White Brahma's Mask

Caught completely off guard, White Brahma took the full force of the downward slash almost directly to the face.

"Roar—!"

It released the farmer's corpse, of which only half remained in its hand, and let out a miserable roar.

"Didn't you say you were determined to kill me?" Uesugi Tetsu laughed. After entering Everworld and being restored to full condition, he used Fearful Smile again. "I'm standing right here! Why isn't Lord White Brahma making a move?"

The weakness caused by the destruction of its projection, the intense pain, and the powerful control effect of Fearful Smile combined to leave White Brahma writhing frantically in place, utterly incapable of putting up any decent resistance.

Wasn't this Laughing Brahma just in the real world? How could it have chased me into Everworld so quickly...

And it even came directly in front of me!

Crossing between the real world and Everworld was obviously incredibly difficult. Even after finding the highest point of the tide and taking advantage of the summoning ritual, it had only barely managed to send its projection into the real world.

And that alone had taken it who knew how long.

But only a few minutes had passed since then!?

White Brahma's barren mind spun madly, yet it could not make sense of the reality unfolding before its eyes.

It struggled to stand, but after taking another slash, it roared inwardly:

—Could this damn Laughing Brahma be the Lord of Everworld from the myths, capable of entering and leaving Everworld at will!?

"You lowly, damned Laughing Brahma! I swear I won't let you die. I'll peel your flesh apart bit by bit!"

White Brahma's cold, furious voice rang out. As soon as it finished speaking, a faint black glow rose from its body, and Uesugi Tetsu felt several additional layers of heaviness and weakness weigh down his body.

Another powerful support talent skill.

Uesugi Tetsu frowned. How many talents does this White Brahma have?

Its claws could lengthen, its body could turn into mist, it had crying-based control, sonic attacks, and now this...

He could not give it another chance to reveal its trump cards.

"Lord White Brahma, saying things you can't accomplish will only make you a laughingstock."

Once again taking up the Heisei Seigan stance, Uesugi Tetsu had to admit that, with Kaga Kiyomitsu's enhancement, thrusting sword techniques were indeed his strongest source of damage at present.

Fortunately, this White Brahma was stupid. If his opponent had been Ririko, he would certainly have lost his head the second time he used this move.

"Inhale—exhale—"

Uesugi Tetsu sucked air into his body like a whale swallowing the sea, recklessly stimulating Internal Energy within himself.

In Everworld, he did not need to worry about activating too much Internal Energy and exploding from within. It would only hurt for a while; he just had to endure it.

As long as he could cut down the White Brahma stubbornly resisting before him, that was enough.

Even after succeeding in his ambush, Uesugi Tetsu did not lower his guard in the slightest. He said coldly, "One sword. I only need one sword to kill you."

White Brahma, however, would not give its enemy the chance to build momentum. It immediately put on a sorrowful expression, and a sharp sonic wave burst from its mouth.

"I feel so sad..."

Uesugi Tetsu's voice trembled. As White Brahma's claws pierced through his lungs, he raised his voice by two octaves and shouted mournfully, "Why do you have to make me so sad!"

The instant his voice fell, all the Internal Energy exploded at once, forming a ring of pale-white shock waves around Uesugi Tetsu.

Amid a jarring explosive crack, Kaga Kiyomitsu pierced through White Brahma's mask and head in the blink of an eye. At such close range, it had no time to react and could not possibly evade.

"Why didn't you dodge?" White Brahma trembled all over and murmured in incomprehension. "You'll die too... What good does this do for you?"

Laughing Brahma bared his teeth at it and rasped, "Because I have a revive token."

Kaga Kiyomitsu was pulled free, then swung down once more.

White Brahma's head, its expression complicated, slowly rolled to the ground, where Uesugi Tetsu pinned it beneath one foot.

Watching the notifications constantly popping up before him, he happily closed his eyes. "That takes care of all of them."

