Big Sister, This Lily will free you!
Demon Sword Maiden (妖刀姬) is a Chinese Web Novel written by Carrot Sauce (罗将神) and translated by Snoring Dragon. It is ongoing with 1759 Chapters. (With 172 being Free Chapters)
The story revolves around a boy who was sent to a dark, mysterious parallel world in the body of his beautiful senior sister, Lily. The lone girl ran into the night parade of a hundred demons the very day she arrived; seeking survival amongst the warrior’s dispute in a chaotic world, and forging her own demon sword! This is an unimaginable other world adventure!
Associated Tropes:
- Crapsack World: Rival samurai clans are at war, and have been for a long time. Demons, monsters, and vengeful spirits haunt the land, with the warring making it worse the longer it goes on! Women are treated as second class citizens, at best. Rape is an ever-present threat, especially for our protagonist, Kagami Lily. Oh, and there's a caste system slapped on top of all that too...
- Deconstruction: Of the art of bushido. The story perfectly highlights how the word "honor" can be used to justify all sorts of atrocities, specifically rape and murder, especially when Samurai use their privilege to kill anyone they want and then turning around to say they felt "insulted" by their victim, even if everyone else pointedly says the victim did nothing wrong.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: The protagonist is yanked out of our world and shoved into an alternate version of Heian-era Japan with some supernatural elements, so the moral compass of the story would be quite unfamiliar to a modern reader, yet is surprisingly accurate for the corresponding time period in Japan. Especially considering that the author is Chinese, and Japan was very, very isolationist at that time.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Kagami Lily is so gorgeous and elegant that her very existence turns girls into lesbians when they see her!
- Gender Bender: The main character was a boy who got confessed to by his crush in an airplane flight shortly before it crashes, killing him and her, then wakes up in her body, with her soul trapped in a magic mirror...
- Gray-and-Grey Morality: All factions have good and evil mixed among them, including the demons that stalk the land. To date, the only exception seems to be the Daidouji clan, who are all obese, heinous Serial Rapists or enablers for said rapists, and dare to get offended if their intended victims have the cheek to fight them off.
- Hated by All: Mirror maidens, if discovered, are the immediate target of loathing and ire from all factions, human, demon, whatever. While the demons can point to Mirror maidens being an existential threat, and those serving demons can claim that if they don't go after the Maidens then the demons will go after them, everyone else when asked just shrugs and goes Because Destiny Says So. It's not until the chapter count reaches the 600's that anyone is willing to explain why that is, and the one who does so gets killed almost immediately after. Demon King Shuten Doji has stolen something from Heaven, endangering the world, and Heaven's wrath is descending on the land, with the Mirror Maidens being tasked with righting the situation. The humans find it far, far easier to go after the Mirror Maidens and say that the Maidens are responsible for the situation, rather than go against demonic powerhouses like Shuten Doji, who is way, way stronger.
- Might Makes Right: Powerful samurai are always in high demand, so the quickest way to improve your standing is to be the mightiest warrior around. Kagami's Rogues Gallery loves to flaunt it when they're on the offensive, but when they find themselves on the defensive once Kagami retaliates, suddenly she's an "honorless slut".
- Moral Myopia: Everyone who antagonizes Kagami Lily condemns her as a "slut", "cruel woman", or "lawless, dishonorable bitch" whenever she fights back as they attempt to rob, rape, murder, or all of the above, both her and whomever she's protecting.
- Never My Fault: None of the antagonists are ever willing to admit fault in their villainy, or for their failures in other tasks. It must somehow be Lily's fault, and she needs to be made to pay for it.
- Pragmatic Hero: Kagami Lily is not too hung up on concepts of "honor" or "legality" when her enemies aren't and try to kill her, since their actions are illegal and dishonorable in the first place, and neither honor nor the law is going to help a corpse.
- Revenge Myopia: Every last member of Lily's Rogues Gallery howls with rage, promising vengeance against our protagonist for wrongs against them, that only happened because they came at her first, trying to rob, rape, murder, or all three and she dared to fight back, and beat them by their very own rules.
- Title Drop: It takes 84 chapters, but the story's title does eventually get mentioned when describing the protagonist, Kagami Lily.
- Turns Red: All the samurai in the story do this when they tap into their spirit power and attack, even Kagami, especially when she's pissed off.
- Unwanted Harem: Kagami Lily gets several female admirers who follow her around, one of which gives her a Forceful Kiss and won't take "no" for an answer.
- World of Jerkass: Truly good and kind individuals do not last long in this story. Those who are kind to Kagami are usually acting in regards to gaining her favor, sexual or otherwise. Everyone else is vicious purely because they think their martial skill, strength, title, family connections, or any combination of the above, lets them get away with it.
