I Don't Want to Be a Valkyrie

Chapter 11: Kiyohime and the Tsuchigumo

In the midst of the battlefield, a colossal being stood. Its head resembled a tiger's, its body like a spider's, with eight long legs, a mouth full of fangs, and covered in terrifyingly coarse bristles. It towered seventy to eighty meters tall.

This was the Great Yokai, the Tsuchigumo, renowned throughout all of Higashi, the Eastern Land.

It was a giant spider Oddity captured and sealed by Emperor Jimmu. However, after Emperor Jimmu's death, the seal loosened, and the Tsuchigumo had long since escaped.

And this infamous Tsuchigumo was currently staring at a tiny creature, no bigger than its eye, filled with fear.

It was a woman, though one with a pair of delicate, antler-like horns on her head.

The woman wore a kimono, held a folding fan, and had long black hair cascading down her back. A relaxed expression graced her face.

"Princess Kiyohime, you have slaughtered countless descendants of mine! What more do you want!!" The giant Tsuchigumo spoke human words, its voice filled with anger... and a hint of fear.

"What more? Of course, I want you dead!" The woman looked at it with an unchanged, calm expression, a hint of resolve in her voice.

"You're going too far!!"

Upon hearing this, the Tsuchigumo was utterly enraged! This was truly too much...

It was just an accident that it destroyed her dwelling place. It wasn't intentional. Who knew that upon waking up, there would be a temple next to it, and inside, a powerful Great Yokai resided.

"You destroyed my Dojo-ji Temple, you destroyed my only memory of Anchin. If I don't kill you, I cannot quell the hatred in my heart," Kiyohime said, her expression turning bloodthirsty as she looked at the Tsuchigumo.

Kiyohime was originally human. As her name suggested, she was the daughter of nobility.

Later, she fell in love with a monk named Anchin. However, Anchin abandoned her, using the excuse of visiting Kumano as a pretext to leave Kiyohime waiting alone.

Realizing she had been deceived, Kiyohime, unable to wait for her lover's return, chased after Anchin day and night without even wearing shoes. She endured countless hardships. By the time she finally caught up to Anchin on the road to Dojo-ji Temple, her appearance was no longer human, nor ghost.

When Anchin saw his lie exposed, he quickly begged the Kumano deity to trap Kiyohime. He then swiftly crossed the Hidakagawa River, fled to Dojo-ji Temple, sought help from the abbot, and hid inside the temple's great bell.

When Kiyohime reached the bank of the Hidakagawa River, there were no boats. Yet, she resolutely jumped into the river. As a result, she transformed into a creature with a human head and a serpent's body, continuing her pursuit ashore. Finally, she arrived at Dojo-ji Temple and perished in the flames along with Anchin.

However, Kiyohime did not die. Due to her boundless devotion to the one she loved, she transformed into a Dragon solely through the power of her "obsessive thoughts."

Afterward, Kiyohime remained at Dojo-ji Temple, hoping to meet Anchin again one day.

Who would have thought that a few days prior, this Tsuchigumo before her suddenly emerged from underground, causing a large section of the ground to collapse? Dojo-ji Temple was also affected and completely caved in.

This nearly drove Kiyohime mad. She had been hunting the Tsuchigumo for several days, killing countless spider offspring that the Tsuchigumo had bred.

"This is too much! I am also a Great Yokai!"

Seeing that Kiyohime would not let him go, the Tsuchigumo stopped fleeing. It opened its terrifying maw and spat a large glob of venom towards Kiyohime.

The venom surged towards Kiyohime like a great river!

However, Kiyohime's expression remained calm. As the venom was about to reach her, she waved her folding fan.

A giant fire dragon appeared, instantly turning the Tsuchigumo's venom into steam.

Seeing that the venom was ineffective, the Tsuchigumo paid it no mind. It shook its massive body, and countless spiders, the size of washbasins, crawled out from within its body.