Book 4: Chapter 10: Viper

The samurai didnt dare to take even a single step forward after seeing Lily hold s.h.i.+ba captive.

Lily then pushed s.h.i.+ba all the way to the back room of the hall from where the mountains behind Kiyosu Castle were visible through the window.

The samurai tried to follow after her but found themselves being blown back by a vorticial cl.u.s.ter of sakura blossoms.

Even Tanaka felt disoriented when he attempted to force his way through the corridor, but he got blown down to the floor all the same, sliding backwards along it.

Lilys current power level was 60 times that of an average early-stage Spirit Jade powerhouse and ranged in the middle-stage Permanence level, so it wasnt that difficult for her to block a normal Awakened powerhouse1.

s.h.i.+ba also despaired after seeing that none of the samurai had come in to rescue him.

Lily then let s.h.i.+ba go, which was followed by him hobbling down to the floor in fright as Lily pointed her blade at him.

What a nice banquet youve set up for me, Lord s.h.i.+ba! I gave my best to help eliminate the monster plaguing Kiyosu Castle, yet why have you attempted to harm me in return?

Lilys gaze turned icy. Killing the man in front of her was but an easy matter for Lily, and even though she had yet to make the decision, she didnt really care much about the outcome.

s.h.i.+ba got frightened out of his wits and kowtowed to Lily unceasingly in desperation, Please forgive me, Lady Lyn-hime, please! I harbor no grudge against you. You asked me why I tried to harm you when you helped me eliminate the monster plaguing Kiyosu Castle, right? Its because I had no other choice! I cannot go against the orders of that eminence!

What?! Who ordered it? Lily pressed her blade against s.h.i.+bas neck.

It was from Lord Ouchi Koreyos.h.i.+, the Monochrome Viper of Mino! s.h.i.+ba absolutely didnt dare to reveal the actual name of the one who sent down the order, so he simply pushed all the blame to the protector of Mino, who was a neighboring menace for him.

Monochrome Viper? It wasnt someone that was easy to deal with, unlike the fool s.h.i.+ba. At least thats what Lily felt after hearing that chilling nickname. She moved the blade forward slightly and left a bleeding cut on s.h.i.+bas neck with its razor edge, Enough with the tricks now, s.h.i.+ba. The Ouchi clan are the protectors of Mino. How would they even order you, the protector of Owari?

Pl-Please lower the blade Lady Lyn-hime. Your blade will get sullied if you unintentionally end up killing trash like me using it.2

Lily was left speechless by the shamelessness shown by s.h.i.+ba to preserve his life and lowered her blade momentarily.

It was only then that s.h.i.+ba sighed in relief, The Viper of Mino is an ambitious and ruthless man, Lady Lyn-hime, and the personal power, as well as the military power that he holds, are much higher than Owaris. Hes always oppressed us because of his desire for the land of Owari. He also married a woman called Momiji recently, whos actually a witch. She joined hands with Minos Viper and threatened Owari with the influence she holds amongst the Hundred Demons, forcing us to obey her orders!

Her spies found you the moment you arrived in the city informed us about you, leaving us no choice but to try a.s.sa.s.sinating you. It mightve become the s.h.i.+ba clans turn to face destruction unless we complied, and it wouldve also wrought a calamity upon my retainers and all the people in the city. Momiji and Viper are too fearsome and powerful, so were helpless against them! I-I was forced by the circ.u.mstances! I beg you for forgiveness, Lady Lyn-hime! s.h.i.+ba kowtowed frantically.

So, you were the one who sent the a.s.sa.s.sin disguised as a ramen stall owner?

I had to act on the orders as I cant defy Viper with the Hundred Demons Momiji backing him! However, even I dont know who exactly the a.s.sa.s.sins have disguised as and how many they number.

Minos Viper and that Momiji have no grudges against me, so why are they trying to harm me? Lily proceeded to question.

s.h.i.+ba answered, The mirror girls journey to the west will cause chaos in the Heavens and bring disasters to the lands she pa.s.ses by. This is what they told me and that I must stop you from crossing these Endless Wastelands at all costs!

