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As Dojigiri-Yasutsuna was unsheathed, a profound resentment surged, rivaling the dread emanating from the countless nightmare demons.

“I’ll eliminate them quickly!” Determined, Lily thought of Sister Ayaka’s torment and felt a surge of determination. She held the cold, gleaming blade aloft and then brought it down, releasing a pulsing purple luminescence. This blade-light expanded, reminiscent of a nebula stretching across the night sky, nearly enveloping half the mountains outside the Tenshu Castle ruins.

As the blade-light washed over the terrain, it eradicated the nightmare demons in its path, reducing them to mere ash. Lily consecutively cast several such sword lights, each a beautiful beacon of annihilation. Smaller demons were vaporized instantly, while larger ones, irrespective of their power, were decimated by the cascading waves of light. Despite the expansive reach of these thin sword beams, no entity below the Big Dipper Stage could endure their might.

“Kill her!” The two deputy commanders, now consumed by the nightmare and transformed into formidable dream demons, charged at Lily. Their forms, though nebulous, now exuded a power nearly twice their original strength, having been elevated to near double-soul level. Devoid of their own will, they responded only to the commands of the encompassing nightmare.

Lily nimbly evaded the dream demon’s menacing claw, unsheathing her cursed blade with a flourish. With precision, she slashed, severing its gargantuan claw. As this occurred, another demon descended from behind, its maw gaping wide in preparation to snap at her. Lily lithely maneuvered through the air, gracefully circumventing the looming threats of the demons. With a swift twirl, her blade gleamed menacingly.

With a fluid motion, a crescent of purple light emanated from her blade, impaling the first dream demon. The second, caught off-guard, could only witness the encroaching gleam that had just pierced its ally. It too, found itself skewered by the brilliant blade light.

The first demon met its demise as its core was pierced, whereas the second was bisected at the waist. The unmatched sharpness of Dojigiri-Yasutsuna shone through, effortlessly vanquishing these formidable demons. The residual blade light, still brimming with potency, journeyed towards the far-off mountains.

Asserting dominance, Lily trod upon the decapitated head of the fallen demon, casting it aside. She then closed in on the second, grievously wounded demon. As it feebly brandished its ninth-grade sword in defense, it stood no chance. With a resonating sound, both it and its blade were cleaved in twain by Dojigiri-Yasutsuna, sealing its fate.

Suddenly, the very foundation of the ruins trembled. With a pronounced force, Naoya burst forth, targeting not Lily, but King Akira. Recognizing the insurmountable challenge posed by Lily, he shifted his focus to an easier target.

Ayaka, ensnared within her darkened dreamscape, was incapacitated. Asuka, wielding her golden armaments, soared forward to engage Naoya.

“Asuka Shizu! I’ll see to it that you join your dear Kiryu in death!” He roared.

Horrified, Asuka retorted, “What?!”

“You never truly considered my marriage proposal!” Naoya declared, his voice laced with malice. “Your childhood love, Kiryu, wasn’t it? He was worthless. I cut him down effortlessly and left him gasping for his last breaths. Even in death, he whispered your name. What a pitifully loyal mutt! Hahahahaha!” Naoya’s presence dominated the scene, his aura palpable.

“You!” Asuka’s voice quivered, her eyes locked onto Naoya with a mix of horror and disbelief. “Was it you who ended Kiryu’s life? Why? If you merely wanted to suppress information, why not imprison him? Why snuff out his life completely? Is your animosity for me and the Asuka lineage that profound?”

“Hahahahaha!” Naoya chuckled darkly, “Asuka Shizu, your self-importance is laughable. My disdain for you, a woman meddling in politics, was incidental. I sought to eliminate him, with no deeper motivation.”

“Monster!” Enraged, a set of resplendent flaming wings unfurled behind Asuka, symbolizing her domain. This fiery surge of power propelled her into an intense assault on Naoya, akin to a meteor shower’s barrage.

Nimbly, Naoya fended off her strikes, retreating tactically.

“Asuka, let me confront him!” From a distance, Lily interjected, having dispatched hordes of nightmare demons with her blade’s sweep.

“Lily, stay back! He is mine to end! I vow to avenge Kiryu!” Grief and anger converged, fueling Asuka’s relentless onslaught on Naoya.

Amidst this chaos, several nightmare demons emerged from the debris, targeting the momentarily bewildered King Akira.

Ever vigilant, Reika positioned herself before the King, defending him against the impending threat. Simultaneously, Shimizu shielded the semi-delirious Ayaka.

Abruptly, a perilous blade energy hurtled their way, forcing Shimizu to deftly evade. The assault, had it landed, could’ve proven fatal. The origin? A treacherous Throned Saint-level military commander, now a nightmarish demon. Tall, slender, yet overflowing with malevolent power.

“Finally, a worthy adversary¹,” Shimizu’s lips curled into a sly smile, her blade transforming into a shadowy streak, hurtling towards the insurgent leader.

“Kagami Lily, Minamoto no Yoritomo’s loathing for you is now clear to me!” The atmosphere grew heavy as an ominous power descended. The prime minister, now fully metamorphosed into a demonic deity, spoke with an eerie, quivering voice.

