Chapter 46

Caught completely off guard, Shirabane took the full force of that unreserved downward slash squarely on his face.

"Roar——!"

It released the half-remaining farmer's corpse still clutched in its hand, letting out a miserable roar.

"Didn't you say you had to kill me?" Uesugi Toru laughed loudly. Refreshed to peak condition after entering the Chang Shi, he used Fear Smile again. "Right now I'm standing right here! Why won't Shirabane Adult make a move?"

The weakness from the projection's destruction, intense pain, and Fear Smile's powerful crowd control — the three combined, leaving Shirabane able only to writhe wildly in place, incapable of mounting any proper resistance.

This Shirabane was just in the Real World a moment ago, how could he have caught up to the Chang Shi so fast……

And he even appeared right in front of me!

Crossing between the Real World and the Chang Shi is extraordinarily difficult; even if it found the wave's highest point and borrowed the summoning ritual's convenience, it only managed to send its projection into the Real World with great difficulty.

And just that alone consumed who knows how much time.

But right now only a few minutes have passed since then!?

Shirabane's meager brain spun frantically, yet it couldn't make sense of the reality before its eyes no matter what.

It struggled to its feet, and after taking another slash, roared wildly in its heart:

——Is this damn Shirabane actually the Lord of the Chang Shi from myth, able to enter and exit the Chang Shi at will!?

"You lowly, damnable Shirabane! I swear, I'll make sure you don't die, and then I'll peel your skin and flesh apart little by little!"

Shirabane's cold, resentful voice rang out, and as the words fell, faint black light rose from its body; Uesugi Toru felt his body grow heavier and weaker by several degrees.

Another powerful support innate skill.

Uesugi Toru frowned. Just how many innate skills does this Shirabane have?

Claws lengthening, body turning to mist, weeping control, sonic attack, and now this one……

Can't give it a chance to reveal any more hidden trump cards.

"Shirabane Adult, speaking of things you cannot do will only add to the joke."

Once again assuming the Heijougan stance, Uesugi Toru had to admit that thanks to Kaga Kiyomitsu's blessing, thrust-type sword techniques were indeed his highest-damage move right now.

Fortunately this Shirabane is stupid; if the opponent were Shizuku, his head would definitely have been separated from his body the second time he used this move.

"Inhale——Exhale——"

Drawing air into his body like a whale swallowing, Uesugi Toru activated his Internal Qi without regard for consequences.

In the Chang Shi, he didn't need to worry about exploding and dying from over-activating Internal Qi — just a matter of pain, endure it and it passes.

As long as he could cut down this cornered Shirabane.

Even with the ambush successful, Uesugi Toru held not a shred of underestimation; he spoke coldly: "One sword. I only need one sword to kill you."

But Shirabane wouldn't give the enemy before it this chance to gather power; it immediately wore a sorrowful expression, and at the same time sharp sonic waves burst from its mouth.

"So sad……"

Uesugi Toru's tone trembled. After letting Shirabane's claws pierce his lungs, he raised his voice two octaves and roared sadly: "Why do you make me this sad!"

As the words fell, all Internal Qi exploded in an instant, forming a ring of pale white Qi waves around Uesugi Toru.

Amid a teeth-aching explosive boom, Kaga Kiyomitsu pierced through Shirabane's mask and head in a flash; at face-to-face distance, it simply couldn't react in time, nor could it possibly dodge.

"Why didn't you dodge?" Shirabane trembled all over, murmuring in incomprehension. "You'll die too…… What benefit does doing this bring you?"

Shirabane grinned at it, voice hoarse: "Because, I have Revival Coins."

Kaga Kiyomitsu was drawn out, then swung down again.

Shirabane's head, wearing a complex expression, slowly rolled off, and Uesugi Toru pinned it under one foot.

He watched the prompts popping up nonstop before his eyes, and closed them happily: "Like this, it's all been exorcised."

