Book 2: Chapter 94: Dijon

Lily and the others walked through the gloomy cavern under the illumination of a wooden stick that the ponytailed sister had found to act as a torch while Nanako walked at the front.

On the other hand, Lily and Shimizu walked behind them.

“Lily, your elder sister… was quite touched just now,” Shimizu said with her head faced down.

“Eh? It’s nothing, Sister. You wouldn’t have let go if you were in my place as well, right?1”

Shimizu trembled internally2. She hadn’t asked herself this question and wondered if she could really do the same as Lily and bet her life for the sake of her beloved.

Shimizu pulled Lily’s hand and looked at her with a pure gaze, “Lil’ Sister. I’m really not such a selfless person, but if it’s you, I would never let go, absolutely!”

“Sis…” Lily felt touched. After arriving in this Heian world, she had always been alone. However, she now had sisters who were willing to sacrifice their lives for her selflessly. Uesugi Rei, Nanako, Shimizu3… they all brought Lily an unprecedented sense of belonging that far surpassed her longing for her former world.

Shimizu reproached herself internally while holding onto Lily’s hand, ‘To think I even doubted little sister once and thought she harbored selfish intentions. There’s no way such a selfless little sister would harbor any selfishness or deceive me! I was just too naïve and acted too extremely, that’s all! Even if this entire world is full of lies, Lil’ Sister Lily is definitely someone I can trust.’

“Lily is the most simple, honest and beautiful girl in this world. I’ll definitely protect you!” Shimizu resolved herself internally.

The four of them had walked through the cave for the entire night, so it was clear that this Mt. Inda was pretty huge.

And they finally saw a faint ray of light ahead of them that was accompanied by the fragrance of grass.

Since they could see light, it meant that it was already dawn outside.

“We’re finally leaving this cave,” Lily sighed ruefully and her mind gradually relaxed as she gazed at the bright cave exit that was getting bigger and bigger. A far-reaching empty hill laid outside the cave and since their numbers were small, it made it difficult for their enemies to find them and would allow them to reach the safe zone under the Land of East by detouring through the unmapped trails.

Furthermore, as Lily and Shimizu only had to protect two people, they didn’t need to fear running into any danger within the mountain.

Although they weren’t the opponent of that demon kunoichi who was beyond the sword saint rank, they had the ability to preserve their lives if they encountered her. It was hard for them to flee from her in the long and narrow cavern previously and they were in real danger back then, but it was relatively safer out in the wild.

Shimizu also relaxed a bit after exiting the cave.

However, when the group neared the exit, they picked up the heavy metallic scent of blood from the withered scene of the dead leaves.

Thus, all of them had a bad premonition.

The four of them drew in a cold breath simultaneously when they exited the cave.

The outside of the cave was surrounded by the verdant and lush woods with towering old trees like they had anticipated.

However, the corpses of the dojo disciples laid around in a mess in the empty space outside the cave. Be it whether the horse-faced disciple or Itamoto Yashiro, they were utterly battered and even the other disciples whose name they weren’t aware of had all perished.

“How come this has…” Lily and Shimizu froze in shock momentarily.

The trees of the woods trembled at this moment and a powerful, crazed and fiendish aura emerged from within.

“Hahahahahaha!” The wild birds fled, and the trees trembled because of this laughter.

It was a laughter that was impossible for Lily to forget.

Hojo Dijon dragged a huge, broken and rusted longsword that dripped blood onto the ground. His clothes were ragged and his hair a mess, similar to that of a madman as he walked out from the shadows of the woods on bare feet.

“Kagami Lily, you didn’t expect this, right? I’ve been waiting for you here for a long time now!”

Lily, Shimizu, Nanako and the ponytailed disciple were all dumbfounded by this development.

Why?

Why has Hojo Dijon appeared here?

He wasn’t present in the Battle of Odawara and his whereabouts remained unknown after that, so why has he appeared in such a location so suddenly? And that too at the exit of the cave in which we were being pursued.

Moreover, Dijon’s complexion has turned even darker. His muscles look all beefed up and his aura also seems much stronger than when we fought back in Suruga province. He also seems to be shrouded in fiendish energy.

Lily gazed at Dijon’s fiendish facial features that no longer possessed the handsomeness and dignity of the past and his current 3 meter tall figure and appearance was no longer distinguishable from that of the Red Ogre from the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

This man is too dangerous!

Although Lily’s current strength was far different from the past, she still felt a shudder pass through her.

Shimizu’s expression also turned grim after sensing Dijon’s powerful aura, but she didn’t fear him.

Although she had never fought with Dijon, there still existed a considerable gap between him and someone ranked at the top of the Six Swords of the East. Even though he might’ve powered up his strength through some unknown means, Shimizu’s strength had also progressed greatly in recent times.

Shimizu looked at the corpses of the dead disciples and questioned him, “Hojo Dijon, it seems like these disciples died under your hands? We’re all samurai of the East, so why did you kill these powerless and innocent disciples?”

Dijon simply ignored Shimizu and glowered at Lily instead.

“Kagami Lily, you b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲. You destroyed my family, made me lose my status and even obtained a first class merit by capturing my Odawara Castle shamelessly. I shall settle the debt between us today!”

The woods turned restless and powerful auras of death surged out from within one after the other. Lily probed the woods with her spirit power and was appalled by the results. Her sprit probe had detected hundreds of distinct eldritch and fiendish auras of varying strengths within the woods!

And a tenth of them were late-stage sword saint auras.

This Dijon has really set up an ambush. Just how did he manage to gather such a powerful army of fiends? Has he perhaps really obtained aid from the Hundred Demons?

However, those late-stage sword saint auras still paled in comparison to Dijon’s brutal and powerful aura.

Lily knew she had run into another dead end after sensing Dijon’s strength and that she would have to clash with him as she had no path of retreat right now.

Lily gripped the handle of Crescent Moon firmly with her slender fingers and stated fiercely, “Hojo Dijon, there’s no need for any words between us now that things have come to this. However, our enmity is unrelated to Sister Shimizu, Nanako and the rest, so please allow them to leave this place first. I will remain behind to accompany you to a duel to death then!”

“Kagami Lily. Did you believe your death alone is enough to satisfy my hatred for you? I’m not only going to defeat you, but also imprison you and torment you with all kinds of vicious methods and make you experience a slow and excruciating death. I will also torment your companions before your very eyes and make you experience all kinds of sufferings imaginable in this world! Hahahahahaha!”

Hojo donned a malicious expression that was so twisted in hatred that looked just like that of a fiend! He then waved his hand and commanded towards the gloomy woods, “This feast of vengeance has begun already! Come out now! You must be impatient to see her as well, right?”

The old trees creaked under the gloomy skies as two lifeless, fiendish auras emerged from within the woods.

“Kagami Lily… kill Kagami Lily… Hehehe…. Hahaha!” “Kagami Lily, you… my son…. I’ll…”

Two figures emerged from within the woods.

One was a tall, thin and nimble figure with a warped and savage appearance.

One was a muscular and sluggish figure with a vicious and brutal appearance.

They were none other than Hojo Motoshige and Daidouji Akira who had been turned into demon warriors.

Silva: Press F to doubtSilva: She’s guiltySilva: Remove Shimizu from the list Robinxen: I’ve been trying hard to like Shimizu since on paper she should be my favourite but she’s starting to annoy me.

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