another deep sleep. That cost was too great.

"Sister Shimizu! Please hurry… ah!" Lily's voice echoed with desperation. Her pain transmitted through their connection, striking Shimizu with vivid intensity.

"What's happening, Lily? Talk to me!"

"Please, Sister Shimizu! He caught me! That disgusting monster… he's dragging me to the torture rack!" But no answer came. "Sister Shimizu? Can you hear me? Say something!"

"Lily? Please… say something! Why can't I hear you anymore? Why can't I see anything?" Shimizu's voice trembled with panic. Shimizu knelt in the cold chamber, eyes wide, staring into pitch-black nothingness. She could no longer sense the world around her.

Just moments ago, she had clearly heard Lily's screams. No matter her guilt or shame, she could never stand by while Lily suffered. Even if she no longer had the right to face her, that deep bond engraved in her very being would have compelled her to act. Yet now, she could feel nothing at all. Her senses had gone numb.

"Why? What's going on? Why now?" she whispered, trembling.

Within the overwhelming darkness, she saw the fall of the goddess in white. Memory fragments—tragic and ancient—rushed through her mind. Celestial Maidens of every path, clad in white, brilliant color, or darkness, were scattered and leaderless. One by one, they were surrounded and devoured by waves of demons.

"Master… What truly happened? What is this?" A girl cried out to the emptiness.

'Who is that girl? Kagura?' Shimizu's vision shifted to a ravaged battlefield. Celestial Maidens lay lifeless beside piles of demon corpses. The land reeked of sorrow and death. A severely wounded Celestial Maiden handed a red parasol and an ancient mirror to a young girl whose features bore a striking resemblance to Kagura.

The girl, still youthful with an immature face marred by bloodied cuts, accepted them with trembling hands.

All around them, colossal demons roared, their cries shaking the heavens. Celestial Maidens screamed in despair as the brutal war raged on.

"Master! Let me protect you. I'll hold them off. You must escape!" the girl cried out.

"No, Kagura…" the Celestial Maiden whispered, shaking her head weakly. "My wounds are too grave. I won't survive."

"Then I'll stay with you and die by your side!" the girl declared, her eyes burning with fierce resolve.

Tears welled in the Celestial Maiden's eyes, but she smiled. "You cannot die yet. Your path is unfinished. The Heavenly Path still awaits you…"

Shimizu watched as her awareness drifted above the battlefield. Below, in the midst of overwhelming despair, pairs of sisters who knew death was near made their final choices. Even in the face of annihilation, not a single one showed fear. None of them surrendered.

" "Sister!" " Two Celestial Maidens stood on a giant boulder, surrounded on all sides by hordes of demons. With no strength left to fight, they embraced through tears. Smiling through the pain, they drew their daggers and pierced each other's Spirit Palace at once. They collapsed together in a silent pool of blood.

"Reiko…"

"Sister Dojiri…"

Elsewhere, two more Celestial Maidens, pierced by arrows and impaled with spears, dragged themselves inch by inch through the battlefield. With the last of their strength, their hands found each other's and clutched tightly as life faded from their eyes.

Shimizu's vision swelled with images of this tragedy. Her heart quaked as the weight of the massacre unfolded before her.

The skies, the land, and the heavens themselves seemed to mourn. This was the fall of the Celestial Maidens.

"No… This is my fault! All of it!" Shimizu cried out. Pain surged through her mind and body. Shimizu shrieked uncontrollably before her consciousness finally collapsed into darkness.

Back in the cavern, Lily's skin shimmered faintly, glowing under the flickering demonic fire. A thin sheen of sweat clung to her, enhancing both her elegance and the tragedy of her capture. The sight was enough to tempt all who gazed upon her.

"Lord! Strip her now! Let all the brothers see her!" a voice jeered from the crowd of demons.

Demons gathered in droves, their eyes fixed hungrily on Lily as she hung suspended by the Nine-Headed Wyvern's coils.

"My Lord, don't you just need a thought to strip her bare?" the walrus demon croaked.

The other Shizutake girls lay collapsed on the floor, powerless to rise.

The Celestial Maidens kept their distance. Although they had betrayed these girls without hesitation, seeing someone as noble and radiant as Lily suffer stirred a trace of unease in some of their hearts.

Lord Shikikai had already attempted to remove Lily's garments using divine energy. But even bound, her soul power and spiritual defenses formed a protective barrier. He managed only to tear small openings in her clothing. The rest held firm.

"Fools. A woman like her should be undressed by my own hand!" the Lord sneered, waving his arm. The Nine-Headed Wyvern hoisted Lily's bound form and began carrying her toward his throne.

The crowd of demons howled with vile excitement.

"She's too arrogant!"

"Whip her until she breaks!"

"Make her beg!"

The demons chanted, their faces twisted with vile anticipation.

While the demons shouted, Lily remained torn inside. The whip lashed across her body again and again, tearing her clothes and bruising her flawless skin. Her slender frame trembled from the pain as sweat poured down in steady streams.

If that was the case, Lily could endure it. Pain did not frighten her. As for humiliation, it meant nothing. These demons were already doomed to die, so there was no reason to feel shame in front of them.

Her senior sister had already given the order to kill. Every demon in the cavern, including the Lord, had to die. Even if Rinne took action now and failed, Lily would return one day and finish the task herself.

Since Rinne no longer had a physical form, Lily would become her hands, her eyes, and her blade. The only thing she could not accept was her sister falling back into that long, deep sleep. Yet, if things came to it, she might have no choice but to call for her help. Even if she swore to kill the Lord herself one day, she would never allow him to strip her now. That was a line she would never cross.

Her senior sister would never allow such a thing to happen.

'I can wait a little longer…' Lily stared at the monstrous demon lord drawing closer. Those grotesque hands inched toward her clothes, ready to rip them from her body.

"Sister Shimizu! Hurry, please hurry! I know you'll come." Lily's eyes shone with calm determination. The moment of choice was approaching.

Darkness. Endless, consuming darkness.

Shimizu walked barefoot through a void of nothingness, her body exposed and weightless. Every step touched waves of light that shimmered briefly before being swallowed by the surrounding black.

She had no sense of direction. Only stillness, silence, and endless dark surrounded her. She did not know where to go. Then a soft, confident voice echoed through the emptiness. "Sister Shimizu."

Shimizu turned and saw the faint outline of a tall young woman standing nearby.

"Lily? Is that you? Lily!" She ran toward the figure, but just as she was about to reach it, the form dissolved into mist and reappeared farther away.

The tall, graceful woman was also unclothed, just like Shimizu. Her long black hair flowed in the dark, and her body shimmered with a soft glow that resembled moonlight.

"Lily! I'm sorry! It's all my fault! Please don't hate me. I ruined everything… I ruined you!" Shimizu cried out while chasing her through the void.

But Lily stood tall and calm, her posture proud. Her eyes held no trace of anger, only a soft light that sparkled like distant stars. "What are you saying, Sister Shimizu? Who could understand your heart better than I do?"