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Lily tapped into her formidable strength, breaking free from the shackles and box. In a swift motion, the upper half of the box was flung open violently. She reached out, grasping the second lash of the whip, and forcefully yanked, pulling Meina towards the box’s round hole.

Meina attempted to resist, but as she began to move, the box’s lid rebounded and snapped shut with a decisive sound.

Lily promptly activated her soul realm, dominating the area and immobilizing Meina completely.

“What are you doing!? Release me!” Meina demanded. “How dare you defy the head of the female prison hell! Guards!!”

The guards rushed in, but Lily skillfully wielded the long whip, sending out a powerful crimson wave.

With a thunderous crack of the whip, over a dozen guards were rendered weak and collapsed, their faces flushed.

Lily’s eyes narrowed on Meina’s stocking-clad lower half, her face a mix of anger and resentment. “This formation has led me to unnecessary humiliation!” In a fit of rage, she lashed out with the whip, striking Meina, eliciting a howl.

The first whip was to vent her anger. The second came down with more force, shattering the box and hitting the boundary monument.

With a resounding crash, the monument shattered into pieces. A brilliant beam of light burst forth from its remnants, enveloping Lily and transporting her out of the miniature world. The whip dropped to the ground with a clatter.

Meina lay on the floor, her face flushed red. Surrounded by the debris of the broken box, she slowly crawled forward and grabbed the whip, but Lily was already gone. “Come out! Dammit, come out! You dare treat me like this! I won’t let you go; I’ll never forgive you!!”

Above the forest, under a stormy night sky, Lily materialized in mid-air and descended to the muddy ground. She executed a swift flip, landing skillfully.

Surveying the area, she saw the remnants of the destroyed boundary monument. “Success!” But her triumph quickly turned to shame and anger as the cold rain drenched her. She hurriedly sought refuge behind the tree to change her clothes.

Over ten miles away from the demolished monument, another explosion resounded. Shimizu emerged in mid-air, her black sleeves billowing, holding an umbrella. “I hadn’t anticipated this boundary monument to be a den of evil spirits. The darkness there was quite potent.” Shimizu’s face bore a cold smile, unaware that she and Lily had simultaneously destroyed the last two monuments.

Suddenly, a surge of killing intent prompted Shimizu to discard her umbrella and evade swiftly.

Psst! Psst! Psst!

Three poison darts struck where she had just been, corroding the ground with their lethal venom.

“Who’s there!?” Shimizu tensed, ready for combat.

Dark golden threads snaked through the forest, converging with immense power. “Could this be a secondary formation based on the clouded soil array?” Shimizu pondered.

The threads coalesced into a figure clad in revealing black armor. “B̲i̲t̲c̲h̲! Return my ancient jade!” The figure’s power surged as it absorbed the array’s energy, transforming into a radiant golden avatar.

“Is that her?” Shimizu recognized the woman.

“Give it back! It’s mine!” Shenzu charged at Shimizu, her speed amplifying with the golden aura.

Six golden blades materialized in the avatar’s hands, gathering spiritual energy that shimmered with a melancholic blue hue as they slashed towards Shimizu.

Shimizu, turning into a black blur, evaded with a single step. As she did so, a massive explosion echoed through the forest, sending boulders flying and leaving six deep gashes in the rain-soaked earth. “Impressive,” Shimizu murmured silently.

After suffering a recent defeat, Shenzu had resorted to using Yoritomo’s secret medicine, a variant that didn’t deform her into a monster but robbed her of her humanity. Post-ingestion, Shenzu’s power skyrocketed to that of a double-soul Big Dipper, and with the formation’s augmentation, she now wielded the might of a quadruple-soul Big Dipper expert!

“Return it!” Shenzu’s attacks were ferocious and relentless.

“Huhuhu,” Shimizu’s smile was cryptic as she effortlessly dodged. Unlike Lily, who could achieve extreme speeds in mid-air, Shimizu relied on agile movements on the ground. “The ancient jade chose me. You have no idea of the benefits it offers me. But I won’t reveal them to you!”

“Silence, you thief! Bandit!” Shenzu’s avatar unleashed a flurry of blade beams, momentarily filling the sky.

Shimizu nimbly maneuvered through the landscape, the relentless barrage of blade beams wreaking havoc wherever she had been.

With a swift ‘shing’, Shimizu drew her sword, launching a dark blade beam towards Shenzu.

A loud clash echoed as Shenzu parried with her six swords, blocking the incoming attack. A momentary stalemate ensued.

