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The thunderous cries that filled the heavens already said everything.

A massive blue-gray oni with three horns leaped directly onto the great wooden platform of the Celestial Demon Assembly. The vast open space at its center had effectively become an arena.

Lily had already been standing calmly at its center.

“Me! Heh heh heh! I’ll be the first to challenge you, pretty girl! No cheating now. You can only fight me with your body! Heh heh! Never thought someone like me would have the chance to marry the greatest beauty of the Three Realms!” the burly oni shouted crudely.

Most intelligent experts intended to wait until Lily had exhausted herself before stepping onto the stage, but that in itself was a gamble. What if she collapsed before then and someone else claimed the victory? Besides, she could only rely on her body. How strong could a mere woman really be? Missing such an opportunity would be unbearable.

For that reason, countless experts, demons, and Heroic Gods all rushed to seize the chance.

“Challenge me? Very well. But do you possess an Oborozuki Soul?” Lily stood gracefully in place and asked with icy composure.

“Huh?” The burly oni was also at the Infernal Stage. After all, everyone believed Lily to be a Supreme God. No matter how weak her physical body supposedly was, anyone below the Big Dipper Stage would simply be throwing away their life unless they knew for certain she had already exhausted herself.

The oni froze in confusion. In his haste to secure the right to challenge Lily, he had completely forgotten about that requirement.

“A duel is meant to be fair. If you don’t possess an Oborozuki Soul, why should I accept your challenge? I believe that any challenger who loses to me should surrender their Oborozuki Soul. Surely the million Demon Gods gathered here have no objections to that?” Lily raised her head and asked the crowd.

“Of course!”
“Obviously! A bet’s a bet!”
“What do you take us for? You think we’d refuse to pay a woman after losing?”

The assembled Demon Gods all voiced their agreement. Everyone had already accepted this as the obvious rule. Though many mocked Lily for her foolishness, none believed she would wager her own fate against a million Demon Gods for nothing.

The burly oni looked toward Kunhiza atop the platform and shouted, “Hey, Lord Demon God! Can you return the Oborozuki Soul I handed over when I joined your faction?”

The Demon Gods quickly found a loophole in Lily’s words. She had only said challengers needed an Oborozuki Soul to fight her. She had never specified how many. That meant even the most confident challenger only needed to carry a single soul while countless experts could wear Lily down one after another.

But that immediately created another problem. Every Oborozuki Soul had already been gathered into the hands of the six great factions. Those who had joined them no longer possessed any themselves.

“You’ve already joined our faction. How could you possibly expect it to be returned?” Kunhiza roared angrily.

His words immediately ignited public outrage. If that were the case, then all those followers who no longer possessed an Oborozuki Soul would lose their opportunity to challenge Lily. In terms of physical strength alone, many of them believed they were no weaker than the top experts. How could they tolerate being deprived of their chance?

Wave after wave of curses and angry protests erupted, causing Kunhiza to break into a cold sweat.

Seeing the crowd becoming increasingly agitated, he realized it was already impossible to stop them from attempting to challenge Lily. Doing so might even trigger internal conflict and plunge the entire alliance into chaos.

Even Hakushaku spoke up. “Since this Celestial Demon Assembly exists to represent everyone’s collective decision, if this is what the majority wishes, then Kunhiza, it would be best for you to respect the will of the people.”

Kuroyoku stood and declared, “Very well! Anyone within my faction who contributed an Oborozuki Soul when joining may reclaim one to challenge Lily! Even those who never had one may exchange sufficient valuables with me for a soul!”

Since everyone ultimately had to exchange for them anyway, Kuroyoku did not particularly care. More importantly, as long as he kept a single Oborozuki Soul for himself, he could challenge Lily the moment she showed signs of exhaustion. Even at her peak, victory over him was hardly guaranteed. Once she had spent tremendous physical strength fighting with nothing but her body, her chances would be even lower.

It was far better to let the many experts exhaust her first. In the end, as long as he defeated Lily, he would obtain both the woman and every treasure she possessed. That outcome was far superior to merely exchanging treasures from Ashikaga for double the reward.

