Thunder Angel

Although Musashi Province was not large, it still encompassed several counties, and Kaede Village was located toward the rear of Musashi Province. To reach the border between Musashi Province and its neighboring country, even at Yae Sakura and Kikyo's speed, would take nearly ten hours.

As for why they did not ride horses?

This was the Sengoku era in Japan, where resources were extremely scarce. There were barely any decent weapons to be found, and they wanted horses?

Horses were vital strategic resources. Although Japanese horses were generally small, they were still very convenient for transporting supplies.

Only high-ranking samurai or retainers of daimyo rank were entitled to own horses.

Cavalry was rare, and fighting on horseback was even less common.

Even the Takeda Clan, a Sengoku daimyo renowned for its cavalry, merely used horses for transportation. In actual combat, it was infantry against infantry.

In short, Kaede Village had no horses.

So Yae Sakura and the other two could only travel on foot.

Fortunately, Yae Sakura now possessed the body of an SSS-rank Valkyrie. If she had still had her body from her previous life, she would have collapsed long ago in these undeveloped ancient mountains and forests.

"Kikyo, there's a river up ahead. Let's rest for a while, eat something, then continue on."

After walking for several hours, Yae Sakura was beginning to feel hungry.

"Sounds good!"

"Big Sis, I want hot, soft fried tofu—springy and sweet when you bite into it." At the mention of food, Higokumaru quickly grabbed Yae Sakura's hand and gazed at her longingly.

"Uh... where are we supposed to find tofu out here?"

"There isn't any...?"

"Next time, we'll see if there's somewhere selling fried tofu."

"Mm..." With no fried tofu to eat, Higokumaru was unhappy.

When they reached the riverbank, they saw a crystal-clear stream, with many fish plainly visible swimming within it.

This was probably the best thing about ancient times—the environment had not been polluted, and the natural ecosystem...

"Then let's eat fish today!"

Yae Sakura's eyes lit up as she looked at the fish before them.

"But we didn't bring fishing rods. Are we going to catch them with our hands?" Kikyo asked, looking at Yae Sakura.

"Hehe, watch me."

What was fun about fishing? Electric fishing was where the fun was.

As Kikyo watched curiously, a massive purple cross suddenly appeared in Yae Sakura's hand.

A four-star cross weapon: Thunder Angel.

"Go! Thunder Angel!"

Yae Sakura hurled the enormous cross, Thunder Angel, directly into the river.

Immediately afterward, Thunder Angel's weapon skill activated.

After Thunder Angel was launched, it unleashed an electromagnetic burst every 1.5 seconds centered on itself, dealing lightning damage and paralyzing enemies within a ten-meter radius.

It lasted for six seconds...

"Kikyo, let's go collect the fish!"

Seeing that all the fish in the river had either been stunned or electrocuted to death, Yae Sakura quickly recalled Thunder Angel, jumped into the water, and tossed every defenseless fish onto the bank.

"Okay..."

Kikyo hesitated briefly before stepping into the river as well.

"That should be enough, right?"

Looking at the huge pile of fish on the bank, Yae Sakura felt they had caught enough to eat.

"Mm."

Kikyo grew increasingly curious about Yae Sakura. She seemed like a bottomless treasure pouch, possessing everything imaginable.

Using that cross from earlier to catch fish had been far too easy.

"Big Sis, look what I caught."

Just as Yae Sakura started a fire and began grilling fish, Higokumaru suddenly emerged from the bushes, her face full of excitement.

Yae Sakura turned at her words and saw that Higokumaru had caught a snake and was running over excitedly.

"Higokumaru... we don't need a snake!"

Snake meat was quite good, but it was troublesome to prepare.

"You don't want it?"

Higokumaru looked at the snake in her hand, and her expression froze.

"Fine, give it to me. I'll prepare it."

Seeing Higokumaru's expression, Yae Sakura's heart softened at once.

"Mm, Big Sis is the best!"

After they had eaten their fill, Yae Sakura and the others resumed their journey.

They finally reached the battlefield at the border before dusk.

The border battlefield was not an open plain, but a mountain forest.

Yet despite the blazing sun overhead, a thick fog shrouded the area ahead, obscuring whatever lay within. It felt as though something terrifying lurked inside, sending chills down their spines.

"What dense resentment and miasma..."

The mist before them was not real fog, but something formed from resentment and miasma.

"Let's go in and take a look. Since it's daytime, it may be a little better. Sunlight can still suppress this resentment, but if it were nighttime, it might be much worse."

Kikyo had no choice but to become serious as she stared at the fog. It was the first time she had encountered resentment and miasma this dense.

Even on battlefields, there was usually never such overwhelming resentment.

"Don't be afraid, Big Sis! With Higokumaru here, Higokumaru can spit foxfire. The resentment won't be able to get close."

Higokumaru hovered beside Yae Sakura's shoulder, looking supremely confident.

...Which eye saw me being afraid?

Yae Sakura did not reply. Instead, she followed Kikyo into the fog. The moment they entered it... the temperature immediately dropped considerably, turning the scorching weather cold.

The deeper they went, the thicker the fog became. Before long... they could see less than a hundred meters ahead.

"So many corpses... How many people died here?"

The bodies of soldiers lay scattered densely across the ground, with no one coming to collect them.

Even if they did not attract demons, wouldn't they cause a plague?

"I heard that the Hojo Clan sent nearly ten thousand troops this time, and fewer than three thousand returned alive. Several thousand also died on Musashi Province's side. There were probably around ten thousand deaths in total!"

Ten thousand deaths in a single war was undoubtedly a major campaign in this era of Japan's Warring States period.

No wonder the Hojo Clan had given up attacking other countries and chosen to recuperate.

"War... Those lords, for their own interests... Hm? Demons..."

"Purification Arrow!"

Several unknown demons that had been devouring corpses suddenly appeared ahead. With a casual shot, Kikyo completely purified them.

That seemed to be only the beginning. Gradually... more and more undead, skeletal, and resentment-based demons appeared ahead.