Demon Sword Maiden - Volume 12 - Chapter 163

Even with Queen Kaguya’s blessings enhancing her, Lily could barely hold her own against an ordinary Supreme God—let alone someone as overwhelmingly powerful as the Boundless Imperial Princess.

One strike was all it took to send Lily’s spirit power spiraling into chaos, rendering it nearly unusable. Fortunately, her body was exceptionally resilient and managed to endure the blow—an attack potent enough to kill an average Celestial outright.

“Dark Moon: Four Doors.”

Hovering midair, the Boundless Imperial Princess dropped to one knee, her posture mirroring the act of unsheathing a blade. Behind her, an ominous door of pure darkness formed. A pulse of pale light enveloped her figure—and then she vanished into the void.

In that moment, the very fabric of the world seemed to ripple unnaturally.

Dark portals materialized behind Kaguya, Chiya, Lily, and the Asura Sisters. From each emerged a black, moonlit figure—each one a near-perfect silhouette of the Boundless Imperial Princess.

Each shadowy warrior held an identical black lunar blade in hand. The shadows drew their swords in unison, releasing waves of black energy crackling with lightning. In a split second, the five targets were struck at once.

“Ahh!” Cries of agony echoed across the battlefield as Lily and the four Supreme Gods were ravaged by the black lightning’s unrelenting surge.

The lightning tore through their bodies, draining their power and flooding them with excruciating pain. All four Supreme Gods collapsed at once, their bodies going limp as they dropped to the ground.

Their fallen forms landed in awkward, even indecent poses—yet none of them could move. Their strength had been completely stripped away.

Only Lily remained upright, barely. One hand clutched Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the other held Oborozuki Muramasa reversed at her side as she knelt. Sweat streamed from her brow as her entire body trembled. Lowering her head, she pressed the hilt of Muramasa gently to her navel, drawing in what little spirit energy she could to endure the lingering effects.

The black lightning vanished almost as quickly as it had come, but its aftermath lingered—painful, paralyzing, and potent.

Though the four Supreme Gods were far stronger in raw power, Lily withstood the technique far better than any of them.

“Lily…” Queen Kaguya collapsed, her silver hair splayed across the floor as she lay motionless. She gazed at Lily with quiet anguish, her worry for the girl outweighing concern for herself. That such a devastating technique had felled all four of them at once—and yet Lily still knelt—was something she never could have imagined.

By all logic, Lily’s physical resilience—even impressive as it was—should not have outmatched theirs, especially Kaguya’s, whose divine defenses were formidable.

It felt as though…

The technique, Dark Moon: Four Doors, carried a Dark Lunar Force that naturally countered divine beings—especially those who followed the teachings of Takamagahara, the Amatsukami. This term did not refer to power level alone; it described a divine affiliation. Whether Supreme Gods or Great Imperial Gods, those aligned with that realm were especially vulnerable.

Yet strangely, Lily had only suffered from the divine energy itself. The Dark Lunar Force—the Imperial Princess’ deadliest asset—had not fully affected her.

Even so, Lily trembled uncontrollably. She remained on one knee, her body too battered to rise, fighting simply to stay conscious.

The Boundless Imperial Princess approached and kicked Oborozuki Muramasa from Lily’s hand. But instead of doing the same to Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, she grabbed Lily’s arm, trying to wrest it from her grasp. In response, Lily calmly stowed the blade away.

“What?” The Imperial Princess froze, stunned.

She had already locked down the surrounding space before trying to seize Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. As a master of Spatial Field—a subdomain of the Dark Lunar Force—she could block opponents from accessing or storing items within their spatial treasures, so long as they were within range. Only through brute force or higher power could such restrictions be bypassed.

Under that seal, storing anything should have been impossible. And yet, Lily had done it.

“Hmph. Stupid little brat,” the Imperial Princess growled. “So, you’ve revealed another Divine Artifact. Only something of divine origin would ignore my spatial lock… unless its wielder is stronger than me. And that’s clearly not the case.”

Dark ropes formed in her hands, coiling around Lily’s limbs as she bound her and suspended her in the air.

“There’s no need to rush,” she said coldly. “I’ll kill you first, then take my time searching for it.”

The Imperial Princess narrowed her eyes and slowly drew her blade, its dark edge gleaming ominously.

“This sword is called Murasame-Anko.” She pressed the pitch-black blade to Lily’s pale neck, its soul-extinguishing aura chilling the air around them.

Without hesitation, she dragged the blade downward. Its razor edge effortlessly shredded Lily’s already tattered wedding dress, corset, and skirt, leaving more of her bare skin exposed to the air.

“Lily!” The four Supreme God sisters, still writhing from the torment of the black lightning, had now been bound by four of the Princess’ dark tentacles. Helpless, they couldn’t even reach for their treasures, let alone intervene.

Ayaka too had been ensnared by a tentacle

. With her strength limited to the Celestial Stage, resistance was impossible. Rei, stripped of her divine sword, was overwhelmed by several Empyrean Stage Dark Celestial Maidens and pinned to the ground.