“Ah!” Ayaka, tormented by this ominous aura, cried out in anguish.

“Big Sister!”

Lily’s gaze settled upon the smoky apparition of the demon god, “It was you all along!”

The malevolent will of Dream Eater Baku, having navigated through the dark dream, now fully possessed the prime minister.

“Kagami Lily, you dared provoke me even before I claimed your sister Ayaka’s soul. Your sister willingly brokered a deal with me. Can’t you mortals uphold your end of a bargain?”

“To the abyss with you! A vile creature that feasts on the dreams of the innocent! You’ve orchestrated this entire charade, ensnaring my sister and subjecting her to immeasurable suffering!” Filled with rage, Lily soared, blade in hand, striking at the demon god.

Yet, in an instant, the demon god’s figure melded into ephemeral black mist.

Caught off guard, Lily murmured, “What?”

“Curious about the flavor of your dreams? Let’s find out!” A billowing black mist arose, swiftly enveloping Lily.

“Lily!” Shimizu’s voice echoed with desperation, but she was powerless.

Amid the disarray, a powerful strike from Naoya sent Asuka reeling. “Hahahaha! With Lily consumed by the dark dream, your defeat is imminent!” he gloated.

As Lily remained incapacitated, an onslaught of nightmare demons descended, leaving Reika and Shimizu embroiled in a desperate struggle.

“The world’s most exquisite woman, what dreams occupy your slumber?” The eerie voice permeated the shrouding darkness enveloping Lily. “The more delightful dreams I devour, converting them to infinite fear and obscurity, the mightier I become. Lily, would you fancy a pact with me?”

Within Lily’s dreamscape, boundless shadows surged towards a solitary figure, a maiden cloaked in a delicate white yukata. The engulfing gloom threatened to entrap her within an eternal nightmarish abyss.

“Hahahaha! Magnificent Kagami Lily, your dreams now belong to me!”

“Dreams? Even here, my desires remain unaltered. Senior Rinne still lingers in her slumber. This dream consists solely of her – her voice, her laughter, her anticipated tenderness upon awakening. You believe you can manipulate my dreams? Against your might?”

A poignant moonbeam emanated from Lily, slicing through the engulfing darkness. Though not intensely luminous, it bathed the dream realm in a silvery hue, a landscape of passion, yearning, and sorrow. Against such unyielding will, no room existed for malevolence, dread, or temptation to corrode.

“Ah—!” The moonlight shattered the malevolent will, causing such agony that the darkness itself seemed to cry out in pain. From Lily, a cloud of thick, inky smoke erupted, desperately spiraling upwards, attempting to flee into the safety of the night.

In the midst of this turmoil, King Akira found himself the target of several nightmare demons. Reika was overwhelmed, unable to guard him against the onslaught. Suddenly, a flurry of spells rained down, annihilating the nightmare demons in their tracks. Ayaka, clutching her wooden wand, had risen and regained her composure.

The thick smoke that had emerged from Lily – a manifestation of pure nightmare – raced into the sky. Sensing some indescribable terror, it didn’t dare to linger and sped away, leaving only the ragged remnants of the prime minister’s attire fluttering down.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Determined, Lily prepared to pursue, but her gaze was drawn to Asuka, locked in fierce combat.

Lily gracefully extended her arm, casting forth a delicate moonlit thread which ensnared the trailing end of the retreating smoke.

Amidst the turmoil, Naoya’s ruthlessness was on full display, as he brutally knocked Asuka off her feet with a powerful kick. “Defiant fool! I’ll end you!”

Anger evident in her clenched teeth, Asuka swiftly rose, valiantly confronting Naoya’s strikes. Observing, Lily noted Asuka’s tenacity, but the gap in their prowess was glaring.

Naoya forcefully drove his knee into Asuka’s abdomen, his sword poised to strike her down. Reacting swiftly, Asuka rolled aside to evade the descending blade, immediately countering with a slash of her own. In response, Naoya swiftly retaliated, using the hilt of his sword to deliver a crushing blow to the back of her head.

Sent sprawling, Asuka crashed into the ruins. As Naoya’s relentless assault continued, tears streamed from her eyes while she attempted to escape his strikes.

“I can’t…” she murmured, her voice tinged with despair.

“Help me! Lily, please help me! Waah… I need to kill this monster!” Asuka’s desperate plea echoed in the chaotic battleground.

“As you wish, Princess,” Lily responded. In a blur, she transformed into a radiant purple apparition, materializing behind Naoya in mid-air.

Caught off-guard, he swiftly turned to counter her, his blade arcing towards her. Yet, Lily, infused with a radiant purple glow, deftly raised her leg, using it to parry his blade. She then leaned forward, brandishing her Dojigiri-Yasutsuna with an unmatched intensity. The blade gleamed with a mesmerizing purple light, cutting swiftly through the night.

The speed of her attack was astonishing. So potent was the union of Dojigiri-Yasutsuna’s might and Lily’s lunar energy that even a master at the quintuple-soul Big Dipper Stage would find it challenging to defend against.

Naoya, whose skills were barely at the quadruple-soul stage of the Big Dipper, stood no chance. His head was severed, soaring into the night.

1. Robinxen: I should be applauded for resisting the urge.