At the rear of Mount Ooe, there was a vast abyss where the winds howled year round. It was said that if you jumped into this hole you would reach Yomi.
Shuten Doji stood at the entrance of the abyss, flame red hair flapping in the wind yet his sturdy and robust body stood motionless like a heavy mountain.
âYour Highness, do you really believe the words of that human sword miko?â Ibaraki asked from behind him.
At this moment:
Whoosh! Whooshh! Whooshh!
From the abyss appeared three figures.
âYes, we are also confused. Why did your highness uncharacteristically spare that human woman?â A male figure commented, his voice sounded weird, as if it was out of control.
âYour highness, could it be that youâre feeling affection for that Uesugi Rei?â A longhaired graceful female figure asked.
The third figure was tall and sturdy, yet remained silent and hidden in the shadows.
Shuten stared deep into the abyss, smiling wickedly, âHeh, Momiji, arenât you a woman too? Can it be that I cannot have another female subordinate?â
âEhehehe, your highnessâ words makes Momiji worry for herself.â The female figure walked out of the shadows to Shutenâs side. Her hair was delicately decorated and she was wearing a beautiful red white kimono. She was slender and enchanting, radiating the allure of a mature woman. This was Momiji, the woman who had once fought Lily in Mino.
âMomijiâŠâ Ibaraki looked at her and sensed her immense presence, âDid you also reunite your soul?â
âNaturally, how could I ignore whatâs happening? Of course I would return, reunite with the part of my soul that was training in the mountains and help his highness defend Tanba.â
âYour highness, that woman, Uesugi Rei, you havenât answered my question.â Momiji questioned again.
The current Shuten was only 1.9 meters tall, to him, body size could be manipulated at will.
âEhehe⊠since I have you four wrathful kings here, why would I care about a mere blade maiden? Iâm merely playing the long game⊠that woman is merely one of my important pawns.â
âYour highnessâ words make Momiji emotional, but did your highness think I would not know that Uesugi Rei is not an ordinary woman?â
Shuten just continued to view the abyss, the surrounding endless mountains and the rolling clouds and mists with a bewitching smile.
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Tens of thousands of miles southwest of Tanba, within the endless jungle.
At the end of May, the jungle was sweltering hot.
Minamoto no Shimizu1Â wore only a thin white vest with flowing sleeves exposing her upper arms and shoulders. The vest was attached to a short white skirt and her legs were covered in black tights.
Shimizu felt around her neck, seeking the broken ancient jade hidden within her vest.
Though she had found some intact ancient jades, she felt that they were all lesser than the mysterious broken ancient jade.
This ancient broken jade aided her greatly in her practice, it had led her to learning so many previously unimaginable things.
Only, the secrets hidden within the jade seemed to be shattered, just like the jade itself.
âWhy is this ancient jade shattered? Could it be that there are other fragments? If I find those, could the jade be fixed? What incredible power would the whole jade have?â
âCroak!â A huge initial-stage permanence realm frog pounced at her, its thick long red tongue extended at tremendous speeds.
Slash! Though Shimizu was in deep thought, her reaction was fast, she drew her straight blade and slashed out, a cold golden blade light sliced straight through frog tongue!
Swish! Shimizu turned into a phantom, followed by a black line carving through the air.
âMoon Cross!â Shimizu whispered.
Splurt!!! The line traced through the body of the giant frog that was considered the overlord of the swamp, and blood came spurting out of the wound.
Though the blade light wasnât big, it was extremely sharp. It passed right through the frog monster and destroyed its spirit jade.
Spinning her blade into a backhand, she stabbed her blade into the frog, absorbing the emerald green permanence anima.
âMmâŠâ Shimizuâs face flushed pink as she unsteadily sheathed her blade. She staggered to a large palm tree and leaned against the trunk as she gasped for breath, white puffs of air came out of her pink lips.
âIt really is⊠pleasant⊠killing these jungle monsters and absorbing their anima. This feeling of practice, really makes it hard for me to control myself⊠I really want more, I want to get stronger, I want to return to sister Lilyâs side⊠ahâŠâŠâ Shimizuâs knuckles whitened as she involuntarily grabbed her own placket.
For some reason, several months ago at the start of the month-long extended night, the legend that one could return to Heian-kyo once an ancient jade was discovered became false.
