Deep within the prisons of Yuten Castle, the glow of the torches was dim. The damp, stifling cell was filled with curling wisps of violet smoke. The fragrance these delicate fus released would have driven any ordinary Celestial Maiden below the Empyrean Stage into a haze of intoxication after only a few breaths.
“No wonder you are known as Takamagahara’s strongest Celestial Battle Maiden. Clearly so healthy and beautiful, so radiantly feminine, yet your willpower surpasses even those so-called mighty Heroic Gods of Takamagahara.” Furaku gazed at the goddess before her, her silver hair cascading like a cloud of moonlight, and actually offered words of praise.
“Hmph, so this is your thod of interrogation? I see no difference from those Dark Celestial Maidens.” Bishamonten sneered coldly.
Furaku was in no rush to retort. Instead, she studied Bishamonten’s expression with calculating eyes.
“Well now, you’re drenched in fragrant sweat, cheeks flushed crimson, yet you still insist on keeping that sharp tongue? To , this proud goddess isn’t all that different from the ordinary matrons I’ve interrogated before.”
“Ridiculous. What wild imagination. It’s nothing more than the heat of this place.”
“Don’t worry, I have more than enough thods at my disposal. What I’ve used on you so far isn’t even a tenth of my repertoire. It has to be gradual, after all. Too much intensity, and you might not withstand it—you could die, or your mind could shatter into madness, and then you wouldn’t be able to confess at all. Where’s the fun in that? It’s only been a few days. We have plenty of ti.”
As she spoke, Furaku produced a smooth, oval-shaped gem and pressed it against Bishamonten’s armpits
Bishamonten was unable to resist. She could only endure, not knowing what this woman was attempting to asure.
After a while, Furaku lifted the gem, feeling its temperature, sheen, and fluctuations. She chuckled, “It seems your words weren’t entirely lies. You truly are no ordinary woman. Even after all this ti, you’ve only yielded by two parts in ten. It seems I’ll need to exert more effort and employ stronger thods.”
“Who—who has yielded by two parts in ten?! Utter nonsense!” Bishamonten bit down on her own hair, her chained arms hanging overhead, the clanking of iron chains echoing with a frigid chill.
“Hehehe. Won are always like this, their mouths denying what their hearts have begun to admit. You’ve already yielded two parts in ten, yet of course you’d never confess it aloud. That’s why interrogating won is such trouble.” Furaku dangled the gem before Bishamonten’s eyes. “Still, this is proof that you’ve begun to sink. Whether you admit it or not changes nothing. You want to resist, but I warn you, the more you resist, the more your thoughts will circle back to , and the faster you’ll fall.”
“Wretched demoness, don’t think your words will cloud my mind! These tricks have no effect on !”
Furaku stepped around behind Bishamonten, letting her gaze drift downward. A sly, mocking smile touched her lips.
“Indeed, you are strong. But to claim you’ve shown no reaction at all? That’s nothing more than self-deception.”
“Childish demoness! I know exactly what kind of evidence you intend to flaunt. Save your breath. I admit it, but so what? Even if the effects were ten tis stronger, do you truly believe I would reveal anything? Do you take for so little girl who would waver out of sha? Laughable! As a Celestial Battle Maiden, I long ago ceased to care about the trappings of womanhood.”
“Oh? Is that so? Then let us wait and see…”
Though Bishamonten was far more difficult to deal with than ordinary won, everything still fell within Furaku’s expectations. Her claim that Bishamonten had yielded by two parts in ten was an exaggeration ant to wound her confidence. In truth, the goddess had only wavered by about a part and a half. But still, only a single day and night had passed.
What if ten days went by? Half a month? A year?
She suspected it would not take nearly so long.
‘At this rate, within ten days at most, you’ll break. You’ll submit in humiliation, helplessness, and resignation, and confess everything to .’ Furaku spoke these thoughts inwardly with confidence.
“Lady Sovereign!”
At that mont, a Dark Celestial Maiden entered to report. She ca in with her mouth and nose veiled by the special silk Furaku had taught them to use, avoiding the intoxicating fus. Opening the cell door, she stepped inside, and upon seeing Bishamonten’s current state, so different from the icy, untouchable goddess she had been during previous interrogations, she could not help but feel a twinge of surprise.
“What is it? You barge in without announcent. What if you had stumbled in on this goddess in an… embarrassingly compromising position? Wouldn’t that be humiliating for her?” Furaku’s words sounded mocking, though she cared little if her interrogation was witnessed.
“You wretch…” Bishamonten ground her teeth in fury.
“Lady Sovereign, we captured another Celestial Maiden of the rebel army,” the Dark Celestial Maiden reported.
“Oh? No doubt she ca to rescue this goddess. Interrogate her thoroughly.” Furaku replied.
“What? Another Celestial Maiden has fallen into their hands…” Bishamonten’s heart tightened with anxiety. “This is Yuten Castle. They should not have co here! Ah…”
“Lady Sovereign, the Yuten Army requests that we quickly extract the secrets from that woman, so that the rebels may be crushed and Takamagahara will no longer be harassed ti and again by these reckless Celestial Maiden insurgents. Would you, Lady Sovereign, lend us your aid in this matter?” The Dark Celestial Maiden spoke with so difficulty. Although they had long since submitted to the leadership of A-no-Tajikarao, they were still Celestial Maidens. To beg assistance from a powerful demoness was not sothing they could easily bring themselves to accept.