Although she still held a few doubts, Lily was quite close to believing s.h.i.+bas words.

It seemed that there was really some kind of power that had first learned of her journey and then proceeded to stop her with all possible means.

However, Lily didnt know why exactly they were doing this.

Lily was still oblivious about who she was a threat to in her journey to the west and also didnt know who had leaked the information about her journey.

Lily knelt down on one knee slowly and gazed at s.h.i.+ba with her mesmerizing eyes. Although the look in her eyes was enchanting enough, it still made him quiver in fear, allowing no stray thought to fill his mind.

Its not impossible for me to forgive you, Lord s.h.i.+ba, but do you still have treasures within the castle? If so, can you show me to them?

Hah?! s.h.i.+bas lips twitched, Please, Lady Lyn-hime! Youve already deprived me of 90% of the gold in Kiyosu Castle and even taken my precious tea caddy! What else do you want from me?!

Those are items that you shouldve given to me originally and what we are discussing now is the price for your life. Did you think that you would be fine by saying you were forced to do it after trying to kill me? Just ask yourself where you stand in comparison to Hojo Dijon, Lily stated icily with a calm look.

Hic! s.h.i.+ba shuddered, I-I understand. Please follow me, Lady Lyn-hime.

s.h.i.+ba then guided Lily to the storeroom behind his bedroom and activated a mechanism on the storerooms wall, revealing a secret room behind it.

Im not worried about becoming the laughingstock, Lady Lyn-hime, but its true that youve taken away the opus work. There are still two grade 6 tea sets left in this room along with some artworks.

Lily checked the room and saw that it contained a number of grade 6 treasures, which mainly consisted of paintings and calligraphic works along with silk, some gold, gold dust, and magatama fragments. The two tea sets that s.h.i.+ba had mentioned were also really grade 6 tea sets.

Lily didnt hold back and swept the whole room clean with a wave of her sleeve.

s.h.i.+ba felt a stab of pain when he witnessed this and collapsed to the side powerlessly, cursing himself internally, Ive been robbed robbed to oblivion the a.s.sets acc.u.mulated by my s.h.i.+ba clan for generations have all been taken away by her!

Lily walked to the window of the castle tower and looked into the distance, Viper, huh?

Lily had to pa.s.s via Mino in order to reach Kansai and hoped that Viper didnt get into a frontal conflict with her. If possible, she wished to go through Mino without causing a commotion.

As Lily didnt intend to kill s.h.i.+ba and his retainers and had also gotten the treasures, she didnt have any reason left to remain behind in the tower. Therefore, she withdrew the domain and jumped across to the towers eaves once she heard the worried footsteps of s.h.i.+bas retainers and made for the mountaintop from there.

By the time Tanaka and the squad of samurai rushed in, all that was left inside was a forlorn s.h.i.+ba sitting in front of the secret rooms entrance with a blank look in his eyes.

At the same time, inside the dark house bordering Kiyosus streets.

s.h.i.+mizu had finished bandaging Kiyos.h.i.+s wounds after giving him an emergency treatment thanks to the medical skills she had learned because of her congenital illness.

However, it was impossible to retrieve the lost arm.

Kiyos.h.i.+s resolute face looked a little dull under the dim light of the room and he remained silent, his lips twitching from time to time.

Even s.h.i.+mizu felt a little helpless after seeing the current state of the young lord of Genjis largest branch clan who was once hailed as one of the Six Swords just like she was in the past.

Miss s.h.i.+mizu, the western samurai who ambushed me revealed that Miss Kagami is in this city, Kiyos.h.i.+ finally seemed to regain his senses.

What?! s.h.i.+mizu felt stunned. She had been investigating various regions to eliminate Lilys hidden troubles, but even she wasnt expecting Lily to have come so close to her.

Those western samurai intend to murder Miss Kagami! I hope that you can visit Miss Kagami and warn her to remain vigilant, Miss s.h.i.+mizu! Its best if she leaves this land and returns to the East.3

Robinxen: Buff stacking broken, plz nerf

Robinxen: He has a point. Think of the anima.

Robinxen: Will it be a reunion after all?