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Volume 11 - Yamata no Orochi: Chapter 18 – Taishogun Lily

“Wow… Sister Lily,” Shiu murmured, her cheeks flushing as she admired Lily.

Ijuin, typically unfazed by such displays, found herself unexpectedly stirred by Lily’s striking appearance in male attire.

The young minister, tasked with delivering the edict, felt a tad awkward as he faced Lily, who knelt before him in such regal attire. Remembering his duty, he unfolded the secret edict. “By imperial command, Kagami Lily is appointed Taishogun. She is charged with commanding the warriors of the world to crusade against Minamoto no Yoritomo and his forces, rescue the Emperor, and purge the realm of traitors!” he announced.

“I obey,” Lily responded with dignity, bowing solemnly in acceptance of her new role.

The minister, extending his hand towards Lily, added, “Lastly, as a gesture of loyalty, please consider me a stand-in for the Emperor and kiss the back of my hand.”

“Huh?” Lily and the sisters exchanged puzzled glances. None had heard of such a ritual in the sealing of a great general. Ayaka, too, seemed perplexed. Despite her extensive knowledge as Chief Advisor, this etiquette was unfamiliar.

Lily, visibly unsettled, hesitantly reached for the minister’s hand with her jade-like fingers. Suddenly, with an unexpected show of strength, she flung the young minister across the room.

The others watched in shock as they exclaimed. The official was sprawled on the floor, limbs akimbo, as a puff of white smoke enveloped him. As it cleared, a chubby, round raccoon lay in his place.

Standing in her elegant white dress, Lily placed one delicate foot on the raccoon’s belly

¹

. “Yuuta! Trying to trick your sister, are you?” she chided. Applying pressure with her foot, Yuuta’s expression turned comically conflicted, “Aaahhh, mercy, sister, mercy!” he pleaded, torn between discomfort and a strange sense of enjoyment

².

“Yuuta!” the sisters called out in unison.

Reflecting on the situation, they realized the emperor couldn’t have sent a secret edict from Heian-kyo. Yuuta had received the edict from Kimiko’s spy and sought Mita’s help to navigate the teleportation arrays controlled by the Taira clan. This was the only way he could have reached Cherry Blossom Valley, as the arrays in Suno were sealed.

The presence of an imperial minister in the valley would have been suspicious. After another playful kick, Yuuta, both joyful and sorrowful, reported his observations from Kamakura City. The Imagawa clan had taken control, but the city was rife with panic, and it seemed Minamoto no Yoritomo’s line had abandoned it.

“Imagawa clan?” Lily pondered. They hadn’t sent any letters of goodwill, possibly aligning with Yoritomo.

After reprimanding Yuuta, Lily returned to her seat, now officially the Heian Dynasty’s general and the newly appointed Taishogun. Around her, the all-female bureaucrats of Cherry Blossom Valley were established with Lily, Ayaka, Kimiko, and the sisters at its core.

Though Lily didn’t much care for titles; strength was her foundation. Yet, this day marked a turning point. Everything was in place.

Sitting up straight, Lily declared confidently, “Release a proclamation to the world. As Taishogun, I order a march on Heian-kyo and the defeat of Minamoto no Yoritomo!”

The room was charged with a serious air. The time for the decisive battle against humanity’s most formidable expert, Minamoto no Yoritomo, and the Imperial Court had arrived.

The secret edict naming Lily as Taishogun quickly spread among allied noble houses through the intelligence networks of Shizuru and Ijuin. One force after another gained morale and openly declared support for General Lyn-hime’s punitive expedition, including the kunoichi clans of Iga.

That morning, under rare daylight, Lily and her companions prepared to depart Cherry Blossom Valley for Heian-kyo. Though they could have used the arrays in Kamakura for a direct attack, they planned to mobilize all allied forces of Ashihara. Attacking with only a few was too risky, given the unknown number of Yomi forces Yoritomo might have amassed.

If too many people were involved, capturing one array might lead to the sealing of the other. Moreover, only by marching from Cherry Blossom Valley to Heian-kyo could they rally the noble families of the world for their cause.

This was the typical warfare method of the Heian Dynasty. The general would depart with several hundred people, and the retainers would join along the way with several thousand. By the time they reached their destination, their numbers would swell to the hundreds of thousands. Along their journey, they also rescued those who had been oppressed by the Imperial Court and Minamoto no Yoritomo.

