<h4>Volume 8 - Higanbana: Chapter 9 – Nemesis</h4>


    The strands of shining, crystal-clear threads were as fine as silk, so they couldn’t be noticed at all in the midst of fierce battle.


    These incredible silk threads were the ones left over from before when Lily weaved cloth with starlight in the fifth room of the mirror space. These silk threads were used to make the new canopy of the sakura parasol and were unbelievably durable.


    Even if straightened, a single strand of thread would require a Throned Sovereign level expert to cut it. But in reality, the silk threads were very long, fluid, and flexible, making it harder to cut the longer it was.


    However, it could also be a weapon even sharper than a de, just like how Lily entangled the high tforms. When she pulled with all her strength, all the entangled wooden tforms were cut at the columns


    ¹.


    Even some onmyojis and dharma masters had their bodies sliced by the extremely thin silk threads, dying without knowing what happened.


    “What??!” By the time all the archdemons and militarymanders discovered the existence of the silk threads, it was already toote!


    The silk threads were unable to break through the defense of strong Throne Stage powerhouses, let alone the defensive formation, so it posed little threat to the army. If defensive measures had been carried out earlier, the oue wouldn’t have been this disastrous!


    Kato Keiren was trembling all over as he looked at the bloody battlefield with nk eyes…


    200,000 ck-armored soldiers! Of all the sacrifices, not only did arge portion of them die in vain, but they also had their anima taken away by Kagami Lily— tens of thousands of them!


    Currently, most of the army of onmyojis and dharma masters who were able to use the blood wish sacrificial technique were dead, so there was no way to perform new blood wish sacrifices.


    The victory or defeat of this battle that expended almost half of the imperial court’s troops now depended on the seven sacrificial hounds.


    If the seven sacrificial hounds could kill the nine-tailed fox, the imperial court would achieve a tragic victory, but if not, the army may likely face total annihtion.


    The remaining troops, including the scattered ck-armored army formations, only numbered a few tens of thousands and they were very dispersed, making it difficult to establish a powerful formation. The demons suffered lesser casualties and most of them were still alive. As for the more than a hundred thousand warriors from vassal noble houses, most of them had fled long ago. Of course, even if they didn’t escape, they wouldn’t be able to do anything to the nine-tailed fox.


    “Kagami Lily!!!” All the archdemons and militarymanders hated Lily to the core and started to surround her from all directions.


    Lily let go of the silk threads that would otherwise affect her movements, and without the slightest hesitation, she dashed towards the direction of the demon fox.


    “Kagami Lily!!!” Kato was even more furious. If Lily hadn’t destroyed most of the sacrificial hounds, they might have killed the demon fox by now. But instead, those more than a hundred thousand ck-armored demon soldiers had killed themselves for nothing!


    Now that he had nothing tomand since the hounds could fight the demon fox without his instructions, he erupted with soaring spiritual energy and shot towards Lily!


    Apart from the Big Dipper Stage existence, Ueotsune Tane, who was recently killed by a w strike from the demon fox, Kato was the strongest in the army with his Throned Saint level strength!


    Out of respect for these existences who stood at the top among Throne Stage powerhouses, the saint stage was not divided into categories such as the early or middle level.


    Instead, the saint stage could be divided into three levels: ordinary, elite, and ultimate.


    That was to say, ultimate saints were those at the limit of the Throne Stage, meaning the next step would propel them into the Big Dipper Stage!


    Of course, Kato was just an ordinary saint, but he was already an extremely rare powerhouse at the top of the Heian Dynasty.


    A near invincible team consisting of a Throned Saint, Throned Monarchs, several archdemons, and militarymanders rushed towards Lily at the same time. Lily felt a terrible threat, so she used the purple sakura domain to suppress the speed of her pursuers while boosting hers with purple lunar force!


    Although it was entirely possible for these people to kill Lily if they worked together, they were unable to catch up! Under the suppression of the domain, they couldn’t fully utilize their speed. In this case, only Kato Keiren, who was slightly faster than Lily, stood a chance of catching her, but he couldn’t catch up immediately as he was the farthest away from her.


    Lily continued to shuttle through the bloody and chaotic battlefield, rushing towards Tamamo-no-Mae.


    Although the distance between Kato and Lily was gradually closing, he slowed down when he was more than 200 meters away from her.


    He finally stopped and gave up on chasing Lily.


    This was because Lily had rushed into the range of the bloody battle between the nine-tailed fox and the seven hounds.


    With just a single w, a Big Dipper Stage existence was pped to death. Kato dared not approach the nine-tailed fox as its speed was too fast. Once he entered its attack range and itunched an attack, he would have no time to react and his only ending would be death.


    Tarobo and the others who were chasing after Lily also stopped.


    They cursed Lily incessantly, but the sea of blood in front of them blocked their path. The nine-tailed fox and the seven hounds were enough to destroy any who dared approach their battle, so the group kept their distance.


    The sacrificial hounds were extremely ferocious, and relying on their numbers, cruelty, and fearlessness, they frantically attacked the nine-tailed fox.


    The rest of the crusading army did not dare to approach that death storm.


    <i>Whoosh— Whoosh— Swoosh—</i>


    The storm formed by the battle between the giant, thousand-meter-long fox and the seven sacrificial hounds was so fierce that it caused Lily’s whole body to sting. She had no choice but to consume spiritual energy to defend herself. She also retracted her domain as she realized that using it to suppress the power of such existences was akin to using a thin piece of paper to try to stop a charging bull. It was simply meaningless and only wasted purple lunar force.


    But even so, Lily rushed into this cruel and bloody fight without fearing death.


    The hounds were so vicious that every bite tore deeply into the flesh of the demon fox, causing people’s hearts to lurch at the sight of blood that spurted like a flood. But the demon fox’s power was naturally stronger.


