The raging wind was like an invisible giant hand, pinning the Vengeful Dead Skeleton firmly to the ground below.
Dense wind blades fell like a storm, carving countless wounds across its pale bones.
Shattered bone fragments were swept into the air by the gale, flying everywhere.
Although the dead bones on the ground kept surging toward its body, trying to repair the damage, they simply could not keep up with the destruction caused by the wind blades.
Before long, the Vengeful Dead Skeleton’s frame began to collapse visibly.
The bloodshot, murky yellow eyeball inside its socket had already been torn apart by the wind blades.
Foul liquid dripped down its bones, only to be instantly swept away by the storm.
As the wind blades continued raging, the skeleton’s bones were cut apart again and again.
Its broken frame could no longer support its enormous weight.
“Crack!” A crisp snapping sound rang out.
The bones of its torso broke in response, and its fragile balance was completely shattered.
Like the last straw breaking the camel’s back, the sound of bones splitting apart followed one after another like falling dominoes.
“Roar!” The Vengeful Dead Skeleton let out an unwilling roar as its massive body collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Kamamara exhaled the last wisp of wind.
The demonic power inside him had been drained completely, and the wind blades formed by Thousand-Blade Wind Calamity gradually faded away.
“Hah… hah…” He gasped for breath, his chest heaving violently.
Ignoring the exhaustion that left his whole body weak, his eyes remained locked on the pile of bones below.
The instant the wind blades disappeared, those white bones began writhing madly, trying to reconstruct the Vengeful Dead Skeleton’s body.
“Where is it?!” An anxious light flashed in Kamamara’s eyes.
His gaze swept rapidly through the squirming bone pile.
At the same time, he used the faint breeze that had not yet fully dispersed around him to sense the abnormal demonic power hidden within.
Just as half of the Vengeful Dead Skeleton’s body was about to finish reforming, Kamamara finally caught a strange trace within the bones.
“Found it!” It was a uniquely shaped skull.
Unlike the other pale, yellowed bones, this skull flashed through his vision with a pure white luster, its surface covered in blood-colored markings.
In the previous owner’s memories, this special skull was called the Grudge Bone.
It was the life core of a Vengeful Dead Skeleton.
Only by destroying it could the monster be killed for good.
But compared to the Vengeful Dead Skeleton’s enormous body, the Grudge Bone was very small.
It was also hidden deep inside the body, making it incredibly hard to find.
Searching for it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Now that he had found his target, Kamamara did not hesitate at all.
He squeezed out the final trace of demonic power inside him and gathered it onto the scythe in his hand, then swung with all his strength.
“Wind Blade Slash!” A frost-white wind blade tore through the air and shot straight toward the special Grudge Bone.
At the same time, with his demonic power exhausted, Kamamara could no longer maintain the whirlwind beneath him.
Like a kite with its string cut, he fell toward the bone pile below.
“Boom!” Sensing the fatal threat, the Vengeful Dead Skeleton suddenly raised its newly reformed arm and propped up its body.
Its huge torso shifted slightly.
The wind blade brushed past the Grudge Bone and slammed heavily into its body.
Bone fragments flew everywhere, and its body collapsed once more.
But that tiny shift had made the wind blade miss its target.
It only grazed the Grudge Bone and struck the white bones beside it.
When the wind blade exploded, the surrounding bones were blasted into powder.
The Grudge Bone marked with blood-colored lines was fully exposed.
Although the shockwave had left several cracks across it, it remained intact.
“Roar!” Sensing that its core had been exposed, the Vengeful Dead Skeleton let out a terrified roar.
The surrounding dead bones surged wildly toward the Grudge Bone, trying to hide it again.
But at that moment, a sharp sound tore through the air.
Kamamara used the last of his strength to hurl the scythe from his hand, sending it spinning forward.
“Splurt!” Half of the scythe blade pierced accurately into the Grudge Bone.
Cracks instantly spread across its surface.
“Crack, crack, crack!” Along with a series of crisp breaking sounds, the Grudge Bone shattered completely.
At the same time, the bones that had been writhing and repairing suddenly froze.
Then, like blocks that had lost their support, they clattered down all over the ground, never showing any sign of reforming again.
Kamamara crashed heavily onto the bone pile.
Sharp pain shot through him, but he had no time to care.
A massive glow of demonic power surged out from the shattered bones, pouring into his body like a tide.
His exhausted body rapidly recovered.
His dried-up demonic power filled again.
A warm current stronger than anything before swept through him, rapidly strengthening his muscles and bones.
At the same time, the method for opening the Gate of Opening branded itself into his mind.
Once the strengthening of his body was fully complete, Kamamara stood up from the bone pile.
He clenched his fist, feeling the explosive increase in power inside him, and a wide smile spread across his face.
With a thought, the translucent panel appeared once more.
[Gate of Opening: 100%] [Gate of Healing: 5%] “I finally unlocked the Gate of Opening!” He let out a long breath, then raised his head toward the sun already sinking in the west.
His expression instantly turned sharp.
“Opening the Gate of Opening puts very little strain on the body, so the boost should be limited too.
But it’s enough to deal with Akaoni.” As for the second Gate, the Gate of Healing, there was no time left.
He had to take care of that troublesome monster before dark.
Kamamara took the Shikon Jewel from inside his robe and clenched it tightly in his palm.
The Corpse-Dancing Birds nearby were drawn by the jewel’s aura and quietly surrounded him.
Looking at the birds staring at him with blood-red eyes, Kamamara frowned slightly and casually swung out a wind blade.
“Get lost!” Several Corpse-Dancing Birds were instantly cut in two, their broken bodies crashing onto the bones below.
The remaining Corpse-Dancing Birds were frightened into scattering in all directions, letting out hoarse, unpleasant caws.
A faint amount of demonic power flowed into his body from their corpses, almost too little to notice.
“So the effect from trash yōkai has gotten weaker?” Kamamara smiled in understanding.
“Once your level goes up, small mobs give less experience.
Classic RPG logic.
I get it.” He glanced at the Corpse-Dancing Birds around him, which were starting to stir restlessly again, and no longer wasted time.
His demonic power gathered into a breeze that wrapped around his body.
Like an arrow leaving the bowstring, he rushed out of the gorge and sped toward the place where he had encountered Akaoni earlier.
Now, it was his turn to counterattack.