“Give it back now!” In a sudden move, Shenzu brandished two blades and aimed a scissor-like strike at Shimizu’s waist.

With a ‘slash’, Shenzu’s blades only managed to slice through Shimizu’s kimono. Shimizu had already evaded, and the severed kimono transformed into black-gold phantom butterflies swirling in the storm, reforming into a kimono on a barely-clad Shimizu.

“What!?” Shenzu shrieked in disbelief. “Your domain transformed into clothing!?”

This rare technique was unknown to many. Even against a stronger domain, such clothing remained unyielding and possessed formidable defensive capabilities, unlike ordinary garments¹.

“This is a technique granted by the ancient jade,” Shimizu taunted, covering her mouth with a sleeve of her kimono.

“It was mine!” Shenzu lunged once more, her body aglow with golden light as she attacked Shimizu.

Shimizu’s sleeve unfurled into multiple black ribbons, each as powerful as a strike from a single-soul Big Dipper expert and as sharp as a blade beam.

Shenzu parried and dodged, but the ribbons concealed golden butterflies that left wounds on her armor and skin.

“Futile efforts!” Shenzu bellowed, her eyes glowing blue as her wounds miraculously healed. She resumed her offense with renewed vigor.

Tens of thousands of butterflies dispersed, revealing Shimizu, her form shrouded in black mist, facing Shenzu with her sheathed blade.

“Perish!” Shenzu roared as she unleashed a six-blade assault.

With a ‘shing’, Shimizu drew her blade, casting a stark contrast of light and darkness. For a fleeting moment, a blade beam darker than the night itself was visible.

The clash culminated in Shenzu’s avatar disintegrating into myriad fragments. Amidst the shower of crystalline blue, Shenzu, with blades held in reverse grip, lunged towards Shimizu.

The clash between the blades and Shimizu’s scabbard resonated with a sharp sound. Amidst the rain, lightning illuminated the scene and the earth trembled, capturing the intense moment shared by the two samurai women.

Shenzu’s gaze fixated on the ancient jade dangling from Shimizu’s neck. “Mine!” she declared, lifting her blade and swiftly attacking Shimizu.

Shimizu effortlessly intercepted the stab with her blade’s hilt, then raised her leg and delivered a powerful kick to Shenzu’s stomach, propelling her backward.

Crashing to the ground, Shenzu reactivated the formation, reconstructing the avatar behind her. She launched another attack, this time with eight blades striking simultaneously.

Shimizu sidestepped, and countless black butterflies morphed into ribbons, entwining Shenzu. “What!?” Shenzu exclaimed in surprise.

The golden aura surrounding Shenzu transformed into threads, flowing into the black ribbons, which Shimizu was now absorbing. “No!” Shenzu slashed fiercely, freeing herself from the ribbon’s grasp.

The absorbed dark gold power transformed into golden butterflies on the ribbons, significantly enhancing their strength. As a relentless rain of ribbon strikes bombarded the sky, Shenzu skillfully evaded, but her large avatar, constantly under assault, saw its golden glow diminish due to the ribbons siphoning its Yomi power.

“Teacher…” Shenzu murmured, absorbing the entire avatar into herself. Aghast, she radiated golden light painfully from her eyes, mouth, nose, and ears, screaming in endurance.

Her glow dimmed, and with a sudden increase in speed, she appeared before Shimizu. Her first blade, shining with a blinding gold, aimed a slash at Shimizu’s neck.

Shimizu ducked and spun, her black hair obscuring Shenzu’s vision momentarily. As she rotated, she unsheathed Yakumo, her body moving in the opposite direction, and struck towards Shenzu’s chest.

Shenzu reacted swiftly, pressing her other blade against the incoming attack. But it was a ruse; Shimizu had used a black butterfly as a decoy, creating a split-second delay in her strike.

A flash of black light ensued, and Shimizu’s blade connected. A sharp sound echoed as golden blood sprayed from Shenzu’s chest, her body flung backward into the mud.

Lying there, Shenzu’s golden blood flowed, mixing with crimson, then transforming into a golden mist around her wound. The mist used up its power and dissipated after healing her…

A faint, androgynous voice whispered, “Shenzu, my only disciple, live…” In the heavy rain, the last glimmer of gold light vanished into the night.

Black butterflies reconvened around Shimizu, reforming her kimono. She approached Shenzu, each step causing water to splash around her.

Shenzu lay in the mud, bereft of Rokuhara Tandai’s power, breathing heavily.

1. Yuki: With how often Lily’s clothes get torn, I think she should learn this…