Demon Sword Maiden

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"No, you don't understand!" Shimizu dropped to her knees, her long hair slipping through her trembling fingers. "You don't understand! I… I've done something to you in my dreams. No, it wasn't just a dream. It felt real. It was real!"

Her eyes glowed as she lifted her head. "I did something I can never forgive myself for! It happened long ago, countless ages past. I ruined you. I ruined everything! This is all my fault!"

Lily's expression remained soft and calm. This was no illusion. What Shimizu saw was Lily's true consciousness reaching out to her. Lily had no idea why her thoughts appeared in this dark space, but she spoke from the heart, transmitting her voice with care.

Though both stood vulnerable before one another, Lily felt no embarrassment. Her and Shimizu's forms shimmered with translucent light, glowing faintly in the dark. This space felt like a reflection of their joined consciousness, not bound by the physical world.

Eons ago? That didn't make sense. Lily had only known Shimizu for a few years. She was barely twenty, and Shimizu not much older. How could something between them have happened eons ago?

Lily recalled the ancient memories she once touched. A goddess of war streaking across the skies, and a battlefield soaked in sorrow. Could Shimizu truly be connected to those distant visions?

But those memories belonged to a predecessor. They were fragments passed down through Celestial Maiden inheritance. Perhaps Shimizu had received something similar. Lily told herself not to be confused by echoes from a past life.

Lily stepped forward and spoke softly, lowering her gaze. "Sister, if it happened so long ago, then it no longer concerns who we are now. Maybe it's a memory tainted by Resentment Energy. We can mourn it, but we shouldn't blame ourselves. I didn't exist back then. How could you have hurt me?"

Whether it was a memory from long ago or what truly happened three years prior, Shimizu's shoulders trembled with guilt and fear. "Lily, stay away from me. I didn't mean it! But if you get close, I'll hurt you again. Even if I don't want to, I will."

"Stay away! I don't deserve you. I've wronged you!" she sobbed, then laughed bitterly. "Of course. A woman like me was never meant to find happiness. I should just vanish. Even if I died a thousand times, it would never make up for what I've done."

"Sister, what are you saying? Why are you like this?"

"Don't come closer! Don't do this!" Shimizu cried out in panic.

"No." Lily, once hesitant in moments like this, moved with certainty. She wrapped her arms around Shimizu and pressed Shimizu's cheek to her stomach, letting her feel the steady warmth and gentle rhythm of her Spirit Palace. "Sister Shimizu, whether it's now or a thousand years ago, I don't care. Maybe I don't remember everything, but I've always believed in you. That has never changed.

"Even if you did hurt me, I know it wasn't on purpose. I'm sure it hurt you more than it ever hurt me. I'm sorry, Sister. It was my carelessness. I lost my balance and caused you to push me. You've been carrying guilt for so long, but maybe it's my fault, not yours."

Shimizu's eyes widened. Even in their spiritual forms, she could feel the warmth of Lily's body. "Why are you always so kind? You forgive me no matter what I've done. But I'm only your shadow. I'll never walk in the light. My world is darkness, and my sins can't be erased." Her face twisted with sorrow, but a strange, bitter smile lingered. She was at the edge of collapse.

Though the exchange seemed slow, their conversation happened in an instant, through pure thought. Back in the real world, Lily was still being dragged toward the Lord. She struggled to resist his power, but she could only slow the inevitable. Her resistance, radiant and desperate, only served to feed his twisted delight.

"Sister Lily…" Ryuen lay helpless on the ground, her vision blurred and her thoughts clouded. She saw Lily being dragged toward that monstrous demon, her heart filled with helpless rage. But she could do nothing.

'Perhaps this is the fate that awaits the most beautiful woman in the world,' Riyuki thought, her feelings in turmoil. 'They say Kagami Lily, born of Yomi, is the most beautiful across all three realms. Now that I've seen her with my own eyes, I believe it. Her face, her form, her grace, and even her unyielding will are unparalleled. Yet, for all her beauty, she lacks the strength to dominate others. That means she is destined to be taken by someone stronger. Maybe she resents the fact that she's fallen into his hands, but she never had a choice. Does it even matter who her conqueror is, if the outcome is the same?'

Riyuki lowered her gaze, unable to watch what was about to happen. She took no joy in seeing Lily fall to such a fate. This was a matter of duty and ambition, not cruelty. She followed the rules of their world, believing this was how things had always been. Still, in her heart, she felt pity for the dazzling beauty who refused to bow to fate.

