<h4>Volume 11 - Yamata no Orochi: Chapter 49 – Yamata no Orochi</h4>


    At the peak of Izumo Mountain, fierce winds intermingled with heavy rain and thunder. Lily, her sisters, and a cohort of powerful experts, including the Night Parade of Hundred Demons, reached the rocky mountaintop. The cold luster of the rocks shone under the intermittent shes of lightning.


    Looking into the distance, they observed a vast ocean on the other side of the giant mountain peak. The ocean, surrounded by mountains, had engulfed their peaks under its waters. The flood had consumed a significant part of Izumo Mountain, merging it with the sea, resulting in an eerie mix of pitch ck and dark red waves.


    Above the sea hovered a castle tower, suspended midair. Its numerous bonfires cast an ominous glow on the ck clouds. The castle, although seemingly unfinished, dwarfed any structure from the Heian Dynasty in scale, surrounded by smaller towers, walls, corridors, and formations built on levitating rocks – a unique feature of Izumo Mountain.


    From the opposite mountainside, Lily and the others gazed at the distant castle tower, emanating a sinister demonic aura. Arrayed in front of the tower on a vast stone tform were tens of thousands of elite ck-armored soldiers, demon generals, and two heavenly kings in formation.


    A towering samurai, ten meters tall and garbed in shogun attire, ascended the tform. He gazed towards the group of experts, recognizing the implications of their presence. This formidable figure was Minamoto no Yoritomo.


    “Sigh…” Yoritomo observed the red-d de maiden and the assembly of experts across the mountain with a discerning gaze. “Their presence here signifies the demise of Masako and my father-inw, doesn’t it? My father-inw, a venerable hero of his era, mastered the secret cloning art exclusive to the male descendants of the ancient Hojo n. Yet, tragically, both his clone and his original self have fallen in battle. This art, once his legacy, he imparted to me, an outsider to the Hojo bloodline. Now, I stand here, solely with my original form.”


    “This battle, it seems, is destined to be the final confrontation. With the fall of these adversaries, there shall be no one left to hinder my vision of forging a new world!” Yoritomo dered, his voice imbued with a mix of determination and impending triumph.


    “Masako… you, too, were a remarkable woman.” Amidst the tumultuous storm, Yoritomo’s words echoed with a blend of admiration and mncholy, a tribute to a fallenrade.


    Lily’s long hair danced in the tempestuous wind. Her gaze, fixed on Yoritomo from afar, was imbued with solemnity. The decisive moment of battle had inexorably arrived.


    Both Lily and Yoritomo understood that in this battle, there was no path of retreat left for either side. The final stand was at hand.


    Yoritomo, addressing his destined adversary, called out with fervor, “Kagami Lily! Why do you defy the imperial court, dismiss the greater good, and continually thwart my ns for the world? Can’t you see that you’re opposing the divine will?”


    Drenched by the relentless rain, Lily took a determined step forward. Her ck hair swept around her as she retorted, “Does your so-called greater good justify unleashing this cataclysm that threatens to obliterate humanity and all living beings?”


    “Only through the crucible of destruction can new life emerge,” Yoritomo thundered, his voice overpowering even the storm. “Those unable to endure this ordeal will be purged by the world itself, while the survivors will pioneer a new epoch. Such is the immutablew of nature!”


    “Neither survival nor annihtion is yours to decree,” Lily countered, her voice steady and resolute. “You may believe youprehend the divine path, but in truth, you are merely a mortal. What right do you have to y god and decide the fates of all?”


    “Ha! Kagami Lily, do you presume to understand divinity better than I?” Yoritomo scoffed. “Relying on mere talent and chance, you oppose the greater cause and disrupt the grand design. You, a woman of superficial understanding, cannot fathom the true depths of this world’s darkness!”


    Shizuka Gozen’s white hair whipped about in the wind as she red fiercely at the towering samurai on the distant castle tower. “Minamoto no Yoritomo!” she cried out, her eyes aze with fury. “When you murdered my husband, you spouted the same absurd justification! Do you truly believe yourself to be the sole arbiter of righteousness, condemning to death those who oppose you? Silence! You cloak your lust for power in righteousness. You took my husband and son from me, and now, the time for retribution hase!”


    “Minamoto no Yoritomo, today you will face retribution for my master!” Benkei roared, raising his naginata, his aura bursting with righteous fury as he pointed it directly at Yoritomo.


    “I have no concern for your notions of greater good or divine will,” dered Tomoe Gozen, her voiceden with vengeance. “You slew my husband, Kiso Yoshinaka. Today, I, Tomoe Gozen, havee to im your life!”


    “You’re all just relics of a bygone era, deluded and lost!” Yoritomo dered disdainfully. “Kagami Lily, I thought you above these superficial, ignorant, hypocritical fools. Your disappointment is profound…”


    Yoritomo’s eyes gleamed with unwavering resolve. “In the pursuit of righteousness, all sacrifices are justifiable. Whether it be you, me, or all living beings on this earth.”


