"Tōga, hurry up already!"
With no pressing urge to seek out battle, Tōga wasn't in any rush to leave.
On the other hand, after hearing about the mission, Shirayuki was so excited she urged him to set off at once, eager to kill a Leopard Cat Tribe elder right away to raise their banner in victory.
Shirayuki knew very well—her man never boasted or lied in front of her. If he said it, he could do it.
'Damn, I feel like some two-faced dog.'
His dawdling would only increase the chances that a Leopard Cat Tribe elder in Wind and Thunder Gorge might survive a little longer.
At the same time, it increased the odds that he and Shirayuki would miss crossing paths with them entirely.
Between killing an enemy and protecting his wife, Tōga knew which one mattered more.
At worst, the Leopard Cat elders would live a little longer. And from what the Dog General had said, with the force of the celestial phenomena, whether the elders could even take part in this cat-dog war was already uncertain.
If they could not suppress the Dog Clan at the elder level, whether the Leopard Cat Tribe would keep pressing the Dog stronghold was equally uncertain.
A war without advantage would only cost the Leopard Cats both face and strength, with nothing to gain.
So this trip to Wind and Thunder Gorge with Shirayuki was, in all likelihood, just the prelude to a honeymoon.
"I knooow, I knooow."
After checking his pack to make sure no seasonings were missing, Tōga slung the Great Elder's Fang Blade over his waist, donned his silver ceremonial robes, draped a black suit of armor over them, and stepped out of the house in high spirits.
At the door stood Shirayuki, hands on her hips. With the Dog General's tacit approval to walk alongside Tōga, she had become more girlish than ever.
She wore purple ceremonial robes beneath a silver cuirass, the Dog General's Fang Blade at her waist. Her waist-length hair was tied into a high ponytail, giving her a bold and gallant air—radiant and beautiful.
"Tōga, if we run into a Leopard Cat elder this time, let's unleash our combined secret art! We'll definitely cut them down together."
Seeing the fighting spirit blazing in her eyes, Tōga paused, thoughtful. Then he smiled.
"No problem."
If she hadn't mentioned it, in his masculine pride he might have forgotten about their joint secret art entirely.
Thinking it over, he realized it was actually promising. The two of them, husband and wife, combining their blades—could they possibly be weaker than their second son and daughter-in-law?
Impossible.
"But let's just leave it to fate when the time comes."
With that, Tōga set out hand-in-hand with Shirayuki.
But only a few steps from home, his nose twitched. At the edge of the barrier, several familiar scents appeared.
"At this timing… Kujaku and the others are back."
He had originally planned to bring Kujaku and the rest with him to Wind and Thunder Gorge anyway.
The journey would be the perfect chance to train them—and to test the compulsory education plan he had drawn up over the years for every young dog demon: what must be studied, and what must be mastered.
'May as well bring them along.'
'Devouring the Panther Devas' demonic essence will only make me stronger. A little delay won't matter.'
'With lightning-element demonic energy, I can even recreate the Sesshōmaru's Sōryūha [Azure Dragon Wave], or Sasuke's Chidori Stream, maybe even whip up a Rasengan or two.'
With that thought, he took Shirayuki's hand and headed toward Kujaku's group.
On the bustling street, the well-known Princess Shirayuki blushed red, head bowed, trailing behind Tōga.
A few playful "Awooo~" calls and teasing remarks only made Tōga puff his chest out further, until Shirayuki, flustered and embarrassed, swung her fists and hammered him a few times.
"Lord Tōga! Lady Shirayuki!" Kujaku's tail wagged happily at the sight of her revered captain.
Her joy was so plain that Seiten, who had barely spoken to her the whole journey and had fallen into gloom, quietly stepped back in dismay.
"Don't lose heart," he told himself. "Lord Tōga and Lady Shirayuki are a pair. If I keep working hard, someday I'll marry Kujaku myself."
While Seiten steeled his resolve, Kujaku presented her treasure: the most vital crystallized heart-essence of the Panther Devas, wrapped in black cloth, and offered it to Tōga.
"Lord Tōga, here is what you asked for. The other, from the Fifth Elder, is with Captain Seiten."
"One is enough for now. Keep the rest."
Sensing the lightning attribute in the crystal, Tōga smiled, patted Kujaku's head, and spoke to them all.
"Now, come with me to Wind and Thunder Gorge as guests of the Crow Tengu Clan."
Shirayuki's eyes narrowed as she shot Tōga a glare—his little scheme was written all over his face.
With this group of tagalongs, how could they possibly move quickly? By the time they reached the gorge, they might not even find a single cat hair left!
'Don't be angry. Don't be angry.'
'As a woman, I must protect my husband's dignity in front of others.'
'I'll settle this with him when we're alone.'
Tōga shivered suddenly, and when he glanced back, all he saw was Shirayuki's elegant Yamato-Nadeshiko smile.
―
Above the ruins of Raimei-den, blue-violet lightning still danced in the air.
Charred earth was strewn with the Crow Tengu's feathers and the Leopard Cats' severed limbs.
Nuyā knelt on one knee, her Thunder Spear thrust deep into a crack in the rock. The blood-red patterns along its shaft pulsed like something alive, flickering with her ragged breath.
Her pale face was spattered with blood, but her eyes locked firmly ahead—on the half-burned corpse of the Leopard Cat Sixth Elder, wedged into the shattered cliffside, his snarling feline face frozen in unwilling death.
"Khff…"
Nuyā hacked up a mouthful of black blood. The Thunder Spear's backlash had nearly drained her of demonic energy.
Her body swayed, nearly collapsing, yet she forced herself upright.
From deep within the gorge, a dull rumbling echoed upward. A storm wind howled, carrying lightning skyward, tearing the dark clouds into tatters.
Nuyā staggered to her feet. Her wings were shredded and tattered, but she still gripped the half-ruined Thunder Spear into which she had poured decades of thunderous power.
Wiping the blood from her lips, her bloodshot eyes locked onto the distance.
Among the sea of her kin's corpses, the Leopard Cat Third Elder yet lived—roaring as he tore apart the frenzied low-ranking Crow Tengu.
He could no longer fly. With only three legs left to stagger on, his broken body lurched toward the gorge's exit, leaving a crooked trail of blood behind him.
Meanwhile, the Crow Tengu chieftain An'umaru lay beneath a shattered cliff, breathing shallowly.
His lone remaining eye reflected the blue sky above Wind and Thunder Gorge—clear skies unseen for centuries.
Golden sunlight poured down, but it shone only on the devastated ancestral land of the Crow Tengu.