The Legendary Monster Shiranui

With Tyr's innate skill, there was no need to charge up. A triple-charged cannon blast slammed into Gashadokuro's enormous skeletal hand.

Yae Sakura did not hesitate either. She recalled Tyr into her inventory, locked onto a distant tree, and used Flash Step to instantly reach its side.

Only then did Yae Sakura turn around and see that Tyr's charged cannon blast had actually shattered Gashadokuro's skeletal hand.

However... it quickly grew back. It was clearly a skeleton, yet it could regrow bones. That was far too unscientific.

"Sacred Arrow!"

An arrow carrying demon-purging power struck Gashadokuro. The miasma around its body was immediately purified by nearly half, making Gashadokuro let out a pained howl as though it were in great agony.

"Yae Sakura, are you all right?"

Kikyo arrived at Yae Sakura's side with Higokumaru.

"I'm fine. Kikyo's demon-purging spiritual power is indeed incredible. It can even restrain a great yokai."

Kikyo's arrow just now contained spiritual power specifically meant to counter evil beings. Like Midoriko's soul-purification technique, it was one of a kind.

"It only barely injured it. Against a great yokai, it is still far from enough." Sure enough, the moment she finished speaking, Gashadokuro recovered again.

Just then, Gashadokuro seemed to start summoning underlings. Skeletons the size of ordinary people crawled out of the ground one after another, advancing toward Yae Sakura's group like a skeletal army.

"These are all corpses of the dead. Gashadokuro resurrected them..." Kikyo's expression changed as she watched the skeletons continuously crawl out.

"No matter how many there are, they're just ants. Leave them to me."

A massive Crimson Cherry Sword Qi slashed out, instantly annihilating the skeletal army that had only just risen.

Unfortunately, there were no Crystal rewards.

"If there are no Crystals, I'm not playing with you anymore."

Yae Sakura was very disappointed that killing the underlings did not yield any Crystals.

She locked onto Gashadokuro and used Flash Step to instantly appear atop its skull.

"Insect..."

Sensing Yae Sakura on its head, Gashadokuro slapped its own skull with a massive hand.

"Burning Cherry Chaos God!"

The Spirit Blade immediately slashed out, activating its skill...

Though Gashadokuro was not a divine lifeform, a Crimson Cherry mark was still left upon it.

"Die!"

Blade Counter...

Using the Crimson Cherry mark left by the Spirit Blade, Blade Counter was unleashed directly.

Crimson Cherry Sword Qi erupted!

The power of [Schrödinger (Upper)] on her back was triggered—Cat Upper.

Just as Yae Sakura left Gashadokuro's body, the powerful eruption of Blade Counter, combined with the 205% increase to all damage and the enormous damage boost from the "Cat Upper" stigma, directly reduced the gigantic Gashadokuro to bone ash beneath the Crimson Cherry Sword Qi.

"Well~ as expected, no one in this world can withstand a single Blade Counter from me. If there is... then I'll hit them with another."

Yae Sakura was very satisfied as she looked at the Blade Counter damage triggered by Cat Upper...

The skeleton had turned into bone ash.

But... Yae Sakura discovered that the mission had not been completed.

"Yae Sakura..."

Kikyo and Higokumaru arrived beside Yae Sakura, staring at her in stunned silence.

The legendary great yokai Gashadokuro had died just like that? Reduced to nothing but bone ash?

With just one move...

Kikyo found it difficult to accept, especially since it had been annihilated by pure sword qi.

Not any special spiritual power.

"Big Sister, you're amazing!"

Higokumaru flew over to Yae Sakura's side and praised her excitedly.

"Huh~"

But Higokumaru suddenly noticed something and hurriedly flew toward Gashadokuro's pile of ashes.

A ghostly blue flame flew out, trying to escape, but Higokumaru directly caught it with her own Fox Fire.

"Big Sister, look! I caught Big Bones' soul."

After catching the flame, Higokumaru hurried over to Yae Sakura and raised the ghostly blue flame as though claiming credit.

"This is Gashadokuro's soul?"

Looking at the flame in Higokumaru's hand, it seemed to possess powerful vitality. Only then did Yae Sakura finally understand why a great yokai like Gashadokuro had been able to emerge in just a few months.

It was because of this soul flame, like the source of life.

"It truly is extraordinary, this ability is like that of a creator..." Kikyo put away her weapon and stared curiously at Gashadokuro's soul flame.

"Let... me... go..."

At that moment, the ghostly blue soul flame began to struggle, seemingly trying to escape Higokumaru's grasp.

Hm? It could communicate.

"Who are you? Why do you exist here in the form of Gashadokuro?"

Yae Sakura asked curiously.

"Let... go..."

But Gashadokuro's soul ignored Yae Sakura and merely continued struggling.

"Higokumaru, eat it."

Yae Sakura frowned and gave Higokumaru the order.

"Ah? Oh! Okay." Higokumaru froze for a moment, then came to her senses and opened her mouth to swallow the soul flame in one bite.

Just as the soul flame was about to enter Higokumaru's mouth, it seemed to finally give in.

"Wait, I'll talk..."

"That's enough, Higokumaru. Let it go for now."

"Okay!"

"You can speak now, right? What kind of yokai are you? Why do you exist as Gashadokuro?" Yae Sakura was very curious about this, though mainly because the mission was still incomplete.

"I am Gashadokuro..."

"Hm?"

"It was only with that lord's help that I was able to appear ahead of time."

"That lord?"

"That legendary monster, Shiranui."

"The legendary monster that bestows the flame of life... Shiranui..."

Several months ago, this forest had become a battlefield between the Hojo Clan and Musashi Province. But even before the fighting began, countless corpses had already been buried beneath these woods.

This was a battlefield where conflicts often occurred. But how were the corpses handled after a war?

The most common method was—burial.

Most of the time, however, they merely dug a huge pit and buried all the corpses inside.

Some commanders did not care at all, leaving the bodies unattended on the battlefield, abandoned in the wilderness for wild beasts to devour.

"Do you not see, by Qinghai's shore, since ancient times white bones have gone unburied?" Du Fu's The Ballad of the War Chariots described just such a tragic scene, with corpses strewn across the land.

Under such circumstances, rotting corpses could easily breed plagues. Not to mention how many demons and monsters they would attract—or give birth to—in this world of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.