Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 8 - Higanbana: Chapter 24 – Yomi Hirazaka

Lily had no idea how long the procession had been traveling. She estimated that there were hundreds of thousands of souls within them. She noticed at least dozens of demons on the Throned Monarch Stage and possibly more on the Throned Saint Stage, but didn’t dare to investigate closely.

If they actually came to blows, Lily would be in deep danger since she would be attacked by multiple powerful demons. Moreover, she will never break the fundamental law of reincarnation for no reason.

She could only stay behind, and eventually followed them for three whole days. The path ahead of her was even deeper as eerie winds blew past.

Lily followed the procession and walked out of the kilometer-wide path, coming to an abyss that was virtually unlimited in depth. The procession walked along the steep cliffs and entered an ancient gate. The gate was shaped like a complicated birdhouse, with horrifying sculptures of Yomi ghosts and demons. If Lily weren’t imbued with powerful soul defenses, a typical powerhouse even on the Throned Saint Stage would feel immense pain within their souls the moment they laid eyes on those sculptures.

There was a mystical pulse within the ancient wooden gate. The souls entered the pulse and somehow disappeared. The demons who escorted them also did the same.

Lily instinctively felt that she shouldn’t enter the gate, or she would die a painful death! This wasn’t her path to tread.

She looked down and realized the abyss below the cliffs was about ten thousand feet deep. Black fog enveloped its bottom. Occasionally, glowing magma could be seen within those massive cracks, which seemingly led to a deeper underground space.

Meanwhile, the bottom of the abyss, enveloped in black fog, emanated countless amounts of Yomi Eldritch Energy.

Looking carefully, Lily noticed that there were countless demons and monsters at the bottom of the abyss, like herds of cattle on the steppes.

Some demons were small in size, but they were in groups and formed massive numbers. Other demons were incredibly huge. They moved around like ancient trees and mountains within the abyss.

Everywhere, howls of demons could be vaguely heard. Countless aura filled with bloodlust and violence could be sensed.

“These… Demons…”

Lily inspected closely and couldn’t help but exhale. Within the unending abyss, countless demons were pursuing, murdering, and consuming each other… It was never ending.

Small demons who just climbed out of the underground fissures would be instantly slaughtered and consumed by large demons. Meanwhile, the large demons and swarms of demons would be consumed by the ancient demons that were as big as mountains.

Anyone who devoured more demons would gain more strength.

Meanwhile, the massive demons would be consumed by hordes of smaller demons.

It was as if these demons only existed to consume each other! They constantly devoured other demons and their own kin in order to increase their strength!

“Is this the rule of Yomi… Scary, absolutely horrifying…”

Lily couldn’t help but recall her experience in Mt. Yoshino, and how she almost fell into this endless abyss. Back then, the aura she felt wasn’t this violent and intense since it was shrouded by layers of fog.

At that time, she was lucky enough to land on a cliff. Otherwise, she wouldn’t exist now…

At this moment, Lily noticed something far away. Above the clouds floating around the cliffs on the unbending abyss, there were many pieces of land. The smaller pieces were hundreds of meters wide, while the larger ones were dozens of miles wide!

These floating landmasses were vast, and there was no end in sight.

Lily realized that the soul procession had entered the gate. She walked forward and suppressed her emotions, bypassing the ancient gate. She walked several miles and approached the floating landmasses.

It was endless. Each plot of land at varying distances between the others. they ranged from dozens of meters, to hundreds of meters, to several kilometers. With her eyesight, she noticed some humanoid activity on the larger landmasses, and even some eerie looking villages.

“This… There’s actually someone living on the path to Yomi?”

‘Could it be… Could these endless landmasses floating above the unending abyss be Yomi Hirazaka?’

This was an unimaginable location between Ashihara and Yomi. In that case, the abyss below her was probably the uppermost surface of Yomi…

‘Madam Shizuka Gozen intends to lead me to Yomi Hirazaka, isn’t it? What’s really on top of these floating landmasses?’

Lily walked along the steep cliffs and realized one was floating right ahead. It was less than ten meters away from the nearest cliff. The landmass itself was sixty meters wide and several meters thick. It was composed of rock and covered with a layer of yellow mud. There were also some dark purple vines and thorns hanging on the side. They were probably native flora of Yomi.

She could probably jump right onto it.

Despite having gravity that was a hundred times stronger, she should be able to clear sixty meters easily by utilizing her spirit power and jumping in full force.

However, Lily still remained careful. After all, everything would be over if she accidentally fell into Yomi’s abyss. That said, she was only dozens of meters away, and the landmass was floating very slowly and steadily. It probably had remained on that spot for countless years.

Lily jumped and landed on the landmass. This was a flat ground. There was absolutely nothing on it…

“Have I finally… Stepped foot on Yomi Hirazaka?”

Although there was nothing here. As a living being, Lily still felt incredibly moved after having reached Yomi Hirazaka as a living breathing person. This still required a lot of strength!

The ordinary person and a weakling would be instantly scorched by the immense heat and crushed by heavy gravity the moment they came here.

Even a powerhouse who came here to train would be murdered and die a painful death if they weren’t the opponents of those Throned Monarch demons.

“What’s really in Yomi Hirazaka?”

Lily looked around this landmass that was dozens of meters wide. Aside from a few rare Yomi flora that were never seen in the outside world, there was nothing else spectacular.

Lily looked around and noticed at least three other landmasses beside her. Based on the distance, she could jump onto them easily. Lily went to the largest piece of land which was hundreds of meters wide, and jumped over with a sprinting start.

Landing on this landmass, its flat surface and characteristics were identical to the one before. Lily walked on top of it and looked around.

“Huh?”

In the corner of the land, there seemed to be a strange plant.

Lily approached. That plant was completely dark green, like a piece of green jade. She could occasionally spot it pulsing and spirit elixir flowing between its leaves. Its flower seemed like an ice crystal, which emanated a luminescent glow and a mind-refreshing aroma.

“This flower plant is a treasure!” Lily immediately realized in her heart

¹.

“Master, this is Yukusa Grass.” Kagura suddenly spoke.

References

Robinxen: My god Lily, what kind of sixth sense do you have?