Elsewhere, Renka, Isshiki, and the others were also subdued by the overwhelming might of the Dark Celestial Maiden army. At this point, no one remained who could save Lily.

Hidden behind a demon god statue at the edge of the Rinraku Stage, Nanako clutched the Sakura Parasol tightly. As a low-ranking Throned Stage adept, no one spared her a glance—no one suspected she might be part of Lily’s rescue party.

“What should I do…?” Nanako’s heart raced. She would give her life for Lily without hesitation, but acting now would only make things worse. She couldn’t even defeat a basic guard. Even so, she desperately searched for an opening—any chance at all to help.

She couldn’t help but recall when Shimizu had once driven her to despair atop a cliff. Now, that same face—on the Boundless Imperial Princess—was pushing Lily to the edge. The irony twisted like a blade in her chest.

The Imperial Princess pressed the black blade harder against Lily’s skin, fury boiling in her voice. “Speak! Confess your vile act before all the demons. Tell me—who was it?!”

Lily met her gaze with steely defiance. “I’ve done nothing despicable. And I owe you no explanation.”

“Oh? Is that so?” With a glance, the Imperial Princess signaled the dark tentacles. They lashed out at the Supreme God sisters, drawing anguished cries as their helpless bodies twisted in pain.

“I know you’d never settle for an ordinary woman, Kagami Lily. Was it one of them? Or perhaps…”

A black whip cracked against Ayaka. She clenched her teeth, sweat running down her face, and looked toward Lily with quiet agony. She didn’t know the full story, but her heart understood. There was no blame in her eyes—only resolve.

“Stop it!” Lily shouted. “They have nothing to do with this!”

“Then tell me who she is—and where she is!” The Imperial Princess’ voice shook with fury. Whoever this mystery woman was, she had infiltrated the very heart of Hekiraku City, gone undetected, and stolen away the one she loved most.

What stung the Boundless Imperial Princess most was the fact that it had been consensual. That made her envy burn even deeper.

“If you won’t speak, I’ll make the women who aided you suffer the worst torment imaginable—right before your eyes!” she screamed. The eight dark tentacles flared with surging dark energy.

“Strip them bare before the punishment begins,” she commanded sharply. She could have done it all with a mere thought, but she chose to speak—deliberately—to increase the pressure on Lily.

“Enough,” Lily growled through clenched teeth.

Lily’s heart churned in turmoil. With her companions captured, their only hope of escape now rested on her senior sister. But even if they broke free from the Boundless Imperial Princess, the stage was still surrounded by powerful demon gods with unclear intentions. Could they truly get away? Lily wasn’t certain.

Still, her senior sister had undone the effects of the pill without alerting the Imperial Princess. Maybe she truly was capable of pulling this off. But if she acted, she would fall into a deep coma once more—and no one could say when, or even if, she would awaken again.

How could Lily allow that to happen again?

Yet if she stayed silent, her sisters would be shamed and tortured right before her eyes. What choice did she have? What could she do?

“Well? Are you ready to confess?” The Imperial Princess waved a hand, signaling the Dark Celestial Maidens to pause. She stepped toward Lily. “Tell me. Who is she? Where is she?”

Strands of Lily’s disheveled hair clung to her lips, tousled by the chaos around her.

Her gaze was frigid, colder than the northern snows. She showed no shame in the face of the accusations—only quiet resolve. Ignoring the blade at her chest, she looked beyond the Imperial Princess, sweeping her eyes across the horde of demons.

“You want me to confess before all the demons of Yomi? Fine—then listen.” She raised her voice. “You demons who bully the weak, who take women by force, who revel in cruelty and power… What right do any of you have to judge me?”

“You expect your lusts to be accepted, but a girl who pursues love is condemned? I never wanted to marry the Boundless Imperial Princess—I was forced into this farce because of Yomi’s politics. Because of all of you! Brutal, savage, hideous creatures who only value conquest and submission!”

“I, Kagami Lily, agreed to this marriage on the Madam’s orders—to protect Yomi, and all of you! Do none of you feel shame, watching me be humiliated like this? You’re only here because I sacrificed myself! A single woman, forced to kneel and marry for your so-called peace. And still, you call me disgraceful?”

“What gives you the right to question me?”

“No matter what I’ve done, I owe no explanation to the Boundless Imperial Princess—or to any of you!”

Lily turned back to the Imperial Princess, eyes unwavering. “You want to know who she is? Fine. She’s the one I truly love.”

The crowd of demons stood frozen, stunned by Lily’s defiance. But the Imperial Princess’ eyes narrowed sharply.

“What did you just say?”

It wasn’t Lily’s strength that enraged her—it was her words. Dark energy surged violently around the Imperial Princess as she trembled with fury, barely restraining the impulse to drive Murasame-Anko into Lily’s chest.

“Sister Lily!” Nanako, still hidden in the shadows, couldn’t endure it any longer. She didn’t understand why Lily had provoked the Imperial Princess, but she knew she couldn’t stay hidden and do nothing. Her body tensed as she prepared to rush out, heart pounding.