<h4>Volume 8 - Higanbana: Chapter 18 – Battle against the Martial Saint</h4>


    Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, known as the Martial Saint, was one of the two legendary saints revered by many, surpassing the Yamato Eight Legion and standing at the pinnacle of all vagrants. He was the ultimate aspiration of countless swordsmen and vagrants, and his undefeated status for countless years earned him the title of the Martial Saint.


    He had the opportunity to ascend to the big dipper realm, but the death of Tamurakonoe had left a deep impact on him. The hatred festered in his heart, bing an insurmountable obstacle. He was determined to kill Kagami Lily, not only to avenge his son but also to untie the knot in his heart. The idea of a fair duel was a joke to him. In the face of absolute strength, reason was unnecessary. An absolute expert was always right, and there was no need for justification.


    Kagami Lily, a samurai from Kanto, had the audacity to kill the only son of the Martial Saint. In his eyes, her victory alone was a crime, regardless of whether it was a fair duel or not. ording to him, her crime stemmed from not having a martial saint as her father.


    “Die!”


    Tamuramaro’s de crackled like a golden thunderbolt, its power akin to the ferocity of lightning itself. In a blinding sh of gold, the de descended upon Lily.


    <i>ng—</i>


    The sh of metal was so loud that it almost burst the eardrums of all the vagrant swordsmen nearby. The resulting shockwave blew against Ui on the rooftop and Kiuchidera Tesshin on the ground, knocking both off bnce! It was hard to imagine, but half a year ago, both of these people were capable of matching Lily in battle. Now, just the sh of des from a distance would blow the two away, highlighting the immense power and skill that Lily had attained.


    “What!??”


    Within the tumultuous blend of wind and smoke, Lily’s eyes shone like crystals, and her slender arms held her cursed de aloft. Her ck hair and red kimono fluttered in the wind! That female samurai who the Martial Saint could have crushed with one finger in the past had now matched his blow! She was on equal footing with the swordsmanship master, the Martial Saint Sakanoue no Tamuramaro!


    Tamuramaro’s eyes widened in disbelief as he exerted all his strength, but he still couldn’t force Lily’s de down. His veins and muscles bulged as he struggled against her, muttering incoherently, “This…this is impossible!”


    Despite the martial saint attacking with his full power and pressing down with a heavy sh, Lily stood her ground and raised her sword to block. If both sides were equal in strength, Lily would be at a disadvantage, but she did not step back.


    <i>Boom!</i> The ground beneath Lily’s feet contorted and the buildings around them sunk as they twisted and deformed, but she didn’t budge an inch


    ¹.


    “Impossible! How can a mere female samurai block my de!” Despite being infuriated, the martial saint did not lose hisposure. Swordsmanship and pose were among his top talents, honed over many years of profound training.


    In a calm yet powerful motion, heunched a kick towards Lily’s legs. However, Lily was quicker in her reaction and dodged the kick. In the split second when Tamurakonoe’s kick missed, Lily countered with a swift strike of her purple de.


    As the purple de light shed with Tamurakonoe’s sword, a deafening ng echoed throughout the battlefield. The impact was so strong that Tamurakonoe was forced to slide backwards, leaving deep furrows in the ground with his feet.


    “Agggrrhh——!!” Tamurakonoe grunted in agony as the powerful and relentless purple lunar force kept pushing against his defense, forcing him to retreat backwards for a hundred meters until he was finally able toe to a halt.


    The swordsmen of the Maro Dojo were dumbfounded at the sight before them. They had expected the Martial Saint to overpower and defeat the young female samurai with ease, but here she was, holding her own against him and even pushing him back with her powerful strikes.


    “How is this possible?” Kiuchidera Tesshin, who had been blown back by the shockwaves, could only watch on in disbelief from behind the wreckage.


    The Martial Saint, Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, was an expert among throned saints! He was widely recognized as one of the most powerful throned saints, and considered to be at the pinnacle of all saints. It was because of this that he had earned the nickname of the Martial Saint.