“What? You want to interrogate a re Celestial Maiden rebel? Do you not see that I’m already occupied here?” Furaku’s voice carried irritation. She had no interest in little girls who could be subdued with ease. Besides, she was a demoness in Takamagahara; her status demanded so dignity. She was not just so common hired hand.
“N-no, of course we would not dare. Only… Lady Sovereign, this Celestial Maiden is… unusual,” the Dark Celestial Maiden replied hesitantly.
“Oh? Unusual in what way?”
“She… everyone who lays eyes upon her, regardless of gender, claims she is a beauty beyond compare, unmatched even in the vast sight of Takamagahara’s deities. And this woman seems to possess so mysterious ans. The sisters we sent to interrogate her could not endure even an hour before they all fainted. Not one could complete the task.”
The Dark Celestial Maiden looked troubled. “To let you know of such a matter is one thing, Lady Sovereign. But if the Heroic Gods were to hear of it, they would scorn us Dark Celestial Maidens even more. So I beg you, please co see her. Even if you lack the ti, at least give us guidance…teach us a thod, lend us tools, anything at all.”
“What… a little Celestial Maiden rebel has such ability?” Now Furaku’s interest was piqued. Even Bishamonten, as strong-willed and unyielding as she was, had never made the interrogators faint, let alone several in succession.
To conquer won of indomitable spirit was part of Furaku’s path of advancent. It furthered her comprehension of the Charm Heavenly Path and refined her mastery of the Maiden’s Command Technique.
“Take to her,” Furaku said at last.
“Yes, thank you, Lady Sovereign.” The Dark Celestial Maiden finally sighed in relief.
“Bishamonten, then, enjoy the incense on your own for a while longer. We shall et again shortly.”
Furaku departed with the Dark Celestial Maiden, leaving Bishamonten in a haze of confusion.
Over the years, especially right after her capture, the Celestial Maiden rebels had made frequent attempts to rescue her. Though the rulers of Takamagahara were unafraid, the three great prisons had long decayed into corruption and indulgence. They found the constant harassnt of the rebels exhausting and unwelco. None wished to handle such a troubleso burden. Bishamonten, however, was a peerless goddess of beauty, said to rank among the top ten beauties of all Takamagahara. Yet her prolonged imprisonnt brought them no peace, only unrest.
Thus she had been transferred to Yuten Castle.
In the beginning, the Celestial Maiden rebels constantly launched assaults upon Yuten Castle to rescue her. But the fortress was too powerful. All their attempts ended in failure, with heavy losses and many captured. In ti, the attacks ceased, for the cost was too great.
Now, however, word had spread that the rulers intended to let a demoness interrogate her. The rebels could not stand by and watch their leader endure such humiliation, and so they risked their lives to save her.
“There’s actually a Celestial Maiden in the rebel army with such thods? Who could she be?” Bishamonten strained to recall, but after the ancient war, besides herself, Takamagahara had produced almost no Celestial Maidens of extraordinary power.
Yet she herself had already fallen. This new woman might indeed be a rising star, but captured as she was, no matter her abilities, her fate was likely dire.
“Girl, I have dragged you down with ,” Bishamonten murmured, rattling her chains. Yet there was no escaping. Her divine power had long been siphoned away over the years. She no longer had the strength to resist. What remained to her was only her unyielding will.
Furaku followed the Dark Celestial Maiden up two levels from Bishamonten’s cell, into the deepest reaches of the prison.
Outside the cell door, guards stood in stern formation, seven or eight Dark Celestial Maidens ard with blades.
Along the corridor, several other Dark Celestial Maidens lay unconscious, while two Celestial Dancing Maidens tended to them.
As Furaku approached, she saw that the unconscious won all bore flushed faces, as if struck down by so unknown power. Her curiosity toward the prisoner within grew even keener.
“Open the cell,” she commanded.
The Dark Celestial Maiden obeyed, unlocking the door. Furaku added, “Wait outside. Do not enter unless I call for you.”
“Yes!”
The heavy door creaked shut behind her.
Inside the cell stood a youthful woman, her hair coiled up, clad in tattered green garnts. Her arms were bound tightly behind her with spirit-binding ropes, her posture restrained yet dignified. It was Lily, captured and confined.
The mont Furaku entered, Lily sensed the overwhelming eldritch aura radiating from her. This was no Celestial Maiden, yet not a pure demon either. Rather, a human who had evolved into a demoness. Her presence was strong, formidable.
‘So, she finally appears. In Yuten Castle, there can be no second demoness of such power. She must be the Lady Sovereign,’ Lily thought. At that mont, she could have broken free of her bindings with ease. Even if her opponent were a Supre God, she had the strength to suppress her.
But this was the lair of A-no-Tajikarao, reinforced by the Great Imperial God’s formations. To act rashly was too great a risk. If she failed to slay Furaku outright, the fortress’ arrays—or A-no-Tajikarao himself—would be upon her. This was not her plan. After all, even a Supre God could not be slain so easily, and she did not have the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi at hand.
Furaku, for her part, froze at the sight of Lily.
“Truly… a woman capable of beguiling the Three Realms themselves! I have followed Lord Shikikai and seen countless beauties, but never one such as this. She bears an aura that would move both n and won alike… This girl is no ordinary captive. And yet…her face. Sohow, it feels as though I have seen it before.”
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