Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1521 1493. Horse-Headed Ghost

"I understand."

Seeing the determined look on the village chief's face, Lan En nodded.

Each world has its own characteristics and special circumstances.

Lan En, who is already a veteran world traveler, understands this very well.

In this Japanese Warring States period where supernatural powers and human history are intertwined, he is not yet able to judge what the "harmony and balance" mentioned by the village chief means.

The concepts of wild souls and Japanese souls are, after all, just conclusions reached by the tiny island nation of Japan when observing the world from the perspective of its own supernatural system.

Is this the truth of the world, or is it just part of the truth from Japan's perspective?
It’s hard to say.

Just like the current Jusanzakura Village, logically speaking, there seems to be nothing wrong with using supernatural powers to improve production methods and production efficiency.

However, the filth accumulated from the killing of livestock with resentment was so great that it had attracted several days' worth of monsters in a short period of time.

To understand the current situation in Jusanzakura Village, it should be the result of the combination of the methods of the village chief who used special methods to help the village raise livestock and the monk Higo who often stayed in the temple.

Lan En put aside his doubts.

They walked out of the village chief's courtyard, returned to the stone steps, and prepared to go directly to the large courtyard where the sacred cherry tree was.

In fact, when they came out, the village chief, based on the information brought by Lan En and the others, had even roughly guessed what the monster next to the sacred tree would be.

Since we have the Ox Head, of course we need the Horse Face.

Japan is deeply influenced by the culture of the Western continent, and even the legends of the underworld are the product of this influence.

The Ox-Head and Horse-Faced Demon is also an image of a law enforcer in Japanese legends who detains evil spirits and sends them to the underworld.

What's more, Shisanzakura Village serves as a post station on weekdays, and the things it takes care of the most are the cattle and horses that the passing caravans park here.

The village chief himself admitted that when he used secret methods to condense spirit stones before, he paid the price with the lives of cows and horses.

So when Lan En took the lead and used the key given by the village chief to open the door to the sacrificial courtyard deepest in the village, the scene before them did not surprise them.

The moonlight was bright at this time, and the strange cherry blossom tree was still dim, as if every petal was emitting a faint light.

The glittering petals fell in a riot of colour, and the air was filled with the scent of cherry blossoms.

If you come here just to enjoy the scenery and relax, this must be a great picture.

But
"Stab, stab, stab~"

It was like the dull and monotonous sound of a saw cutting wood.

A huge evil ghost, similar in size to the bull-headed ghost in the cemetery, was standing next to the sacred cherry tree.

It trampled on the shimenawa and paper hangings that surrounded the sacred tree.

A huge serrated machete that matched its size was placed on the tree trunk and pulled back and forth.

The sound of the door opening made it turn around.

This was a blue-green creature, wearing a simple but suitable armor for its body, similar to that of a bull-headed demon. The golden spirit stones were densely distributed on it, like parasite eggs trying to squeeze out of its body.

An evil ghost with two golden crystal horns on the horse's head.

However, the gloomy and greasy long black hair draped down from its head and covered both sides of the horse's head, which gave it an even more eerie and terrifying feeling.

Horse-headed ghost.

"Huchi~"

The corner of his mouth, with bones exposed, twitched and the horse-headed ghost snorted.

Then the red light in his eyes suddenly increased!
"Xilulu!"

It was shrill, like a scream with many accents exploding!

"call!"

With the sound of tearing wind, a huge serrated machete was dragged by the horse-headed ghost behind him, rushing straight towards the people who broke into the sacrificial courtyard!
With a height of nearly ten meters, he cast an oppressive shadow under the moonlight!

And its blue-green body suddenly jumped up with the final sound that shook the earth!
The heavy body jumped at least as high as itself!

Then it was like cracking a whip!
He swung the serrated sword behind him in a circle and smashed it forward!
"Humph!"

Ah Xiu, who had just entered the room, was startled. With a muffled groan, she pulled the ball of velvet and dodged to the side.

Lan En dodged to the other side.

With a loud bang, the rough blade, which should be nearly ten meters long, smashed into the ground, leaving horrible cracks!

The courtyard wall built to enclose the sacred cherry tree is connected to the courtyard gate that the few people just walked in.

The foundations of the building were shaken out of the ground by this blow!
The rumbling sound of collapse and the sound of rocks rolling down the stone steps to the bottom of the mountain could be clearly heard even in the distant Jusanzakura Village!