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Today, though Shimizuâs condition was great and her powers had greatly improved, she was trapped here with all the other jade maidens. They only knew that this was some place several thousands of miles away from Heian-kyo with no path of return.
Deep within the forests was a monster that Shimizu dared not provoke even now. They had all lost the method to return home in an instant.
After Shimizu finished her hunting, she returned to the frogman village, this place was no longer prosperous even though the frogmen were still doing business with the surrounding tribes. Shimizu and the others still obtained money and daily necessities from them by selling their hunting spoils. Shimizu had acquired her blade by having the frogmen commission a jade cat artisan several hundred miles away; it had cost her many precious materials.
Eighth grade katana!
Shimizu had wanted to go visit the jade cat artisan village near the mines but the jade maidens had all been in low spirits.
Many no longer bothered to go out to hunt or look for ancient jades. Since this place had no men, many jade maiden sisters married each other, build a house to live together. Falling in love was one of the ways for them to ignore the pain of being unable to return home, the loss of their luxurious life in Heian-kyo.
There were also women who married rich frogmen in the village.
âSister Shimizu.â Miss Shimadzu2 approached Shimizu carefreely, her hand resting on Shimizuâs waist naturally as her rosy lips exhaled into her ear. âDid you come to look at the portal again? Donât look, there are sisters who go silly staring at that portal, why donât you⊠just marry me. Iâve asked the frogmen to fix up that hut you so loved. Why so cold? Youâre lonely too arenât you, donât you need some comfortâŠâ
That hand resting on her hip, traced down to her rear.
Wham! Grabbing that offending hand, Shimizu threw Shimadzu over her shoulder.
âAaahh, that hurts! Sister Shimizu is so merciless! Everyoneâs a woman here, does it matter if I rub it? Owe owe oweâŠâ
Shimizu shook her head helplessly, âMiss Shimadzu, please donât do that, we can only be friends.â
Shimizu walked off, even though Shimadzu warned her, she would still go see if the portal had been restored every time she returned to the village.
The ancient stone gate was unchanged, and only the ancient rainforest on the other side could be seen.
âSister Lily, what happened to this world? DidâŠdid something happen to Heian-kyo? When can I return to your sideâŠâ
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Heavy rain!
It was dusk, Lily and her group planned on resting here, but the group was too big and Lily was unwilling to be the only one with an umbrella, so the entire group was soaked.
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Lily was not only drenched wet, she was also wearing white clothes. Her wet clothes hugged her graceful figure and showed hints of her skin.
Within the Tsunaga Sisters at least half preferred women, so Lilyâs appearance attracted many of their eyes. These women expressed their desire without restraint, in their minds, they were all women, so there was no need to be shy or ashamed. Manytimes, they were even more explicit than men.
As Lily walked, there were two female samurai staring at her rear, with her clothes hugging her form under the rain, and the natural twisting and squeezing of the walking, it was pretty revealing.
Blushing, Lily could only pretend to not know and walk as conservatively as possible. She complained in her heart, âHavenât I already worn Aiiriâs armor in the past? Ignore it.â
She still felt that set of armor had hidden secrets, though she was unwilling, she would still wear it again. Either way, there were only women here, if they had to look, then so be it.
Wouldnât it be stranger if she cared?
âKagami Lily.â
Within the rain, Igarashi Kaede stood behind Lily calling her.
Looking at her vigilantly, âYou? Whatâs the matter?â
âFollow me.â Igarashi ordered.
âSorry, this is an army march, donât you understand military law? I really donât want to fight with you.â Lily coldly replied.
âI am not one who doesnât understand the stakes. Today, let us not compete martially, let us compete through the scholarly arts. Regardless of victory or defeat, I promise you that I will put my grudge on hold until after the war. I simply donât want to leave any regrets.â
âRelax, I wonât do anything as silly as ambushing you, just take care of your subordinates.â
âEnough nonsense, Kagami Lily, dare you compete?â
âYou should at least tell me what weâre competing in?â
âFollow me and Iâll naturally tell you. I, Igarashi Kaede, am a person of my word, this will be a fair competition. Are you one who lacks the courage to follow me?â
âWhat are we competing in? Canât we do it here?â
âHmph, in case you lose, I think you wonât be willing to compete in this place.â
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Lily looked into Igarashiâs eyes before nodding, âVery well, I will follow.â
References
Robinxen: Oh right yeah she exists too.Robinxen: This name.