    <i>Crack!</i> Although the hounds were extremely fast, one was still unexpectedly bitten.


    With one bite from the demon fox, the body of the hound broke, causing ck blood and anima to fly everywhere.


    But the remaining two halves still turned into individual parts that attacked and bit at the nine-tailed fox.


    The battle started very slow, but it quickly began to pick up pace. In an instant, the demon fox and the hounds may have exchanged blows hundreds of times!


    Two more hounds were bitten, but even as they slowly died, they still continued to attack the demon fox frantically in theirst moments.


    The aura of the nine-tailed fox was also getting weaker and weaker!


    It was still possible for the seven hounds to kill the demon fox, though it was very likely that both parties would perish in the end. In fact, once a sacrificial hound was formed, it wouldn’t disappear until its energy got exhausted. It would pursue the target relentlessly, but if the target died, it would also dissipate.


    Sacrificial hounds were not afraid of death at all!


    “Want to die with Lady Kimiko? Keep dreaming!”


    The closer Lily got to the hounds, the more their dark and cruel aura stirred up her enormous hatred!


    At the risk of being identally injured by the nine-tailed fox and the hounds, Lily leaped behind one of the loathsome creatures that was biting the thick fur on Tamamo’s neck, refusing to let go.


    The cursed de in her hand blossomed with the power of the poignant purple moon.


    “Die!!!”


    <i>Pfft—</i>


    The cursed de pierced into the hound’s body. Although it seemed that no damage was done to this spell made of ck blood, the anima inside its body was continuously absorbed by Lily’s cursed de


    ².


    With soaring resentment, Lily urged the cursed de to absorb the soul energy of the sacrificial hound surprisingly fast, that, within a few seconds, an enemy that could threaten the demon fox was sucked dry.


    The translucent, turbid body of the hound began to dim without the energy from the anima, causing ck blood to immediately fall.


    The gruesome wounds on the demon fox’s body made Lily’s heart tremble.


    Lilynded on the ground and was about to take off again, when suddenly, darkness reflected in her eyes!


    The badly-wounded demon fox became even more brutal. Although Lily didn’t provoke it, the demon fox swiped its ws at her purely out of anger when it spotted her.


    It was too fast and quick for Lily to react!


    However, at that moment, the fox amulet that Lily was carrying emitted a halo of light that, although she couldn’t see, was extremely conspicuous to the demon fox. The nine-tailed fox suddenly changed direction and struck a hound not far away from Lily!


    No matter how tyrannical and cruel the demon fox was, it wouldn’t kill its own kind. The nine-tailed fox, whose consciousness was still hazy, mistook the aura of the fox amulet for Lily’s, deeming her to be one of its own.


    The huge shockwave still knocked Lily to the ground and caused her to roll several times, tearing her clothes.


    Lily didn’t even know that the fox amulet was responsible for protecting her. She continued to ignore the danger of being killed by the demon fox and rushed towards another hound.


    Simr to a fire bomb spell with tracking abilities, the sacrificial hound would only attack the target it was assigned while being formed, so it would not actively attack Lily.


    The power of de maidens was the natural nemesis of the sacrificial hounds!


    After that, the demon fox did not attack Lily again. Lily dodged and leaped from side to side before stabbing her cursed de into the bodies of the hounds, destroying them one by one and absorbing their anima!


    <i>Pfft!</i> Lily’s cursed de pierced thest hound that was biting the thigh of the demon fox, absorbing the energy of the several thousand anima inside it.


    After the anima waspletely absorbed, the hound turned into countless ck, foam-like substances that drifted away in the wind and turned into ashes.


    The bloody rain and wind gradually dissipated, revealing the blood-soaked demon fox and the river of blood under its feet. It flopped down, opened its big mouth full of fangs, stuck out its tongue, and panted breathlessly. On top of the demon fox’s head, stood a small de maiden.


    The nine-tailed fox seemed to havepletely regarded Lily as its own kind and was ustomed to her presence. Furthermore, no matter how confused it was, it still retained the perception of a wild beast. Since the demon fox felt that Lily was helping it, it naturally didn’t attack again.


    This time, the less than 200,000 remaining troops were shocked.


    “This, this is… What a spectacle…” Even Momiji was amazed.


    A young girl in red with torn and tattered clothes, holding a cursed de in her hand, was actually standing on top of the thousand-meter-long nine-tailed fox; the number one demon in the world


    ³!


    And this demon fox was just lying there, seemingly unconcerned…


    In the historical records of the Heian Dynasty, no matter how many generations of experts and geniuses far surpassing Lily had existed, there was no one who could stand on the head of the number one demon in the world!


    The army kept a distance from the nine-tailed fox, not daring to approach easily.


    Kato Keiren trembled all over, “The sacrificial hounds, did they finally all die…? We feared the demon fox and didn’t dare to approach it, allowing Lily to ultimately have her way and mess up everything!”


    “This demon fox looks seriously injured. If we retreat now, it may not be able to chase us down. But if we reorganize our attack, will we be able to kill the nine-tailed fox with these remaining forces?”


    “A cornered beast will still fight, so one can only imagine the destructive power this dying demon fox has…”


    “So many people have already died! How can we just escape like this!” Kato finally hardened his heart and pointed his sword at the huge demon fox, “This nine-tailed fox is on the verge of death! All troops attack! Kill the world’s most treacherous demon


    ⁴! Long live the heavenly way


    ⁵!!!” <h4>References</h4>


    Robinxen: So apparently that doesn’t count as an attack. Okay then!


    Robinxen: They are literally physical manifestations of exp to Lily.


    Robinxen: This is one for a painting of the ages.


    Robinxen: Sarcasm.


    Robinxen: Sarcasm.