Under the moonlight, Qilin, who was originally patrolling the surroundings alertly, suddenly turned around and looked towards the location of the shrine on the mountain along with many panicked villagers.

The luxurious silk rune cloth with drape ripples as he moves, making the horse seem even more unearthly.

But after just one glance, Qilin sniffed and turned his head away in boredom. In the courtyard on the top of the mountain.

"Crack!"

Lan En dodged quickly with the skills of the Yharnam hunters, and raised his left hand amid the sound of mechanical operation.

The arm armor projector in his hand was aimed at the two golden crystal horns of the horse-headed ghost that were reaching into the sky!

"Oh!"

[Alder's Seal]!
The bullet flew straight out of the arm armor under the supernatural propulsion!

With a "crack", it hit the horn of the horse-headed ghost!

This kind of more powerful evil spirit obviously has its own weaknesses and its resistance is much stronger than that of ordinary creatures.

The supersonic projectile propelled by Lann with the Alder Seal failed to directly break the horns on the guy's head after it hit him.

It only made the golden light of the pair of towering ghost horns suddenly dim, and there was a slight shattering sound.

The horse-headed ghost itself did indeed suddenly stop moving, and let out a painful neigh.

But that's all.

The demonic energy on its body was indeed greatly weakened after the ghost horn was hit, but a large part of it was still under its control.

Lan En's targeted attack did not gain a decisive advantage. On the contrary, the attack seemed to have stimulated the horse-headed ghost!
It's getting even more violent!

The cold wind blew across the exposed bones of the horse's mouth and nose, and a hollow and cold sound was heard. It was the filthy breath of the horse-headed ghost!
"call!"

The power of the underworld visible to the naked eye condensed into black smoke at its mouth.

And in Lan En's [spiritual vision], he saw some tiny souls flowing from the horse-headed ghost's body all the way to its mouth.

Then he passed through the black smoke and flew out with these powers.

The tiny soul, which had been infected by the power of the underworld, turned into a black ghost when it came to the outside world!

These souls, carrying hatred for living things, autonomously float in the air towards the breath of living things.

Ah Xiu and Fluff Ball had automatically separated from the beginning, trying to observe the battlefield from different angles and then find an opportunity to cut in.

At this moment, three black ghosts rushed towards the three of them.

These ghosts don't fly very fast; rather than "flying", they are more like "gliding".

Although it can turn and track the scent of living things, it will eventually fall to the ground.

Lan En and the other three are veterans with combat experience.

Basically, from the first glance, you can understand the movement patterns of these ghosts.

So the three of them just made a few changes of direction, and the ghosts fell directly to the ground.

But after dodging the attacks of these ghosts, Lan En's face did not look optimistic, and Flannel Ball and A Xiu even looked surprised.

Because where these ghosts fell, the eternal circle unfolded!
Three filthy circles with a diameter of two meters, filled with the power of the underworld, suddenly appeared in the courtyard.

The courtyard dedicated to the sacred cherry tree is not small. If the speed is fast enough, the physical exertion of passing through a single eternal circle is not unbearable for an experienced warrior.

However, this method of compressing normal space is enough to restrict the enemy's actions.

The Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced Demons are parallel names, but it seems that, at least in the Shisanzakura Village, the Horse-Faced Demon is far more troublesome than the Ox-Headed Demon!
"Xilulu!"

really!

After initially compressing the range of normal space, the horse-headed ghost raised his hand and slashed horizontally!
It hissed, grabbed the end of the handle of the rough, serrated blade with one hand, and swung it sideways!

The serrated sword is about the same height as it, nearly ten meters.

Because of its deformed body proportions, its arms hang down and even touch the ground.

The total attack range is at least sixteen or seventeen meters!
This sweep covered almost half of the courtyard!
Lan En and the other three each have their own way of dealing with the situation.

Lan, who looked the heaviest, and the lightest ball of fluff, were surprisingly consistent at this moment.

[Light Body Technique] made the two of them jump straight up like pulling onions in dry land, and they both jumped to a height of two meters above the ground.

Completely beyond the sweep attack range.

On the contrary, Ah Xiu, who seemed much lighter than Lan En, took steady steps, and dodged by nimbly spinning while maintaining the most agile [lower stance].

Leaving behind an afterimage, it withdrew from the attack range.

However, the horse-headed ghost with an injured horn on his head had no intention of giving the enemy a break.

After the sweep, the hand holding the serrated sword was raised high.

And on the knife and hands, a thick and filthy black smoke was floating!

(End of this chapter)