    “You naive fools should behold the true darkness of this world in your final moments,” he proimed. “Go to your deaths engulfed in despair and regret!”


    Suddenly, the sea’s surface erupted as if boiling, massive waves soaring skyward. The earth quaked, the sky swirled with ferocious winds, heralding the emergence of an unimaginable force.


    A colossal whirlpool formed at the sea’s center, swallowing vast quantities of water, its scale dwarfing anything seen before. Water and mist shot skyward in a gigantic spray, a spectacle of nature’s raw power.


    Mountains began to crumble and sink amidst the tremors, their once-mighty peaks sumbing to the earth’s upheaval. Lily and herpanions swiftly maneuvered, dodging the copsing boulders and mountains, seeking refuge from the destruction.


    Amidst the clearing mist, an enormous shadow, dwarfing several mountain peaks and radiating an immense demonic aura, slowly rose from the sea’s depths. Enormous ck shadows, like pirs reaching into the heavens, stirred the mist and eight-colored demonic clouds above, a testament to the colossal entity’s power.


    The earth shifted violently, the mountains crumbling into the sea, reshaping thendscape. As the mist dissipated, the full extent of the emerging horror began to unveil itself.


    Eight colossal heads towered into the sky, with half of the creature’s body submerged underwater. Its eight long, serpent-like tails stirred the dark clouds, while its massive body, covered in ominous ck scales, bore ancient trees and moss, resembling a primeval forest. Below its dark form, the sea was a bloody mess, with endless ck blood boiling the water and emitting poisonous mist. The legendary Yamata no Orochi had unveiled its true form between the mountains and the sea.


    This gargantuan serpent, with its eight heads and tails and a body spanning thousands of meters, eclipsed the sky and sun, its every movement a cataclysmic force. The sight of it left the group of experts atop the crumbling boulder in shock, their faces mirroring horror and disbelief.


    “Yamata no Orochi has truly been resurrected…” Kimiko’s voice was heavy with solemnity, her eyes fixed on the monster she had never seen before. The scale of each of the creature’s heads was akin to a small mountain, standing 10,000 meters high, rendering the group momentarily speechless, uncertain of how to confront such an immense adversary.


    The heads of Yamata no Orochi, overgrown with moss and dead trees, swayed slowly, almost as if relimating to the world. Each head bore a pair of glowing, malevolent eyes that, despite their size, seemed capable of piercing into one’s soul, with each set of eyes looking in different directions. The experts felt a chilling sense that they were constantly being watched.


    As the body of Yamata no Orochi moved, the forest on its back seemed to undergo the passage of countless years. Demonic and sacred trees emitted an eight-colored mist, adding to the gloom of the already ominous clouds.


    The creature’s eyes shone like malevolent stars in the night, casting sinister rays of light. Amidst the eight-colored clouds, lightning shed and thunder rumbled, adding to the already eerie atmosphere.


    Beneath the demonic clouds, small orange spots appeared in the dark sky, which soon transformed into falling fireballs, like a meteor shower.


    “It’s a rain of fire! Be cautious, everyone!” Ayaka’s warning rang out as the fireballs indiscriminately bombarded everything around Yamata no Orochi, including the creature itself, which seemed unaffected by the fiery onught.


    Each droplet of fire exploded upon nearing the ground, turning into massive fireballs that melted the earth into pools ofva. The sisters and other experts nimbly dodged the impact zones, with only the strongest warriors daring to confront the fiery deluge.


    Many demons and vengeful spirits, unable to evade, were either incinerated, annihted, or gravely injured by the relentless rain of fire, which transformed a hundred square kilometers, previously drenched by rain and floods, into a zing inferno.


    Lily, dodging the destructive fire, eximed in disbelief, “What kind of monster is this? Even a casual disy of its power is this catastrophic!” She then acted swiftly to protect the weaker members of their group.


    Lily tossed the sakura parasol towards a rtively stable mountain peak, providing a haven for the sisters, cavalries, and smaller demons. The parasol trembled under the onught of fire but held strong, shielding them from harm.


    Gazing up at the towering demon, Lily gripped her cursed de and leaped thousands of meters into the air, her body surrounded by swirling cherry blossoms as she charged towards one of Yamata no Orochi’s heads. Yet, as she drew closer, the overwhelming scale of the creature became apparent. To Yamata no Orochi, Lily was no more than a speck, barely warranting attention.


    From the floating castle tower, Yoritomo watched with excitement and admiration as the archdemon of destruction he had resurrected disyed its might. “Kagami Lily, Fujiwara no Ayaka, Tamamo-no-Mae,” he dered, “do you now see your insignificance against the true power shaping the world’s fate? Your meddling in the greater good is futile. Perish! Yamata no Orochi will forge a new world from these ruins!


    ¹” <h4>Footnotes:</h4>


    Robinxen: I just got to the end of editing and realised I made noments, so here’s an obligatoryment.