    On the other hand, Lily had reached the peak-stage of the permanence realm and had mastered various secret techniques, in addition to possessing the powerful Celestial Maiden Physique. Even without using the purple lunar force, she was already at the peak of the saint realm. If she were to use the purple lunar force, her strength would be pushed to the extremities of the saint realm. And if shebined it with the purple sakura domain, she would be invincible amongst the saints.


    Lily’s confidence had grown tremendously since she reached the peak-stage of permanence. She knew that below the big dipper realm, no one could match her strength unless they possessed Yomi or Celestial treasures that defied the natural order. The reputation of the Martial Saint may have been impressive, and he had dominated the Sinless Domain for a century, but Lily did not fear him.


    That was why she dared to infiltrate the Sinless Domain. Even though she hoped to avoid any confrontation with her enemies, she knew that she could face them head-on with the utmost confidence if necessary.


    Despite his heavy heart and shock at Lily’s strength, Tamuramaro knew he couldn’t retreat in front of his disciples and in the Sinless Domain. He gritted his teeth and prepared to fight on, drawing upon all his experience and training as the Martial Saint.


    Tamuramaro’s eyes were filled with a fierce determination as he charged towards Lily, convinced that no matter how strong she was, she couldn’t match his experience and tactics. With a de crackling with golden lightning, he shouted, “Kagami Lily! Let us fight to the death!”


    With a sharp “Ching!” sound, Lily swung Yasutsuna upwards, no longer holding back and fullymitted to the fight. Her strike deflected Tamuramaro’s de upwards and sent a jolting impact through his body.


    “You b?i?t?c?h?!” Tamuramaro’s anger reached its peak as he continued to attack Lily with all his might, refusing to believe that he was being overpowered by a mere woman. But each of his attacks was easily deflected by Lily’s swordsmanship, and this only fueled his rage further.


    “This is impossible! You cannot be stronger than me! You’re a con! A devil incarnate!!” he bellowed in frustration.


    Tamuramaro relentlesslyunched a barrage of fierce attacks from all directions, but his power and speed were no match for Lily’s as she calmly deflected each one. Suddenly, Tamuramaro performed a quick roll and aimed an indecent attack at Lily’s lower body. Despitecking the majesty of a Martial Saint, it was a sudden and vicious move.


    Lily had already experienced a war where hundreds of thousands of troops had fought. What kind of vicious and low-ss attacks had she not seen? She effortlessly hopped up and evaded the attack, simultaneously delivering a powerful kick to Tamuramaro’s head, sending him flying into the dusty road below. Crawling out of the crater he had created, Tamuramaro’s face was covered in dirt, and he no longer had theposure he had before. His fury knew no bounds.


    “Kagami Lily, take this!” Tamuramaro raised his sword high up into the sky, “Golden Physique: Thousand Thunder ughter.”


    Tamuramaro’s upper clothes shredded into pieces, revealing his rock-hard muscles. The red skies darkened with roiling ck clouds, while a golden light shot up from Tamuramaro’s sword, attracting countless lightning bolts towards it. The lightning bolts danced around Tamuramaro’s body, tempering him with thunder and lightning, transforming his skin into a gleaming brass-like metallic color.


    The golden Martial Saint, surrounded by thunderbolts, strode towards Lily like a thunder god, emanating a tyrannical lightning intent as he yelled, “Die!!!”


    “Sakura d Moon—” As Lily unleashed her attack with a scarlet de aura, she hoped to break through Tamuramaro’s thunderbolt-d defense. However, the attack only managed to stagger him, leaving behind a shallow de scar that resembled a metal crack rather than a cut on flesh.


    Tamuramaro charged at Lily, wielding his sword with the force of heavenly lightning.


    <i>Bang!!!</i> The impact of their sh caused circr shockwaves to ripple outwards, destroying countless dpidated buildings in Nara-kyo.