Amid the startled cries of the two-foot Adult running over at high speed, Uesugi Toru slowly fell, finally seeing that white-hatted girl forcibly recalled by the Jizo Statue.

Uesugi Toru opened his eyes to find himself lying on a hospital bed.

An unfamiliar ceiling filled his vision.

The thick smell of disinfectant filled his nasal cavity, making him extremely uncomfortable, but soon, the prompts popping up one after another dispelled that displeasure.

【You killed the incomplete Two-Star Half fierce ghost "Severely Injured Not Healed Shirabane", gained 327 Soul Ash!】

【You used Kaga Kiyomitsu·Imitation to slay "Severely Injured Not Healed Shirabane", Kaga Kiyomitsu·Imitation's quality medium increase.】

【Your skill, Kiai Technique Fragment proficiency +70!】

【Your skill, Tennen Rishin-ryu proficiency +45!】

【Main Quest Two, exorcise One-Star Mononoke·Injured Shirabane, completed!】

Worthy of being the Arakawa Guicun's final boss, it dropped over three hundred Soul Ash in one go; counting what he hadn't used up before, it won't be long before he can do another Ten-Pull.

Thinking of this, Uesugi Toru couldn't help but break into a harvest-like smile.

"Uh…… Uesugi-kun, what are you thinking of, smiling so cree…… cough, happily?"

At this moment, Uesugi Toru discovered a girl standing beside his hospital bed.

Kitano Runa.

Her face currently held three parts worry, three parts pleasant surprise, and four parts wanting to speak but stopping — simply a textbook color-palette expression.

Uesugi Toru blinked, and amid Kitano Runa's startled cry, sat up: "Kitano Classmate, are you alright?"

"I…… you! Don't move recklessly on a hospital bed without knowing your physical condition; you should have at least this much basic common sense." Kitano Runa pressed her forehead and sighed. "Is now the time to be worrying about me?"

"I'm different from you, Kitano Classmate."

Uesugi Toru hopped down from the hospital bed in one go, and said to Kitano Runa with her hands frozen mid-air: "Since you've seen that sword technique of mine descending from the heavens, do you still take me for an ordinary person?"

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

"The gloomy otaku from the next class is actually a superhero who can leap four stories high — have I gone mad, or has the world gone mad?"

Kitano Runa gaped, for a moment plunged into indescribable shock.

Uesugi Toru took the opportunity to browse the prompts——

【You have obtained, Shirahannya's Mask (Special Prop)!】

【Shirahannya's Mask】

【Quality: Rare】

【Effect One: Wear. After wearing "Shirahannya's Mask", Charm -10. Gain Skill "Death Shriek".】

【Effect Two: Usable on a very small number of Prajna-type Yokai. After use, if that Prajna-type Yokai's quality is below "Rare", it will immediately improve by one quality.】

【——Suffering in life, destitute in death.】

Uesugi Toru's breathing suddenly stagnated; he looked at the glowing "Effect Two" and thought to himself that Shirahannya was really too generous, giving away heads wasn't enough, she even specially brought a thick gift to present to him.

This all made Uesugi Toru feel somewhat embarrassed.

【You have completed Main Quest Two, whether to settle rewards?】

【Settling in progress……】

【Main Quest One·Explore Arakawa Guicun, completed!】

【Main Quest Two·Exorcise Shirahannya, over-completed!】

【Side Quest One·Jizo Statue's Damage, over-completed!】

【Side Quest Two·White Straw Man, completed!】

【Filtering rewards for you……】

【Filtering complete!】

【You may select two from the following five rewards.】

【1. Soul Ash 800 points.】

【2……】

Wait.

Uesugi Toru suddenly remembered something

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

"Kitano Classmate, can you tell me how you ran into Shirahannya?"

Tomorrow's chapter updates at 23:55, everyone must come read!

Tuesday's chapter updates at 23:55, everyone must come read!

Important things said twice!

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(End of Chapter)