The overwhelming majority of experts thought exactly the same way.

Combined with the overwhelming pressure of public opinion, nearly every faction adopted the same stance as the Abyssal faction, allowing their experts to reclaim or exchange for a single Oborozuki Soul in order to challenge Lily.

The experts and Demon Gods were no fools. Every one of them intended to bring only a single Oborozuki Soul into the arena. No one was foolish enough to carry two or more.

The burly oni finally recovered his Oborozuki Soul. He stuffed the fragment of Tamahagane containing it into the pouch of his oversized beast-hide trousers, spread his mouth full of fangs into a lecherous grin, and stared at Lily. “Now I’ve got the right to challenge you, don’t I?”

Lily nodded. “That’s right.”

“Good! Then I won’t hold back! The greatest beauty of the Three Realms is mine! Hahahahaha!” The burly oni had dared to step forward first because he possessed absolute confidence in his physical body. A mere human relying only on physical strength could never hope to defeat him.

The oni’s speed was surprisingly fast. Like a charging chariot of flesh and blood, he barreled toward Lily. Even relying solely on his body, he possessed enough raw strength to crush a Big Dipper expert fighting at full power. No wonder he was so confident.

What he could never have imagined was that although Lily was merely at the Celestial Stage, her physical body ranked among the strongest even by Supreme God standards.

Her body had long since surpassed that of an ordinary Celestial Battle Maiden. It possessed the innate potential of a true Goddess of War.

Facing the charging oni, Lily casually sidestepped his attack before swinging her blade in a single effortless motion.

**Slash!**

Oborozuki Muramasa carried neither Lunar Force nor Divine Power. The strike relied solely upon the sword’s own unparalleled sharpness and durability. Even so, the blade cut deeply into the oni’s massive body.

It nearly cleaved the enormous creature clean through from one side. Demonic blood sprayed across the arena as the hulking oni crashed heavily to the ground.

Possessing only Infernal Stage strength and lacking true divinity, both his Spirit Sea and Blood Spirit Crystal suffered fatal damage.

“N-No… impossible… Greatest beauty of the Three Realms… I… I wanted… to have you…” The burly oni stretched out one enormous hand, trying to seize Lily’s slender ankle. His claws stopped halfway through the air, weakly grasped at nothing several times, then fell limply to the ground.

The burly oni was dead.

Silence descended over the entire assembly.

Everyone knew Lily was powerful, but very few had actually witnessed her fight. Even those who had usually saw her wield Lunar Force or rely upon the overwhelming might of the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. Almost no one had imagined that she could be this terrifying relying on nothing but her physical strength and pure swordsmanship.

The million Demon Gods had seen everything with their own eyes. Lily had indeed used no secret arts, treasures, or special abilities. No one had a single word of objection.

“Next.” Lily spoke calmly. By her estimation, every expert would bring only a single Oborozuki Soul to challenge her. She would likely have to defeat several thousand opponents before collecting every last Oborozuki Soul.

She needed to move as quickly as possible.

For one thing, no matter how resilient Lily’s body was, her stamina was by no means limitless. She would eventually reach her physical limit. Moreover, she was enduring the overwhelming influence of boundless resentment. During the matches, there would be no opportunity for Nanako to heal her. No matter how determined or confident Lily was, she still wanted to end this as quickly as possible.

However, the oni from before had died far too quickly at Lily’s hands, leaving the assembled Demon Gods utterly stunned.

Even the most shameless and depraved among them could no longer bring themselves to retract the conditions Lily had proposed. If they did, they would become a laughingstock passed down throughout the Three Realms for generations.

After a moment of silence, someone finally could not hold back any longer.

“I’ll fight!”

Lily’s gaze sharpened. The second challenger to step onto the stage was a Supreme God. Bharata-Tamon!

It was obvious that most Empyrean Stage experts felt their physical strength was not much greater than that of the burly oni. Since Lily still possessed ample stamina, they dared not challenge her so recklessly.

Bharata-Tamon, however, was different. Even among Supreme Gods, he was considered fairly powerful, and his greatest advantage was precisely his physical body.

