Thanks to Tyr's built-in skill, there was no need to charge up. A three-stage charged shot blasted towards the Gashadokuro's massive bone hand.
Without hesitation, Yae put Tyr back into inventory, locked onto a distant tree, and used Instantaneous Movement Flash to reach it immediately.
Only then did she turn around to see that Tyr's charged shot had completely shattered the Gashadokuro's bone hand.
But... soon its bony hand grew back again. It was clearly a skeleton—how could it regrow bones? That didn't make any sense.
"Hama no Ya!"(Evil-Breaking Arrow)
An arrow with magic-breaking power shot into the gashadokuro. The foul mist around it instantly cleared by about half, making the creature howl in pain.
"Sakura, are you okay?" Kikyō rushed over with Higokumaru.
"I'm fine. Kikyō-chan's magic-breaking powers are amazing! Even big monsters can't stand up to them."
The arrow Kikyō had just fired contained pure magic-breaking spiritual energy, similar to Tsukasa's soul purification technique—it was completely unique.
"It only barely scratched it. For such a powerful monster, that's not nearly enough." Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, the gashadokuro recovered.
Just then, the gashadokuro seemed to start summoning its minions. One after another, skeletons the size of ordinary people crawled out from the ground, forming an army that marched toward Yae Sakura and her friends.
"These are corpses brought back by the gashadokuro..." Kikyō's face paled as she watched more skeletons emerging.
"They're just ants. Leave them to me."
With a massive slash of her sword, the newly risen army of skeletons was instantly wiped out.
Too bad there aren't any crystals.
"No crystals? Then I'm not playing with you anymore," Yae Sakura said, disappointed that even killing lackeys didn't yield rewards.
She locked onto the gashadokuro and used Flash Step to appear right on its head.
"You insect..."
Sensing Yae Sakura above it, the gashadokuro swatted at its own skull.
"Sakura Chaos Mind!"
Her spiritual blade struck, activating its special ability...
Though the gashadokuro wasn't a divine being, Yae still managed to leave a mark of sakura on it.
"Die!"
Shunmetsu...
Using the mark left by her spiritual blade, Shunmetsu was unleashed directly.
The power of the Sakura Sword Force exploded!
Feeling the power of Schrödinger (Top) on her back, Yae activated Cat on.
Just as Yae had left the gashadokuro's body, Shunmetsu erupted with immense force. Combined with Cat on's effect, which increased all damage by 205%, it instantly turned the massive hollow skeleton into ash.
"Haah... As expected, no one in this world can withstand even a single use of Shunmetsu. If there were... I'd just use it again."
Yae was very satisfied as she saw the damage caused by triggering Cat on...
The skeleton had been reduced to ashes.
But... Yae realized that the quest wasn't complete.
"Sakura..."
Kikyō and Higokumaru rushed to Yae's side, staring at her in disbelief.
Had the legendary great yokai Gashadokuro truly died? Just like that? Reduced to nothing but ash in a single blow?
And not even a special spiritual attack—just pure sword energy?
"Big Sis, that was amazing!" Higokumaru flew over to Yae Sakura, her face beaming with admiration.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Higokumaru noticed something else and quickly darted towards the pile of Gashadokuro's ashes.
A blue flame flew out, trying to escape, but Higokumaru caught it with her own fox fire.
"Look, Big Sis! I caught the soul of a big bone."
After grabbing the flame, Higokumaru rushed back to Yae Sakura, proudly holding up the blue flame as if offering proof of her accomplishment.
"So this is the spirit of the Gashadokuro?"
As she observed the flame in Higokumaru's hand, it seemed to possess a strong life force. At that moment, Yae Sakura finally understood how such a powerful monster could have arisen within just a few months.
It was because of this spiritual fire, which appeared to be the very source of life itself.
"It truly is extraordinary, almost like the power of a creator..." Kikyō put away her weapon, staring curiously at the Gashadokuro's soul fire.
"Let me... go..."
At that moment, the pale blue soul fire began to struggle, as if trying to escape from Higokumaru's grasp.
Hmm? We can communicate.
"What kind of person are you? Why do you exist here in the form of a Gashadokuro?" Yae Sakura asked curiously.
"Let me..."
But the Gashadokuro's soul ignored Yae Sakura, continuing its relentless struggle.
"Higokumaru, eat it," Yae Sakura instructed with a frown.
"Ah? Oh! Right." Startled, Higokumaru reacted quickly, opening her mouth to swallow the soul fire whole.
Just as the soul fire was about to enter Higokumaru's mouth, it seemed to finally surrender.
"Hold on, I was just about to say..."
"That's enough, Higokumaru. Let it go for now."
"Oh!"
"Can we talk now?" Yae asked. "What kind of monster are you? Why do you exist as a Gashadokuro?"
"I am a Gashadokuro..."
"Huh?"
"It's thanks to that Lord's help that I appeared early."
"That Lord?"
"The legendary monster—Shiranui."
"The legendary monster who bestowed the fire of life... Shiranui..."
Months ago, these mountains became a battlefield between the Hojo clan and Musashi Province. But even before the fighting began, countless bodies were already buried beneath this forest.
This was a place where armies clashed time and again. And after each battle, what happened to all those corpses?
The most common solution: Bury them.
Usually, soldiers would dig a huge pit and toss in all the bodies. Some commanders didn't bother with that—they'd leave the dead on the field, letting wild animals tear their flesh apart.
"Have you seen the fields of Qinhai, white bones scattered across the land?" Du Fu's poem The Marching Orders painted a picture of such grim scenes—bodies littered everywhere.
In conditions like these, rotting corpses could easily spark plagues. Not to mention, in a world teeming with supernatural creatures, they might attract—or give birth to—who knows how many other monsters.
(TL Note: This line is from Du Fu's Song of the War Chariots, where he reflects on the horrors of war. The line "君不见,青海头,古来白骨无人收" (translated as "At the head of Qinghai, since ancient times, white bones are never recovered") depicts the tragic sight of abandoned corpses, symbolizing the brutality and dehumanizing effects of warfare.)