Without the world’s support, how would they build thirty-six altars? These altars were invaluable. If they were to be activated all at once, the risk of several being destroyed was significant. Full control over the situation was crucial to reaching Takamagahara, which was why Lily chose to confront Yoritomo and the Imperial Court head-on.

The Kai forests were shrouded in mist. Lily, clad in a resplendent red kimono with wide sleeves, sat in a dark ancient wooden sedan chair lifted by twelve bronze Nioh statues. Accompanied by the Tsunaga Sisters, the Uesugi female cavalry, and fifty puppet soldiers, she led a procession of several hundred people out of Cherry Blossom Valley.

To ensure security, no one was left behind in the Valley. The only guards left were the maze formation and a few puppet soldiers. The civilians had temporarily relocated to the Uesugi, Takeda, and Murai clans. Should Yoritomo attack the Valley, he would find nothing but empty houses.

This display was meant for the world to witness. This was a battle they had to win; there was no retreat. Such resolve only bolstered the morale of the vassal forces.

The sedan chair, along with the statues, were Kimiko’s treasures, known as the Twelve Nioh King Sedan Chair. Each Nioh statue, standing eighteen meters tall, and the hundred-meter-long sedan chair, were a testament to majesty. While the statues possessed immense strength, they were not agile fighters. Their main attributes were defense and tirelessness, capable of carrying the sedan chair and resisting any expert below the Big Dipper realm.

The sedan’s

³ interior was a marvel of luxury, divided into various floors, rooms, lofts, and terraces, complete with a garden and hot springs. In this spacious setting, Lily and her sisters could relax and discuss strategies.

When they departed, Ayaka was still about ten days away from complete recovery. The journey to Heian-kyo was long, providing ample time for preparation. Ayaka had regained the power of a quintuple-soul Big Dipper, thanks to treasures lent by Kimiko. Though her formations and shikigami treasures were not as potent as before, her combat strength was formidable, slightly surpassing Lily’s.

Little Kimiko’s energy had reached a critical point, allowing her to assume her adult form in emergencies. Though not at her peak power, she wielded the strength of a sextuple-soul Big Dipper expert. Alongside them was Shizuka Gozen, another quintuple-soul Big Dipper expert with combat strength equal to Lily’s, and Shimizu, a triple-soul Big Dipper. Rei, leading fifty cavalry, added to their formidable strength. Kagura, carrying three blood spirit magatama, could strike with force enough to injure a quintuple-soul Big Dipper expert.

Lily’s group boasted an exceptional lineup of experts. With only Yoritomo and Daitengu, along with their original subordinates to contend with, Lily’s group stood a solid chance of victory. Engaging in such a high-stakes battle with peak experts was a new experience for Lily. But facing Yoritomo, there was no room for overconfidence. The tactics and allies he might deploy to defend the capital were unpredictable, and the strength of the forces from Yomi remained an enigma. Caution was paramount.

Perched atop the sedan chair, Lily sat higher than the surrounding forests, akin to being atop a colossal, mobile castle. Behind her, several sisters were deep in strategic discussion, while Rei, preferring her black warhorse Nioh, rode alongside. Interestingly, despite sharing the name ‘Nioh’, the horse and the sedan were unrelated.

In the distance, Lily spotted a group of horse riders approaching. The army, displaying the Takeda banner, snaked through the forests and mountains in a zigzagging formation, numbering several tens of thousands. Leading the vanguard was Itagaki Nobuyoshi, astride his white tiger. He had been tasked with leading the Takeda warriors as reinforcements. The sight of the massive sedan, borne by the imposing Nioh statues, left him visibly shaken.

“It’s astonishing,” Itagaki mused, his emotions stirred by the rapid changes unfolding around him. “In just two short years, that once ordinary female samurai has ascended to the rank of Taishogun. Lady Lynn’s methods are extraordinary… these Nioh statues alone are formidable enough to crush me flat.”

The world was changing swiftly, and even seasoned warriors like Itagaki Nobuyoshi could not help but feel the weight of these transformations.

Footnotes:

Robinxen: I think some people might consider this a reward.

Robinxen: As I thought.

Robinxen: My brain still just imagines a car.