Uesugi Tetsu slowly collapsed amid Two-Shaku-Sama's cries as she ran toward him. The last thing he saw was the white-capped girl being forcibly recalled by the Ksitigarbha statue.

Uesugi Tetsu opened his eyes and found himself lying on a hospital bed.

An unfamiliar ceiling entered his view.

The strong smell of disinfectant filled his nose, making him extremely uncomfortable. But soon, the successive notifications drove away that unpleasant feeling.

[You killed the incomplete two-and-a-half-star Evil Spirit "White Brahma, Still Recovering from Severe Injuries" and obtained 327 Soul Ash!]

[You used Kaga Kiyomitsu Replica to kill "White Brahma, Still Recovering from Severe Injuries." The quality of Kaga Kiyomitsu Replica has increased significantly.]

[Your skill, Incomplete Ki-ai Technique, proficiency +70!]

[Your skill, Tennen Rishin-ryū, proficiency +45!]

[Main Quest Two, Exorcise the One-Star Urban Legend—White Brahma, Seriously Injured, completed!]

As expected of the final boss of Arakawa Ghost Village. It dropped over three hundred Soul Ash in one go. Adding that to what I had left, it wouldn't be long before I could do another ten-pull.

Thinking of this, Uesugi Tetsu could not help revealing a harvest-like smile.

"Uh... Uesugi-kun, what did you think of? Why are you smiling so... lecherously... Ahem, so happily?"

Only then did Uesugi Tetsu notice a young girl standing beside his hospital bed.

Kitano Runa.

Her expression currently held three parts worry, three parts delight, and four parts hesitation—a textbook example of a mixed expression.

Uesugi Tetsu blinked, then sat up amid Kitano Runa's startled cry. "Kitano-san, are you all right?"

"I... You! If you don't know your physical condition, don't move around on the hospital bed. You should at least have that most basic common sense." Kitano Runa held her forehead and sighed. "Is this really the time to worry about me?"

"I'm different from you, Kitano-san."

Uesugi Tetsu jumped down from the hospital bed and said to Kitano Runa, whose hands had frozen in midair, "You've already seen my sword technique descending from the heavens. Do you still take me for an ordinary person?"

"So that scene wasn't a dream?!"

"The gloomy otaku from the class next door is actually a superhero who can jump four stories high. Am I the one who's gone crazy, or is this world crazy?"

Kitano Runa opened her mouth blankly, falling into indescribable shock for a moment.

Uesugi Tetsu took the opportunity to browse the notifications—

[You obtained White Brahma's Mask (special item)!]

[White Brahma's Mask]

[Quality: Rare]

[Effect One: Equip. After equipping "White Brahma's Mask," Charm -10. Gain the skill "Death Shriek."]

[Effect Two: Can be used on a very small number of Brahma-type monsters. After use, if that Brahma-type monster's quality is below "Rare," its quality immediately increases by one level.]

[—Lonely in life, forsaken in death.]

Uesugi Tetsu's breathing suddenly hitched. Looking at the glowing "Effect Two," he thought that White Brahma had been far too generous. It had not only given him its head, but had even brought along a substantial gift especially for him.

This almost made Uesugi Tetsu feel guilty.

[You have completed Main Quest Two. Would you like to settle the rewards?]

[Settling...]

[Main Quest One—Explore Arakawa Ghost Village, completed!]

[Main Quest Two—Exorcise White Brahma, completed with excess merit!]

[Side Quest One—Damage to the Ksitigarbha statue, completed with excess merit!]

[Side Quest Two—The White Scarecrow, completed!]

[Filtering rewards for you...]

[Filtering complete!]

[You may choose two rewards from the following five.]

[1. 800 Soul Ash.]

[2...]

Wait.

Uesugi Tetsu suddenly remembered something.

He moved his gaze away from the notifications that could be viewed at any time and asked Kitano Runa seriously,

"Kitano-san, can you tell me how you encountered White Brahma?"