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Yuki Mayumi kicked hard with her powerful strong and healthy legs and sent Shimizu rolling across the ground again, making her spew blood innumerable times over the course before crashing into a rock and smashing it apart into pieces.
“Sister!”
“Lady Shimizu!” Even Nanako, who was hidden under the cover of the parasol, quivered in anxiety. She feared for Shimizu’s safety after watching her take such a terrifying kick.
The demons surrounded the rubble that was shrouded in clouds of dust.
There was no movement for a long time.
And when the dust settled, the beautiful yet sorry figure of a girl laid within the rubble.
However, when the demons thought the fight had ended already, the girl in torn black kimono moved with a tremble and stood up again incredibly.
Shimizu was dazed and her vision was blurry. In fact, she couldn’t even stand firmly right now.
The monsters and the demons surrounded Shimizu while a wicked smile appeared on Yuki Mayumi’s face, she had nowhere to run now.
“Clank—!” A total of three blue demons heaved their giant axes and struck Lily’s blade, forcing her to kneel on one knee and caused the land below her to sink in from the force the strikes packed.
“Sister Shimizu…” Lily braced her trembling arms tenaciously, yet she wasn’t able to throw off the weight of the three demons’ weapons immediately.
“Surrender and you’ll live. You are the first mirror girl that’s getting spared, don’t you know to feel grateful for that?” Yuki Mayumi hollered at Shimizu.
Shimizu’s gaze flitted across Yuki Mayumi and landed on the helpless Lily who was under the onslaught of three giant demons nearby yet still striving to aid her.
She then faced Yuki and revealed a horrifying blood-stained grin, “Hmph! Just keep dreaming. I’ve never experienced a healthy and peaceful day in my entire life. My life is much grander compared to an ordinary person’s and this is but a short interlude in my life. I’ve never wondered how long it would take for me to traverse such a tough path…”
Shimizu supported her body up with the help of her sword’s sheath and limped forward within the encirclement of the demons, “My only wish is to go out like a blazing meteor while I am alive. I am not afraid of death. If any, my only regret is being unable to contribute much to the world and being hated by everyone while I’m alive…”
“My mother and father left before me and there’s no one in this world who likes and cares for me. However, even if it’s such a world, and even if everyone is so heartless, I still like them and am faithful to this world!”
“Because this world can at least validate my existence!”
“So you better give up now! I shall fight to the last gasp as the mirror girl chosen by the heavens! I won’t hide in a cheerless corner of the world aimlessly and look on as the demons and monsters rampage around the world! I have no qualms dying in battle even if it’s for the people who ridiculed, ignored, and rejected me, because such a world will at least remember me!”
The black kimono enveloping Shimizu’s frail body fluttered in the air as beautiful dark blue spirit power blazed out from within her one last time!
“I am one of the chosen! Even if I were to die because of this, the mirror within my heart has at last reflect the dazzling sunshine once! As one of the Genji, I have no regrets dying as a mirror girl!”
Shimizu prepared to employ the final all-out Iai slash of her life against Yuki.
“Let the world bear witness to Shimizu’s final slash,” Shimizu soliloquized internally yet the incessant shuddering of her hand prevented her from sheathing her blade. At this point in time, the thing driving Shimizu to fight was no longer spirit power but rather her will. Her soul was screaming its essence out because of all the indifference and isolation she had faced throughout her entire life!
She dragged her body forward, pausing after each step, walking with a stagger, yet she looked oddly dazzling, the dark blue spirit power leaving a scattering, poignant trail behind her as proof of her final bloom.
The demons and monsters also felt a powerful and formidable grudge shroud her, which made them reluctant to approach her.
Shimizu finally sheathed her blade and dragged her glowing body closer to Yuki.
“Life and death are determined in an instant. My heart remains steadfast though my life is at the mercy of whimsical fate.”
Shimizu was finally a moment away from Yuki.
“No, don’t! Don’t do it, Sis!” Lily yelled hoarsely, “Don’t overdo it! You won’t be able to defeat her like this, Sis! Stop—!”
However, Shimizu could no longer hear any external voices right now as she had truly achieved an equanimous state and become one with the sword.
“Sword Will — Annihilation!1”
A beautiful and alluring look appeared within Shimizu’s eyes.
The Tranquil Bamboo within her hand transformed into endlessly pure and beautiful light and flashed across Yuki Mayumi with inconceivable speed and power.
“Clank—!”
A sharp and clear soul-shaking tremor reverberated across the entire patch of land.
Yuki Mayumi blocked Shimizu’s final blazing all-out attack with her shining blue straight sword, her movements as fluid and steady as a mountain and her gaze as dark as the night.
“What?” Shimizu had a lifeless look in her eyes.
“Minamoto no Shimizu. Did you think you can overcome the world just by relying on a grudge?” Yuki Mayumi stated through her pink lips, “Do you think only you have an unforgettable dream and miserable past in this world? What an immature, naïve and selfish woman you are. Did you really think you were chosen by the heavens?!”
“Clang—!” Yuki Mayumi struck with her sword suddenly and sent the helpless Shimizu flying with a powerful attack. She then shook her hands and launched the sharp hooks within her bracers and lashed the helpless girl gliding in the air with the rope made of spirit power.
One flesh wound after another appeared on Shimizu’s body. The kimono patterned with phoenix’s tail and butterflies enveloping her body had become torn up badly and even the golden sash of her kimono had ripped apart following a flash of blue light.
“Sister Shimizu!” Lily mustered all the spirit power within her body and attempted to push back the heavy weapons of the three giant demons…
Shimizu fell to the ground powerlessly and stained the grass with blood, rolling across the ground under the blood-tinted hue of the sunset before coming to a stop. The ancient mirror on her also fumbled out of her torn sash and fallen to the side.
Her body was riddled with wounds and her consciousness was turning fuzzy and she was turning paler by the second, blood seeping out from her mouth incessantly.
She rolled over her body while trembling. The pain made it difficult for her to determine whether her injuries were fatal, yet her eyes only reflected the ancient mirror that had fallen to the side within the fuzzy world before her.
Shimizu disregarded the fact that forcing herself to move now would make her injuries worse and extended her pale and skinny arm towards it, muttering hoarsely with her blood-stained lips, “My… mirror…”
She was obviously so hurt that she shouldn’t be able to move yet Shimizu was able to incredibly crawl towards that mirror with a slow and resolute pace, almost as if that mirror’s importance had long surpassed that of her life, soul and everything else!
“The mirror… that gave me everything. It’s mine and no one can take it away from me. It’s my life… and dream… I… am chosen by the heavens…”
Shimizu’s eyes finally mooned in satisfaction when her bloodied and bruised fingers were an inch away from grasping the octagonal mirror lying on the grass, its surface glowing with mystical and bewitching runes.
“Crack—!”
Yuki Mayumi’s spirit power infused leather boot stepped on the ancient bronze mirror and shattered it into pieces.2