“Kagami Lily, you’re a woman, yet you’re relying on the body of a Supreme God to bully those Empyrean Stage fellows. Don’t you feel ashamed?” Bharata-Tamon swung his massive twin-headed monk’s staff.

“……” Lily had no interest in arguing with him. “No need to waste words. You are a Supreme God, so let me remind you first. If you use Divine Power, then I will no longer hold back either.”

“Don’t worry. Against a delicate little beauty like you, why would I need Divine Power?”

Though Bharata-Tamon spoke arrogantly, he knew perfectly well that if both sides fought at full strength, he was likely no match for Lily. Restricting the battle to physical combat was where his greatest advantage lay.

“As long as I win this battle, you’ll have to marry me! My apologies, Lord Ashikaga, but these are the rules everyone agreed upon at the Celestial Demon Assembly. You can’t blame me!”

Lily wondered whether these experts had their senses or their minds completely clouded by desire. Had they not listened to what she had said earlier? Defeating her merely granted the victor the right to propose marriage. It did not mean she would automatically marry the winner.

Still, it made no difference. Since these fools had made their own assumptions without asking for clarification, why should she bother explaining? Besides, no matter what happened… She absolutely could not lose.

If she truly lost, she would have to surrender every Oborozuki Soul she possessed. Combined with her defeat, even if she declared she refused to marry, would she truly still have the right to choose?

She absolutely could not lose!

The muscles across Bharata-Tamon’s body swelled. Even without using Divine Power or secret arts, the force of his charge unleashed a tremendous shockwave as he rushed toward Lily with astonishing speed and strength.

His massive monk’s staff swung straight toward her slender waist.

**Clang!**

Lily raised Oborozuki Muramasa vertically and blocked the blow.

“What tremendous strength!” She exclaimed as she slid several steps backward. His strength truly was immense, but Lily had not used her full power. She feared that if she defeated this Supreme God too easily, no one else would dare challenge her afterward.

Lily and Bharata-Tamon exchanged blow after blow, sword against staff. The clash was fierce and spectacular, their weapons colliding continuously for dozens of exchanges. Even if Lily fought at full strength, someone of Bharata-Tamon’s caliber could never be defeated in just a few strikes, much less while she was deliberately holding back.

“That should be enough.” Finding the perfect opening, Lily suddenly accelerated with a swift sliding step. The monk’s staff thrust past just above her gracefully arched waist while she slipped beneath it and glided to Bharata-Tamon’s feet.

Her long blade swept low.

**Slash!**

His Achilles tendon was severed. Sliding past to his rear, Lily immediately sprang from the ground, flipped gracefully through the air, and brought her heavy blade crashing down. Even without Divine Power, the strike blazed brilliantly as the blade tore through the air.

The sword struck squarely across Bharata-Tamon’s broad back as he collapsed onto one knee.

Oborozuki Muramasa’s sharpness had already approached that of a Great Imperial Artifact. It sliced cleanly through the thick muscles and bones of the Supreme God’s body, split open his Spirit Sea, and struck directly against his Divinity.

“Aaargh!” A tremendous shock coursed through Bharata-Tamon as unimaginable agony overwhelmed him.

Without employing Divine Power or secret arts, Lily’s physical strength alone was still insufficient to leave a visible crack upon a Supreme God’s Divinity. However, the terrifying impact had already shaken the soul contained within.

“Do you still wish to continue?” Lily asked coldly.

“No… I lost.” Bharata-Tamon understood that had Lily used even a fraction of her Divine Power, she truly could have killed him.

Since he admitted defeat, Lily withdrew her blade. Bharata-Tamon then handed over a beautiful straight sword. Although it was somewhat inferior to Lily’s own, it was the exact same model.

Within that sword were an astonishing eighty-six Oborozuki Souls.

People had said no fool would exchange for more than a single Oborozuki Soul before challenging Lily. However, Bharata-Tamon was the leader of his own faction. His people had personally seized those Oborozuki Souls, and he naturally did not trust anyone else to safeguard them, choosing instead to carry them himself.

He had simply been too confident. He had never once imagined that he could lose in a contest of physical strength alone.