Demon Sword Maiden

CHAPTER 65 – WANTED NOTICE FROM TAKAMAGAHARA

A few months ago.

A snowstorm hailed over the snow-capped mountains of Echigo, so it was not easy for even someone as strong as Rei to climb to the apex of the Azure Dragon Tree.

Her long, silver hair was dotted by snowflakes as she finally reached the crown of the gigantic Azure Dragon Tree while gasping for breath.

Although a snowstorm raged outside, the Azure Dragon’s Tree was still lush with vegetation, making it seem as if it existed in an entirely different world, and an old shrine stood straight in this region.

Rei could feel that this shrine was perhaps even older than the history of the entire Uesugi clan.

She found a dagger enshrined in the shrine when she climbed into it and felt a powerful yet familiar aura from it when she laid her eyes on it.

“Mother?”

Although Rei’s memories of her mother were a little fuzzy, she could feel that her aura was as gentle as ever.

Her mother had taught her how to use the sword, operate spirit power, comprehend frost, and always accompanied her to sleep each night amidst the raging snowstorm.

“Mother…”

Rei recalled how her mother always cherished her back when she used to be a talentless crybaby, disciplining her with both love and harshness, knowing that her daughter would become stronger once she left her side.

Rei stepped forward and picked up the dagger enshrined in the shrine, feeling a familiar icy sensation from it.

She tried to draw the blade but discovered that she could not draw it, so she stored the dagger away and checked the surroundings, finding a box beneath the pedestal where the dagger had been enshrined.

Rei opened the box and found a letter inside it.

She recognized the handwriting on the letter as her mother’s immediately.

Rei could sense a mystical aura from her mother’s words, but the letter did not contain any information about where she had gone to and just mentioned words of love and worry towards Rei. It detailed their daily life and contained warnings for Rei against wearing short skirts1 and walking barefoot on snow.

There was no mention of when she would return.

Rei searched the entire shrine after that and concluded that this region was Bishamonten’s former dwelling, and that she might have lived here for a time longer than the history of the Uesugi clan.

There was also no mention of Rei’s father in the letter, so Rei did not know who it was. Since Aokage was her grandfather, it would make sense that her father was his son, but her grandfather and even his retainers did not give her a clear answer when she questioned them about it.

Anyhow, Rei did not care about her father that much.

Rei left the shrine along with the dagger and walked into the snowstorm by traversing along the giant branch of the Azure Dragon Tree.

The white dagger in her hand emitted a special power at this moment, and a fragment of memory flashed through her mind unbelievably.

On a stormy night with heavy snowfall.

A mature-looking Bishamonten dressed in a priestess robe with her hair tied into a bun looked at the fast asleep Rei in her room through the door and arrived at the terrace to face the snow-capped hills after closing the door.

No matter how long she trained, the maturity she possessed was something that only a mother could possess.

“Are you really leaving, Lady Bishamonten?”

The gray-haired, thinly robed, strong yet old Uesugi Aokage called out to her from behind.

Bishamonten turned around and said, “My whereabouts have already been exposed. I will only bring danger to Rei if I remain here.”

Aokage sighed, “That’s understandable. Please… be careful, Lady Bishamonten.”

Bishamonten took out a white dagger which was shrouded in an icy aura from her robe and said, “This blade should be able to receive my will wherever snow exists. I’ll leave the decision of handing it over to Rei when she asks about me after growing up to you, Lord Uesugi. Although I’m able to move unhindered in Takamagahara, I’m still indecisive when it comes to Rei.”

“Your injuries still haven’t recovered yet, though, Lady Bishamonten, and giving birth to Rei has made you weaker, too.”

“No matter how long I remain in the world of mortals, it’s impossible for me to find a cure for my injuries. Although I plan to continue training and do my best to live, I cannot let harm befall Rei.”

“Lady Bishamonten…”

Bishamonten jumped up from the high terrace, completely unaffected by the raging snowstorm.

The priestess robe that she had worn dispersed in the snowstorm and a graceful celestial maiden’s raiment replaced it.

Although Bishamonten had lost the power to return to Takamagahara, she still possessed the ability to fly in the mortal world.

She flew away into the distance.

…

…

Bishamonten arrived at a region she was familiar with, the celestial battle maiden’s mine in Tanba.

It was just that the mine had a seal left behind by the celestial maidens before their departure on it. Bishamonten had thought of entering it before, but she did not do so because she did not intend to break the seal for no reason and also did not have the materials required to reseal the mine again.

Bishamonten made a cave deep in the mountains near the mine her dwelling and intended to hide here for the time being. Her plan was to continue training and suppress the injuries she had suffered using her powers.

Although her powers allowed her to suppress the nearly fatal injury that she had suffered from taking her life, it was still impossible for her to cure them.