    On one knee and with one hand holding the Sakura Parasol high, Lily blocked Tamuramaro’s strike with ease. The old parasol had proven itself capable of blocking even heavenly annihtion, and with the new and improved version, a lightning strike from the Martial Saint was nothing but child’s y. Sparks flew as the de ground against the parasol, but Lily remained unfazed. She moved like flowing water, transitioning into a single-handed sh aimed at Tamuramaro’s legs, the de glowing bright purple.


    <i>Crack!!!</i>


    Tamuramaro’s body lost bnce and he fell sideways as Lily’s swift sh took out his legs. Though his legs had been tempered, they were nowhere near as hard as his torso. As he fell, his eyes widened in shock, unable toprehend what had just happened. His upper body crashed to the ground, leaving his two feet standing upright like a tree.


    Lily’s expression remained cold as she passed by Tamuramaro’s fallen body without delivering a final blow. She continued to walk silently towards the center of Nara-kyo.


    “Martial Saint!!!”


    “Teacher!!!”


    Silently, they watched Lily’s retreating back. Was this really the same Kagami Lily they knew from half a year ago?


    On the rooftop, Little Ui copsed to her knees, her gaze clouded. Despite her strong will, Ui felt a despairing hot current running down her legs and seeping through the tiles


    ². She knew she could never avenge her master.


    Tamuramaro howled in agony as he saw his two legs lying on the ground behind him, while he struggled to support his upper body.


    “Kagami Lily!!!”


    Tamuramaro’s body was still enveloped in crackling lightning bolts. Using the force generated when the thunder collided with the ground, he propelled himself upright and created a thick ck electric cloud where his legs once stood. He thenunched himself into the air, hugging the ground closely as he soared.


    <i>Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!</i> Three golden thunderballs whizzed through the air towards Lily’s back.


    “What? Hidden weapons?” The disciples were shocked, but the lightning balls were too quick for them to react. Before they could make sense of what was happening, the three balls were already behind Lily.


    <i>Poof! Poof! Poof!</i>


    Lily spun her Sakura Parasol behind her, dispersing the thunderballs with ease. While the lightning was not fatal, it could still paralyze her for a brief moment, giving Tamuramaro an opening to strike. Lily knew that she couldn’t afford to let her guard down.


    With his lower half now transformed into a thundercloud, Tamuramaro pursued Lily by tracing the trajectory of the three thunderballs and swung his de towards her head. However, Lily quickly responded by opening her Sakura Parasol, revealing its swirling sakura petal design. As Tamuramaro was distracted by the parasol, Lily’s figure blurred and she swiftly circled around his back.


    <i>sh!!!</i>


    With a deep purple glow emanating from her de, Lily delivered a powerful sh. The Martial Saint’s metallic back split apart, and lightning erupted from the wound. Half of the blood that spurted out turned into lightning, while the other half was instantly vaporized.


    A beam of purple light from the heavens crashed down onto the golden throne pce within Tamuramaro’s spirit sea, annihting it along with the surrounding area. As a result, the lightning current surrounding Tamuramaro vanished, and he aged rapidly before copsing to the ground, the light fading from his eyes.


    Lily’s gaze turned mncholy. Despite Tamuramaro’s actions, he was still the Martial Saint of a generation, and his legend was deeply ingrained in the hearts of many vagrants. Though his demise was deserved, she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sorrow. With a heavy heart, she turned to leave.


    “T-Tell me…” An old, wrinkled hand grabbed onto Lily’s slender ankle as the dying Martial Saint asked, “today’s battle… how does itpare to my son’s battle?”


    Shaking her head, Lily replied, “The battle with your son was a fairpetition between two equals. But this battle was nothing more than you trying to bully the weak, using despicable tactics even after losing. You are not worthy of beingpared to your son.”


    “You!!!” Tamuramaro opened his eyes wide, ring at Lily unwillingly, but suddenly a relieved smile appeared on his face.


    “Ahh… my son, he…” That was the happy smile of a father realizing that his son had surpassed him. The Martial Saint, Sakanoue no Tamuramaro died. <h4>References</h4>


    Robinxen: I actually really love this visual effect in animation.


    Silva: Huh? Did she pee? In this situation? Really author?