The two Elders were both men of decisive action.
The Great Elder let his yōki surge through him, and in an instant his form expanded into a colossal dog.
More than ten meters long, he looked like a moving mountain, his fur a grayish white that gleamed in the light.
"I'll go on ahead," he said.
With a brief word to the Second Elder, the Great Elder bore Tōga and Shirayuki — who could not yet fly — upon his back. His paws pressed onto a cloud of yōki, carrying them swiftly toward the Dog Clan's heartland.
"Lord Tōga!"
Kujaku lifted her head, watching the figure of Tōga rise higher and higher, shrinking to a black speck against the sky. The sense of safety she always carried in her heart seemed to fly away with him.
"We can't compare with them," came a voice at her side. "We can only do our best in the present, and step by step, draw closer."
Seiten approached, carrying four heavy cloth bundles.
"These are the things Lord Tōga asked for. Aside from the heart of the Leopard Cat Elder, which still needs to be treated, everything else is ready."
He lifted the bundles slightly as he explained, then let his gaze rest on Kujaku's face, still a little youthful beneath its heroic sharpness.
"So, will you come with us to the fortress now, or return to the homeland first and bring these things to Lord Tōga later?"
Kujaku thought for a moment before replying. "Since Lord Tōga didn't take them when he left, it must not be urgent. Once everything is complete, I'll deliver them myself."
She paused, then glanced at the bundles in Seiten's hands. "But the things Lord Tōga needs should be stored with me. It isn't right to trouble you with them all the time, Lord Seiten."
"It's no trouble."
Yet when Kujaku stretched out her hand, Seiten only smiled and moved the bundles behind him, keeping them in his grasp.
In the recent battle, he had seen with his own eyes how Kujaku used Sankon Tessō, cutting down several Leopard Cat yōkai with decisive elegance.
For reasons he could not name, Seiten simply wanted to talk with her more.
—
In this world's ancient Japan, things were not as in the Tōga's old memories of a small island nation.
Here, demons sprouted like bamboo shoots after rain. The land of the West alone was as vast as three Tibetan provinces put together.
As for the distribution of power: the cat–dog border served as the central line. To the east sprawled the Leopard Cat Tribe, while the dog demons ruled to the west, claiming two-thirds of the land. The remaining third was divided among the other yōkai races.
Within the dogs' territory, even humans had become part of the demonic order.
The reason was simple: if you can't beat them, join them. The weak submit to the strong — it is the oldest instinct of survival and reproduction.
Were it not for a few civilizing missions from the Eastern Continent, perhaps the peoples of Japan would not even have conceived of "humanity" as a distinct idea.
Even now, to many yōkai, humans were nothing more than strange and feeble demons.
The Great Elder raced through the sky, carrying Tōga and Shirayuki at supersonic speed.
The earth below swept past like a phantom, mountains and rivers flashing by until everything blurred into indistinct streaks.
In less than half an hour they reached the Dog Clan's fortress.
It was a grand and towering stronghold, built upon a thousand-meter peak. Around it rose walls of stone, stacked high and solid. It had taken more than forty years of effort to complete.
The Great Elder looked down at this bastion — the crystallization of the clan's toil and spirit, and a surge of pride swelled in his chest. He could not restrain himself from lifting his head and unleashing a long, thunderous howl.
The cry rolled like waves, shaking the clouds and echoing for long moments between heaven and earth.
Within the fortress, thousands of dog-demons looked up in unison, eyes shining with reverence as they gazed at the mighty gray-white form soaring above.
From the mountaintop came an answering howl — high, resonant, and powerful, piercing the clouds.
The voice belonged to a tall, breathtakingly beautiful woman.
Her long purple hair framed black eyes; her finery was overlain with fanged armor. A sword hung at her waist, her tail draped across her shoulders, and her stance radiated power.
Her right leg and left arm, bare to the sun, were white as milk, glimmering faintly as if flowing with light.
This striking, valiant, dazzling woman was the Dog Clan's Third Elder.
She gazed up at the unharmed Great Elder. Hearing of his plan to encircle and slay the Leopard Cat Fifth Elder, she had worried — but now her heart eased.
Yet beneath the relief, a quiet displeasure stirred.
The Third Elder had always despised Chiyan, that wretched Red Flame. Both were young female Elders, scarcely a century or two old, and rivals in every respect — their clashes had been countless, their hatred nearly boundless.
Now, the Great Elder had chosen the Second Elder as his partner for the raid against Chiyan, leaving her behind. The regret gnawed at her, she had wanted nothing more than to see Chiyan's despair with her own eyes.
She half worried for their safety, half complained that the Great Elder did not value the younger generation, never giving them enough chances to prove themselves.
Only when distant ripples of energy began to reach her senses did she finally relax.
She set the fortress dogs into readiness and waited for the Great Elder or the Second Elder to return.
As for the Great Elder — he spared not a thought for her frustrations. His howl carried his report to her across the air, and after a quick word with Tōga and Shirayuki, he continued flying deeper into the clan's lands without pause.
The Third Elder, watching him vanish, let her gaze linger briefly on Tōga before crossing her arms and muttering irritably:
"Damn it. I didn't even get to speak with little Tōga or little Shirayuki. One day, I'll be the Great Elder myself!"
Unable yet to match the Great Elder in age or strength, she turned to arrange matters with her deputy and the incoming Second Elder, then returned to her mountain chamber to train.
"My king's training method is so obscure. The body is essence, yōki is breath, the soul is spirit. We yōkai are born with essence and breath strong — but how do we cultivate spirit?"
"I can't grasp it… can't see through it… cultivation is so exhausting!"
She sat cross-legged on a meditation mat, but before long gave up and sprawled lazily across the soft leopard-fur carpet.
Her phoenix eyes, sharp yet weary, reflected the polished stone ceiling above. A thought flickered through her mind.
"That little Tōga already created the Dog Clan's Human Transformation Chapter. Who knows when he'll refine the Elders' manuals as well?"
"Hm. When he does, I'll just ride my little Tōga's coattails. Then everything will be simple."
Imagining herself one day breaking through to a high-class yōkai, recognized as an Elder — and recalling the small figure of Tōga — the Third Elder, no, Ziyan, touched her cheek with a laugh.
She cast a water mirror of yōki and admired her reflection, dressed just as Tōga wished: alluring yet handsome. She swished her tail with a playful smile.