Demon Sword Maiden Volume 11 - Yamata no Orochi: Chapter 58 – Minamoto no Yoritomo’s Ambition! (Part 1)

Volume 11 - Yamata no Orochi: Chapter 58 – Minamoto no Yoritomo’s Ambition! (Part 1)

Yoritomo ascended sharply, piercing through the dense thunderclouds and leaving behind trails of water vapor. In the flickering light of flames and thunder, his bloodied face bore the visage of a demon god.
His eyes shone with unwavering determination!
Yoritomo’s swordsmanship prowess paled in comparison to Lily’s, and he couldn’t match Yoshitsune either. Yet, it was Yoshitsune who met his end! Yoritomo’s gaze, fixed on Lily, mirrored the fire and lightning around them.
Amidst this frenzied state, the thoughts lurking within his darkened mind remained inscrutable.
While Lily’s intuition pierced through the veil of Yoritomo’s swordsmanship, his thoughts were a mystery beyond her discernment.
Aloft, Yoritomo ignited his stellar souls to their utmost, pushing them to the brink of extinction. In that instant, his forcefulness overshadowed Lily’s.
He harbored a strategy beyond Lily’s imagination.
“Kagami Lily, much like Yoshitsune, you wield your intuition in pivotal moments! Such talent is unrivaled, often securing victory in all-out battles. Yet, ponder this: that very talent is your greatest vulnerability. While I cannot match your adaptive response, I shall make your own talent your downfall!”
Yoritomo’s menacing presence heralded the arrival of a demon deity, his palpable fixation conveying his resolve to Lily. This attack was to be his all-inclusive gambit, likely aiming to conclude the duel.
“Come forth!” In the throes of this existential conflict, Lily harbored not a trace of fear, regardless of the peril. Against the cunning, formidable, and unpredictable Yoritomo, she advanced unflinchingly.
Amidst her, red spider lilies blossomed in stunning array, their captivating spiritual energy surging with immense power. She soared upward, launching herself directly towards Yoritomo!
Against the nocturnal backdrop, a dark miasma and a luminous beam of moonlight clashed!
Yoritomo, embodying a demonic deity, aimed for the most vulnerable segment of Lily’s form—the line from her chest’s center down to her lower abdomen—unleashing a deadly strike.
A fearsome blade beam erupted, spanning the sky with its menace.
Lily’s eyes narrowed as the once rapid blade beam seemed to decelerate in her view. In that moment, her reactions reached a pinnacle of refinement!
Lily sensed a force altering her perception of time and space, yet her intensely focused lunar energy promptly negated its effect. With the blade beam bearing down, she deftly tilted and sidestepped.
As the vast blade beam sailed past Lily, Yoritomo’s stellar souls blazed with a self-destructive fervor. He forcefully swung his blade sideways, twisting his wrist to deliver a diagonal chop at Lily’s waist!
Lily instinctively coiled her legs, executing fluid, seamless evasive maneuvers without preamble. Despite her agility, Yoritomo’s blade grazed the cloth over her chest. In a seemingly vulnerable crouch resembling a kneel, she appeared incapable of counterattacking. Yet, she deftly kicked upward, jarring the handle of Yoritomo’s blade off course. Utilizing the kick’s recoil, Lily executed an acrobatic somersault, and mid-flip, she brought Oborozuki Muramasa down in a forceful overhead slash!
This maneuver was strikingly unconventional, mirroring the action of Lily performing an upward flip to execute a chop, but inverted. Such a maneuver—flipping the body to strike from below—was unheard of, a spur-of-the-moment inspiration born of unique circumstances!
“Chance!!!” Yoritomo’s eyes widened, his visage turning even more malevolent than a demon deity’s. He made no attempt to dodge; upon Lily’s slash, he realized evasion was futile—not due to a lack of skill but a disparity in innate ability. Yet, this was the moment he had anticipated!
He was certain Lily would evade his frenzied, deadly barrages, and in the aftermath, she would assuredly launch a fatal counterstrike!
Though his talent did not soar to great heights, preventing him from foreseeing the nature of the counter, he was confident in Lily’s inevitable response!
He was aware that evading the counterattack was futile; if the blow could be dodged, Lily, with her genius intellect, would discern as much and opt not to use it.
He was certain he couldn’t dodge her lethal strike!
Yet, dodging was never Yoritomo’s plan; he had been anticipating this moment, willing to risk his life by placing himself in the trajectory of Lily’s blade.
“What!??” Lily was taken aback by Yoritomo’s unexpected actions, puzzled and concerned by his seemingly suicidal tactic. Nonetheless, she heightened her alertness and pressed on with her assault decisively.
Yoritomo’s actions left him no room to evade, especially as he deliberately lunged towards the blade.
The exceedingly sharp Oborozuki Muramasa sliced into Yoritomo, penetrating his back and carving a path upwards toward his chest.
Concurrently, Lily felt an unexpected resistance beneath Yoritomo’s chest, as if her blade had encountered an exceptionally hard obstacle.
Indeed, it was a blade—a blade had been embedded within Yoritomo’s body, just below the spirit sea. This blade, both sturdy and formidable, remarkably withstood a slash from Oborozuki Muramasa.
A stellar soul had been concealed within the blade! Yoritomo had ignited this stellar soul past its limits to fortify the blade, effectively ensnaring Lily’s Oborozuki.
With Lily’s Oborozuki ensnared, five bloodied openings manifested on Yoritomo’s chest and waist.
Five jet-black blades, steeped in lethal Yomi poison, erupted forth, each empowered by a blazing stellar soul, granting them formidable strength and velocity.
Whereas ordinary concealed spirit weapons would fail to compromise Lily’s core, these were arms imbued with five stellar souls, irreversibly sacrificed by Yoritomo.
The mere deployment of this strategy was a self-maiming act, a deadly snare beyond Lily’s imagination. The five lethal blades targeted her critical vulnerabilities!
Lily, without a moment for thought, released Oborozuki; her gaze emptied, save for the sight of the five concealed blades, each a glaring, deadly burst charged with terrifying intent.
Upon releasing Oborozuki, Lily maintained her spin, subtly swinging her feet to intercept the two blades, deftly redirecting them with slight kicks.
Lily diverted her full focus to the remaining three blades, countering them with the entire might of her hazy moon soul world and extending her hands. As she spun, her fingers, as if infused with moonlight, gently tapped two blades, steering them away from her. The final blade grazed Lily’s abdomen; her precise rotation angled it upwards toward her chest and head. As she rotated, her chest moved in sync, allowing the blade to slip through the gap, narrowly missing her chin. With a swift tilt of her head, she evaded the blade, letting it slice through her hair instead.
“What…” Yoritomo recoiled, propelled backwards with five gaping wounds and Oborozuki Muramasa lodged in his torso. The outcome he had envisioned failed to materialize; within moments, Lily had adeptly evaded an attack that had cost him six stellar souls.
“This… she’s transcended the bounds of genius; she is… akin to a goddess!” In that instant, Yoritomo’s fighting spirit evaporated.
Conceivably, Yoritomo could have manipulated the stellar souls within the blades to return and assail Lily, yet how could she fail to dodge? It was futile, and Lily would not afford him the opportunity.