Volume 5, Chapter 165 — Grand Ceremony

Volume 5, Chapter 165 — Grand Ceremony

Translator: Aoi

“Kagami Lily wins!” Judge Sasaki announced excitedly on the palanquin.

The crowd rejoiced as well!

The 800 Genji samurai shouldering the arena sighed in relief with their brows beaded in sweat. Although it wasn’t that much of a difficult feat for them to lift the arena, the shockwaves from the two girls’ battle were too intense and if it weren’t for the help provided by Minamoto no Yosh*tada and others, it would’ve been impossible for them to keep shouldering the arena.

As for Shenzu, she lay powerlessly on the arena’s floor and even if she had strength left, she had no intention of getting up since she had lost her will to fight completely.

“Is this real? I won?”

After hearing her victory announcement, Lily woke up from her trance.

The massive Charm Intent that Lily had unleashed moments ago had consumed her in return and made her show unusual behavior towards her female opponent. This filled Lily’s heart with worry as even though Charm Intent was one of the Grand Pathways of body refinement for women, it called for utmost caution in exercising control over the intent. This was especially true for Blade Maidens who harbored a powerful grudge within them.

Although Lily could fortunately use Lunar Force to neutralize the grudge with its powerful purification trait, Lily had a premonition that the Violet Moon had strengthened a lot from its earlier White Moon form while the Lunar Force’s purifying powers had weakened in comparison.

Lily’s head finally cooled down and she felt an intense sensation of fatigue assail her.

Although she had reached the next level, she had little spirit reserves left. Her body was filled with scars from wounds and her willpower had reached its limits as well

Lily’s knees faltered to the floor, and she was forced to strut her body up with her cursed blade.

“Lily!” Ayaka leaped to the arena with no regard for everyone else and hugged Lily.

“A-Are you all right? Look how wounded you are. Let me check them,” Ayaka ran her eyes over Lily’s tattered dress and musk-scented sweaty body which looked fine except for the few regions that had reddened.

This was thanks to the defensive abilities of the celestial maiden underwear as well as the efforts that Lily had put into refining her body.

However, Ayaka knew that Lily had a narrow win and almost died under Shenzu’s hand. The situation was so severe that it had even made Ayaka consider falling out with the court to rescue her. Even if she rescued Lily forcefully, it wouldn’t really turn the court to her enemy, but even she couldn’t predict the repercussions.

“I’m fine... Lady Ayaka...” Although Lily thought that having the Chief Advisor hug her openly would incur the jealousy of some people, she had weakened so much that she couldn’t even push her away. The infinite power that filled her had vanished the moment the duel ended, and she had become as soft as a marshmallow now.

“Men!” Ayaka ordered icily, “Capture Yoruko’s murder suspect and send her to the Ministry of Justice for interrogation!” Finndd the newest novels on n/o/velbin(.)com

Shenzu was powerless to even move at the moment and no one was willing to speak for the loser. A few Genji samurai climbed the arena and pulled her up, chaining her hands and feet with fetters on the scene before pushing her down to the floor again despite the sorry state of her dress.

No one spoke up for Shenzu and even the spectators cheered at the scene.

Only Lily showed some pity in her eyes as she saw Shenzu pushed down in such a humiliating state. Unfortunately, Shenzu didn’t seem to notice that. Shenzu was in a completely disheartened state right now. She had lost so miserably and pathetically yet no one refuted her treatment or showed pity to her.

“I really hate you humans!” Shenzu clenched her lips tightly as she lowered her head, her despair gradually turning into hate towards all humanity...

Minamoto no Yoritomo’s sight fell on Shenzu, but his expression remained unchanging.

A few Fujiwara maids climbed up as well, “Lord Chief Advisor. Can you hand over Ms. Kagami to us? We shall have her treated.”

“It’s Lord Yosh*tsune’s spirit!”

“Lord Yosh*tsune expressed his gratitude to Ms. Kagami!”

“A phenomenon like this has never occurred in past memorial ceremonies!”

Even the Cloistered Emperor behind the curtain, as well as Minamoto no Yoritomo, who sat beside the three emperors, also looked at Lily in stupefaction.

“This woman actually triggered a reaction from Yosh*tsune’s heroic spirit?” The Cloistered Emperors’ gaze fell on the dainty, red-dressed girl, “I wonder if she still remembers the perfume that I gifted her? I wonder how the others would feel if they knew that I had made such a super move when she was still completely unknown. Hahahahahaha.”

Yoritomo also looked at Lily in silence before shaking his head as he remarked internally, “Although others might not know about it, I still recall that this dress is the ceremonial dress of Lady Shizuka, my little brother’s beloved wife... Does this rain represent your tears, Yosh*tsune?”

Yoritomo reached out to catch and hold the rain showering from the sky with his gruff palm, his eyes filling with sorrow and complicated emotions as he gazed at the skies.

Lily continued to kneel virtuously on the platform under the people’s focus after offering sacrifice. However, the high priest didn’t command her to descend even after some time had passed. Lily also didn’t intend to ruin a solemn event like this, so she remained still instead of acting without permission.

Even the people below the platform became puzzled when there was no change for so long.

The high priest finally moved at this moment, but he actually descended the platform, leaving Lily alone on it, which deepened her puzzlement.

Judge Sasaki walked into the arena while dressed in a green kimono that was gaudier than Lily’s dress, “Ladies and gentlemen! The Yosh*tsune Memorial Grand Ceremony formally ends! It’s now time for the grand celebration that everyone’s been waiting for!”

“Let us drink a toast for our Guardian, Lord Yosh*tsune, for our Cloistered Emperor, for our Emperor Emeritus, for our Reigning Emperor, for our Imperial Court, and for our people! Let us drink a toast for our new champion, the prettiest, smartest, strongest, and cutest young woman of this generation—Ms. Kagami Lily! It’s celebration time, people!”

“Oooohhhh!”

“Oooohhhh!”

The crowd bustled with excitement and began singing and dancing fervently. It seemed that everyone except Lily had prepared for this celebration.

Classical music sounded through the arena as court attendants and Genji attendants brought in carts filled with food, drinks and fruits, which the people enjoyed. This was the true feast mentioned in tales!

As for Lily, even though it looked as if she was at the center of this banquet, she was sitting silently on the platform and couldn’t even have a single taste of these delicacies.

Sasaki spoke up again after a while, “Please calm down, ladies and gentlemen. Let us move on to the prize of this celebration now! Just as all the earlier memorial ceremonies’ celebrations followed, the champion of the tournament is awarded the right to kiss a girl of their choosing and the girl isn’t allowed to refuse this kiss even if she’s married!”

“Oooohhhh!” The crowd cheered even more fervently.

“What?” Lily was dumbfounded on the platform, “There’s such a rule?”

However, the cheers turned into puzzlement soon after as the crowd discussed the problem this time.

“Silence, please,” Sasaki continued, “I know what puzzles you, ladies and gentlemen. The prize seemed proper since all the previous champions were men, but this time’s champion is a stunning woman instead. It doesn’t seem proper to award her with the right to kiss a random man now, does it? Therefore, the prize for this time’s celebration was changed after negotiation between the Cloistered Emperor and the Genji elders—The final winner who is still standing in the arena after going through unrestricted one-vs-one duels without killing the opponent will gain the right to kiss Ms. Kagami!”

“Oooohhhh!” An explosive spell of excitement overcame the crowd!

“HUHHHH?!” Lily blushed embarrassedly in shock on the platform amid all this excitement.