Volume 3, Chapter 96 – Yumi’s Capture

Volume 3, Chapter 96 - Yumi’s Capture

Translator: Aoi

“Why did my hair grow longer again? But well, it looks pretty nice like this I suppose...”

Lily’s pretty, chromatic hair within the mirror space long reached 2 inches past the shoulders, and while it had really grown to an embarrassing extent as a boy, she actually found the sensation of this long hair somewhat pleasant.

“I might as well shoulder this shame, as well as senior sister’s sorrow, and blend them both into the Tsukuyomi Swordstyle!”

For some reason, the closer Lily got to the summit of Tsukuyomi Swordstyle’s 1st segment, the clearer she was able to perceive the eternal sorrow contained within the sword intent of Tsukuyomi Swordstyle. Although her minuscule power and insignificant identity might’ve been nothing comparable to the Prime Battle Goddess of Takamagahara, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, the sorrow and emotions she felt were nevertheless the same.

The sorrow she felt and the obsession she harbored towards her senior sister were no inferior to any of the eternal emotions prevalent in this Heian World.

Although this sorrow originated from a substantially distinct lifeform, puzzlingly enough, it felt a little familiar to Lily.

Lily seemed to hear a melancholic, ethereal singing from the bygone immemorial times.

“You and I are a bit alike...”

Lily’s eyes shone as she began dancing gracefully and even though she was a boy, the swordplay exhibited the utmost womanly charm without any inhibitions!

“Soon. Quite soon. The 1st segment of Tsukuyomi Swordstyle has a total of 10 stages. The 10th stage is just a step away from perfection now!”

The demon hound arrived inside the mirror space once again at this moment.

Kagura, who was in the middle of meditation, questioned it in exasperation, “Why have you arrived yet again, hound?”

“Lily’s been meditating for quite some time now, so I came over to take a look since it was worrying me a little. Is she still within the cave room? What’s she doing?”

Kagura answered impatiently, “Who knows. She’s probably getting aroused?”

“Aroused?” The demon hound’s fluffy ears turned up as it slanted its head over to gaze at the tightly closed stone door in puzzlement.

Around the same time, Haihime had been confined to her room in the rear courtyard temporarily after getting stripped of all her privileges.

“This is nothing. Although the punishment made it look like I was the one who got disgraced, the one who actually got infuriated was Amanojaku now, wasn’t it? I haven’t lost. As long as I express indifference, the outcome of this bout shan’t be my loss.”

“I’ll finally regain freedom. I won’t have to bear such dreadful humiliation any longer! I can finally escape this hatred that has almost torn me apart!”

“Mom. I actually find it hard to hold on even a second longer, let alone a day. I really don’t want to share a room with the demon who killed you cruelly, but this final moment is the hardest moment! That demon desires my body even now... but I must preserve, preserve through this final ordeal! For you and my clansmen!”

“Once I’ve overcome this ordeal... I’ll be free!”

Haihime’s eyes dimmed, and her body shuddered as if it were going to crumble apart at any moment, but she persevered tenaciously by relying on her will.

“Lady Haihime...”

“Who is it?” Haihime asked astonishedly.

“It’s me,” A cat-masked kunoichi slid the door open stealthily and arrived before Haihime after closing the door vigilantly.

Haihime regulated her mood hastily and adopted a nonchalant expression intentionally, “Oh, it’s you. Didn’t you all go over to that snake’s side? Why have you come looking for me now?”

“Lady Haihime. My two sisters were wounded pretty heavily in front of those monsters and then got dragged inside a group of monsters to become their playthings, getting toyed to their deaths in a miserable and humiliating fashion... I would rather die after getting found out by them than show loyalty to those monsters!” The cat-masked kunoichi’s mask was expressionless, but the strong resentment emanating from her shuddering body was enough to evoke sorrow in others.

“So what? For what reason have you come looking for me?”

“L-Lady Yumi got caught by Genga, Lady Haihime.”

“Yumi? Didn’t I tell her to leave? Why did she return?”

“It seemed like she wanted to report something to you quite urgently, Lady Haihime, but she got caught by them before she could meet you.”

Yumi should’ve gone to the underground space where the clansmen live based on what I told her, so what was so important that she returned to report to me?

The most important thing is that I’ve yet to announce Yumi’s banishment publicly, so she still holds her status as one of the subleaders of the demon ninjas in the Land of Hundred Demons. Why did those fellows grab her all of a sudden?

A bad premonition welled up within Haihime’s heart instantly.

“Answer me. Where have they imprisoned Yumi right now?”

“Inside the temple’s dungeon,” the cat-masked kunoichi answered with a slight shudder.