Chapter 28: The Kyōkotsu

"Falling Cherry Blossoms Slash!"

Five sword glares instantly cleared away the evil spirits around them.

"All Evil Spirits Retreat!"

Kikyō took out a set of prayer beads and tossed them forward... The vengeful spirits were directly purged and dispersed.

"Taste my power! Scarlet Fire Hell."

Higokumaru spread her arms wide, unleashing a beam of flames that swept forward, clearing all the miasma in its path.

"There's too much poisonous gas. This isn't doing anything."

Kikyō pulled out the Anemoi sword that Yae had given her. She released a tornado, but... in no time at all, the resentful spirits and poisonous gas were back.

"Let's not worry about this stuff. We need to keep moving..."

Sword in hand, Kikyō looked at the endless poisonous gas. It was clear they couldn't get rid of it all.

"This place must have been more than just a battlefield," she thought for a moment before saying aloud. "There used to be a mass grave here. That's the only way there could be so much terrifying poisonous gas."

"A mass grave... Yeah, let's go!"

Ignoring the resentful spirits and poisonous gas, the three of them continued forward...

After walking only a short distance along the rough dirt path, they spotted an old well with several soldiers' bodies lying around it.

As Yae Sakura and her two companions passed by the desolate well, a sudden series of chilling, guttural sounds emerged from within. The noise sent shivers down their spines.

"Be careful."

The three of them stopped in unison, turning towards the well.

"There's something there—and it's powerful," Kikyō said, nocking an arrow on her longbow as she locked onto the well.

Then...a white skeletal claw slowly appeared. Gradually...a second claw...and finally, a head completely obscured by long black hair emerged at a leisurely pace from the well.

It was reminiscent of Sadako from Ring, crawling out of the TV screen.

Except this creature was emerging from an ancient well instead.

"Quack... quack... do you want water?" The monster appeared, wrapped in white cloth with a soul fire around it, and asked the three of them.

"Yes," Kikyō agreed before Yae could say anything.

"This is Kyōkotsu," Kikyō explained to Yae.

Kyōkotsu...

Yae thought of a snake-charming woman named Kyōkotsu. This terrifying skeletal monster lived in ancient wells and would appear at night. It would offer passersby a drink, saying "Drink this." If they did as it said, it would disappear. But if they refused, it would start dancing, and anyone who saw that dance would go mad and throw themselves into the well.

"Drink!"

A wooden ladle suddenly appeared in Kyōkotsu's hand, filled with water.

But... the water was black.

"Black water..." Yae and Kikyō moved closer to Kyōkotsu, looking at the water in its hand. No matter how they looked at it, it didn't seem like something good.

"Hell no!" How could they possibly drink that? Who knew what it really was?

"Caw... caw... you'll die if you don't drink," Kyōkotsu's earsplitting voice rang out again. Its cries sounded like those from the Ring movies—the angry shrieks of Sadako after her throat had been slit by an indiscriminate avenger.

It was a curse-type monster from the well.

Yae Sakura finally couldn't take it anymore. The four ears hearing that torturous voice... were about to go crazy.

"Then just die already."

With a flash of pink light, the Kyōkotsu holding a wooden ladle was instantly killed by the spiritual blade.

Because of the blade's special ability, the slain Kyōkotsu immediately began to disappear, leaving behind only some dry bones.

"It wasn't it..."

Too weak. It must be something bigger.

"Actually, drinking that water wouldn't have killed you..." Kikyō said, looking at the dead Kyōkotsu and putting away her bow and arrows.

"But you would've been cursed, right?"

"Yeah, although not too severely..." Kikyō nodded.

"So what use is keeping it around?"

"Sigh... Because where there's a Kyōkotsu, there's always some terrifying big guy nearby. If we eliminate the Kyōkotsu... we'll definitely get noticed by the real threat."

Before she could finish, the ground started shaking.

"Earthquake?"

"No! Hurry up and leave here—the thing is waking up!"

Kikyō grabbed Yae Sakura's hand, and they quickly ran away. Higokumaru closely followed them.

After running several hundred meters from the ancient well, the ground completely cracked open, and a pair of enormous white-boned hands stretched out. These hands were as huge as skyscrapers.

The ground shook more and more violently. Before long... a hundred-meter-tall half-skeleton appeared in front of them.

Why was it called a half-skeleton? Because it seemed to have been cut in half at the waist—only the upper body remained. But even just this upper body was already three hundred feet tall. If there were a full body...

"Wow, look at those huge bones!" Higokumaru gazed at the enormous skeleton before her, drool dripping from her mouth.

Uh... Yae Sakura had been stunned by what she saw, but hearing Higokumaru's words left her speechless.

"So it did appear after all..." Kikyō held three arrows ready, aiming for the giant skull's eyes. "This must be that big monster you mentioned."

Blue flames burned within the hollow eye sockets of the Gashadokuro.

"It seems so!"

A Gashadokuro is formed when soldiers killed on battlefields aren't buried properly. Their vengeful souls turn into these massive skeletons.

Since they're born on battlefields, they're much stronger than most other big monsters.

However, the conditions needed to create a Gashadokuro are very specific. It can't happen in just a few months; there must be some other factor involved.

Still, it worked out well. With an actual big monster appearing, Yae Sakura felt relieved.

"Arrow of Exorcism!" As the Gashadokuro fully emerged from the ground, Kikyō nocked an arrow charged with demonic energy and aimed it at the flames in the hollow skull's eyes.

But... with a casual swipe, the Gashadokuro blocked Kikyō's arrow without taking any damage.

"Kyōkotsu... You kill... Kyōkotsu."

Without legs, the Gashadokuro could only crawl on its hands, but it was surprisingly fast. When it got close to Yae and her friends, its giant hand went straight for them.

"Hurry! Back away..."

Yae shouldered the Hand of Tyr and fired a shot at the Gashadokuro's enormous bone hand.