In the endless dark, Shimizu leaned her face against Lily's stomach, feeling Lily gently stroke her hair and hold her close.

"Lily, don't be so gentle. I don't deserve your forgiveness. I have no right."

"You've never done anything that needed forgiveness. I've never doubted that, and I never will."

"But, Lily…"

"Sister, I'm in danger. Will you really refuse to help me? Have you forgotten what we promised each other?"

"I haven't forgotten! But if I go to you, I'll only hurt you again! I'm afraid… afraid I'll be overcome with envy and lose control. I don't want to hurt you anymore!" Shimizu sobbed, her voice shaking.

Meanwhile, Lily's real body was on the verge of falling into the hands of the demon lord, her strength fading with every second. Yet, she remained calm and tender, kneeling with grace. She pulled Shimizu's face into her chest and whispered softly.

"I would rather you hurt me a thousand times than let those filthy demons touch me once. You hurt me because your feelings twisted into obsession. That's why I don't resent you. However you want to hurt me, just tell me. I'll let you. Isn't that enough?"

"Huh? Lily… What are you saying…?"

"Sister, it's because you love me too much that you've lost your way. You hurt me not out of cruelty, but out of care. And that's alright. I'm not as fragile as you think. If I can't endure even this darkness, how can I ever be worthy of your love?" Lily held Shimizu's face against her chest, warm like a calm sea.

"You can call me gentle, or maybe shameless… but I don't mind if it's you who hurts me."

Shimizu's eyes widened. All she could see was Lily's soft skin, glowing faintly in a pale, comforting light. Her scent wrapped around her like a memory she never wanted to lose.

"So beautiful… you're so beautiful… Lily, why are you so kind to me? I've hurt you again and again… yet you still treat me like this." Her voice broke as she clung to Lily's body and wept in deep, wrenching sobs.

Lily gently ran her fingers through Shimizu's hair, pulling her into a tight embrace. Pressing her close, she lifted her chest with quiet strength, as if trying to absorb and dissolve all of Shimizu's guilt and self-loathing into her own warmth.

A sudden cry escaped Lily's lips, her face contorted in pain and shame.

"Lily? What is it? What's happening?" Shimizu looked up in alarm, meeting Lily's face twisted in humiliation and agony.

"Sister, please… help me."

"But… I…"

"It doesn't matter what you've done, or what you think you deserve. Are you going to just stand by and watch me be defiled? Are you really willing to let someone else hurt me in front of your eyes?"

Shimizu's sorrow vanished in an instant, her eyes lighting up with fury. "Who? Where is he? I won't allow it! I won't let anyone touch you!"

"It's Lord Shikikai," Lily whispered weakly. "That filthy creature… he's trying to strip me." She turned her head, cheeks flushed, biting her finger in shame, her voice trembling with pain and humiliation.

"That wretched monster!" Shimizu erupted in fury. Dark flames ignited around her, burning with envy, wrath, and a killing intent so fierce it seemed to set the void itself ablaze. "Where is he? I'll find him! I'll kill him! No one lays a hand on my sister and lives!"

"You can feel it, can't you?" Lily said. "He's deep within the demon's lair… waiting."

Shimizu's eyes widened. Rage reignited her divine power, and in that instant, she sensed it—Shikikai's filthy hands gripping Lily's chest, about to tear open the last remnants of her clothes. The sacred warmth she cherished, the proud tenderness she adored, was about to be stolen by that depraved beast.

"No… it's too late! Even with the power of a Supreme God, I can't reach her in time!" Shimizu's voice shook with desperation.

"Isn't that what you are? My shadow?" Lily's eyes sparkled with calm certainty, her gaze reaching across time and space, connecting their souls in a single moment of trust.

Shimizu's expression turned grave. The surrounding void trembled, then swallowed their shared consciousness whole.

Within the demon's cavern, beneath the flickering light of infernal flames, Lord Shikikai gripped Lily's clothing with lecherous intent, his hand pulling with brute force.

Suddenly, a spatial rift tore open behind Lily. From within her own shadow, a girl with flowing dark blue hair emerged.

In that split second, Lily summoned every last ounce of her strength. With a sharp twist of her waist, she yanked against the Nine-Headed Wyvern restraints and bent backward like a drawn bow.

The Lord tore away a strip of her clothing but was caught off guard. Instead of submission, he saw her legs rise, forming an opening. From within that space, Shimizu burst forth, blade in hand. With Murasame-Anko gleaming in her grip, she struck at the Lord, her sword driven by pure hatred and burning vengeance.