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Facing the daunting might of the massive serpent, Yamata no Orochi, Lily unsheathed her legendary blade, Dojigiri-Yasutsuna. Her movements were swift and precise, her body radiating an aura of cold, bright purple resentment. With an agile leap, she propelled herself into the air, her resolve as sharp as her sword.

As Lily’s blade, glowing like a round purple moon, sliced through the air towards one of Yamata no Orochi’s necks, it struck with a subtle yet piercing sound. The serpent’s dark scales shattered under the impact, and black blood gushed forth like a corrupted spring, tainting the air with a foul miasma.

The wound, gaping and deep, would have been fatal to any ordinary demon, but for Yamata no Orochi, it was merely a scratch on its colossal form. Despite the significant blood loss, to the serpent, it was insignificant, especially given its eight heads.

Lily’s frustration mounted as she witnessed the serpent’s formidable self-healing abilities. The remnant black blood was quickly absorbed, and the wound began to heal. Nonetheless, her attack had inflicted pain on Yamata no Orochi, causing several of its heads to turn menacingly towards her. Three of them opened their massive jaws in her direction.

“Lily, be careful!” a voice warned. In response, one head unleashed a torrential column of water, another exhaled a jet of flames, and the third spat out electric currents, resembling divine thunder. The power behind these attacks was immense, capable of gravely injuring Lily if she were hit directly. Fortunately, the serpent’s movements were sluggish, and Lily’s agility allowed her to navigate skillfully between the onslaught of destructive elements.

Yamata no Orochi swung its heads, directing the three destructive beams towards Lily. Each beam, over a hundred meters in diameter, covered a vast area. Despite their slow speed, the sheer size of the beams meant Lily was constantly at risk of being hit. Evading these attacks wasn’t too challenging for her, but figuring out how to effectively harm the serpent was proving to be a difficult puzzle. Her previous full-strength strike had only resulted in a minor, quickly-healed injury.

Ayaka and other powerful allies refused to stand idly by. Rising into the sky, Ayaka silently recited an incantation. A spectacular array of lightning bolts, huge flame arrows, and ice spears, each measuring tens of meters, filled the sky, painting a scene akin to a surreal dream. These arcane arts converged on Yamata no Orochi, but their impressive display seemed insignificant against the serpent’s massive form. They bombarded its heads and body, causing only slight tremors and superficial damage.

“Yamata no Orochi’s durability is no less than a demon of the quintuple-soul Big Dipper Stage. Its enormous size enables it to endure attacks that would seriously injure other demons. Our efforts seem like child’s play to it!” Ayaka observed in dismay.

Meanwhile, Kimiko, Michizane, Masakado, Tomoe Gozen, Shizuka Gozen, Shimizu, and other formidable warriors took to the skies. They unleashed a barrage of long-range sword beams, spells, and projectiles, raining down on the serpent. Yet, these attacks, while damaging to an extent, had minimal effect due to the creature’s seemingly endless recovery abilities.

Tomoe Gozen executed a sky-breaking charge, her weapon digging into Yamata no Orochi’s head, leaving a large crack on its hard scales. However, the crack healed rapidly.

Although the serpent felt only slight pain from the barrage of attacks, its anger began to swell. Its eight heads unleashed a terrifying spectacle of eight-colored assaults on the experts.

Its venom was potent enough to corrode mountains, vaporizing distant landforms upon contact. Its pitch-black winds, capable of shattering rocks into dust, covered thousands of meters, posing a significant challenge for the warriors to evade.

As the battle against Yamata no Orochi intensified, one of its heads ejected streams of molten metal, their temperature so extreme that it directly melted some of the hundred ghosts into a horrific mess of slag. Chillingly, after cooling, the distorted shapes of the victims, frozen in their final moments, were still discernible.

Another head of the serpent exhaled frigid, icy winds, transforming a large section of the sea into a frozen wasteland. Many vengeful spirits, caught unawares, were turned into ice sculptures, trapped in their futile attempts to escape.

The sisters owed their survival to Lily’s sakura parasol. Without its protection, the weaker among them would likely have been annihilated. It was only under the shield of the sakura parasol that they could face Yamata no Orochi’s formidable attacks.

Meanwhile, a different head spewed clumps of black blood. Upon touching the ground, this blood coalesced into tainted humanoid warriors and various demons, forming an unholy army that charged toward the night parade and sisters.

These blood-born adversaries varied in strength, from Throned General to Throned Saint levels, with some larger congealments of blood forming even more powerful demons at the single-soul Big Dipper Stage!

The sisters and the hundred demons struggled valiantly against these tainted blood demons. Some of these abominations even developed wings, taking to the sky to encircle the other experts. The stronger among them spewed highly corrosive and toxic liquids, adding to the chaos of the battle.

In the surrounding seawater and mountain forests, giant snakes of various colors, each hundreds of meters long, added to the serpent’s forces. Even the weakest of these giant snakes was at the Throned Saint level, and many were as strong as those at the Big Dipper Stage!

“Hahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahaha!” The two heavenly kings beside Yoritomo laughed heartily, seemingly amused by the turmoil.

Rei, along with her puppet cavalry and sisters, found themselves retreating among the mountain ruins, seeking refuge under the sakura parasol. There, they mounted a defense against the relentless attacks of the tainted blood demons.

Observing the escalating crisis, Lily ascended into the air and activated her soul world. The dark sky was suddenly aglow with a misty brilliance, and the air filled with purple snow cherry blossoms. In the distance, huge cherry blossom trees appeared, as if holding up the sky itself.

At this moment, despite the hanging moon being obscured by dark clouds, a purple crescent moon materialized behind Lily, radiating an ethereal, mystical light.

A prolonged, ancient hiss, blending the growls of eight demonic voices, resonated through the air, shaking the very eardrums of those present and inflicting soul-tearing agony. The hiss of Yamata no Orochi, filled with overwhelming fury, also carried an undertone of panic and fear, especially evident when it laid eyes on the purple moon.

The cherry blossom blades, countless in number, danced through the air, launching their assault on the tainted blood demons. Remarkably effective, these purple lunar cherry blossom blades wrought havoc upon the demons, displaying a potency far exceeding their effect on regular demons of similar strength.

Lily’s soul world, encompassing tens of thousands of meters, maintained its peak might. Within the realm of Setsugekka, the darkness receded, and the petal blades swiftly dispatched a large number of tainted blood demons.

“What?! What’s going on?” Yoritomo, though confident in Yamata no Orochi’s resilience, couldn’t hide his astonishment. Lily’s soul world was evoking a deep-seated fear in the creature, awakening some ancient, buried memory, an outcome completely unforeseen and baffling¹.

The innate fear, rooted deep within its soul, sent Yamata no Orochi into an even greater frenzy. Its eight heads and tails thrashed wildly, triggering a massive tsunami. Towering waves surged, threatening to engulf a vast expanse of the collapsed mountain ruins.

1. Robinxen: Now the question is which explanation is the author going to choose out of the possible reasons.