One day, Bishamonten heard a call for help in the midst of recovering. She scanned her surroundings immediately and found a human that was being attacked by a monster.

Bishamonten went out to look and saw an evil spirit cornering a young samurai in the nearby woods.

Compassionate as she was, Bishamonten killed the evil spirit and rescued the young man, prompting him to kowtow to her to express his gratitude immediately.

Bishamonten intended to leave after rescuing the man, but the young man asked him to make him her disciple in spite of the blood oozing from his head.

Bishamonten asked him why he wanted to become her disciple.

The young man answered that a monster had captured his lover, a samurai woman who had entered the mountains for training, and he had come here to look for her. However, he almost ended up becoming another monster’s food before he could even find her. He said that he was not afraid of dying or suffering and only wished to rescue his lover or at least avenge her in case she was no longer in this world. Yet, he was too weak to accomplish this.

He said that he would have no hope of either rescuing or avenging his lover if Bishamonten did not help him and that he would rather commit suicide by slicing his guts open than live knowing that.

Bishamonten remained unmoved in front of his pleas.

The young man showed a despairing expression on his face and really moved to slice open his guts.

It was not that hard for Bishamonten to differentiate between an act and true resolve to die, so she stopped him immediately.

Although the young man possessed an average talent, Bishamonten could feel his love for his lover, so she promised to make him her disciple.

The young man tried his best to learn from Bishamonten despite his average aptitude and revered her, harboring no improper thoughts for her even though she was dressed in revealing clothes.

Bishamonten had lived a long life, so she made an exception and taught the young man some common transcendental arts of Takamagahara in light of her affection for him as his master. Training in the arts of the Heavens allowed the young man to make stellar progress despite possessing average talent, and Bishamonten was quite satisfied with this.

The young man finished his training one day and wanted to leave the mountains to seek the monster that had taken his lover from him, all so that he could avenge her. Bishamonten gave him a token, saying that she would come save him if he used it when he was in danger.

The young man shed tears of joy and left with the token.

A few uneventful days passed.

Bishamonten felt her disciple activate the token one day and realized that he was in danger immediately. She thus rushed out of the cave, as well as the defensive formation that she had set up around the mountain and flew towards the young man’s location.

The young man was not that far away from her cave, so it did not take long for Bishamonten to discover him. He was surrounded by several monsters at the moment and had a blank-faced woman dressed in revealing clothes beside him.

Bishamonten surmised that this woman was his disciple’s lover.

She did not doubt the scene before her eyes and moved to save them immediately, but she fell into a trap the moment she approached the couple.

The land below her split open and gigantic demon gods that were capable of even injuring gods crawled up from the underworld, surrounding her immediately while throwing spells at her.

Dark clouds gathered in the skies above her, and a black-armored cavalry unit descended from the Heavens at the same time.

Everything that had happened until now was just an intricate plan to trap her.

Bishamonten finally realized that she had fallen into someone’s trap.

She looked at the couple, who were just a pair of ordinary human ascenders, and asked them why they had entrapped her. However, she witnessed the couple experience a violent death right in front of her the next moment and die in both body and soul.

A devilishly handsome red-hair man flew out of the dark woods behind the dead couple while riding a wine gourd.

This man was none other than Shuten Doji.

Shuten laughed out loudly when he saw the dire straits that Bishamonten was in.

All these scenes flashed in Rei’s mind one after the other.

“Hahaha! I’ve seen various portrayals of you in paintings of the gods as well as statues in shrines, but I never imagined you were actually such a mature-looking woman, Lady Bishamonten! I wouldn’t have reported you had I known this and might’ve even made you my queen instead, as that’s a lot better.” Shuten laughed nastily as the mountains behind him got shrouded in the aura of the underworld.

It was not normal for such terrifying supernatural beings to exist in the living world.

Bishamonten looked at Shuten stonily and said, “Hmph. How dare you covet a god, nameless lad. Do you know who I am?”

“Hahahahahaha! I wouldn’t have dared to report you even if I had a hundred lives if you still possessed your original strength, Lady Bishamonten. However, how much of your original strength do you even possess now? I suspect it’s not even one percent of the power that you can use in Takamagahara2, right?”

Shuten Doji took a wanted notice shrouded in a mystical aura.

“You are no longer a god, Bishamonten, and just an offender who has escaped from Takamagahara! There’s nowhere for you to escape now that the armies from both the Heavens and Hell have surrounded you! It’s best for you to surrender without putting up a struggle since I would be able to get the reward sooner that way! Hahahahahaha! I have to admit that I do feel it’s a bit pitiful that a pretty celestial maiden like you is going to be taken back to the Heavens! Hahahahahaha!” Shuten Doji laughed hysterically.

Robinxen: Important stuff. Robinxen: So this is the battle Lily was astounded by and it was a fraction of her power.