"I've thought about that as well."
The Great Elder paused briefly before continuing, his tone firm.
"But His Majesty had already dispatched people to the Wind and Thunder Gorge long ago. The ones leading that mission are Tōga and Lady Shirayuki."
Within the Dog Clan, intelligence almost always passed first through the hands of the Dog General and the Great Elder.
Only afterward, depending on necessity and relevance would information be relayed to the other Elders or commanders.
"Why them?!"
The Second Elder's eyes widened in disbelief, a look of utter shock spreading across his face. For a moment, he even wondered if the Dog General had been struck senseless by the Panther King, Shakumyōmaru.
At a time when war could erupt at any moment, sending out two individuals who hadn't even reached the level of high-rank yōkai—was the Dog General worried the clan's future was too secure?
Even if His Majesty disliked Tōga, there was no reason to drag Lady Shirayuki along as well!
The Second Elder's thoughts were written so plainly across his face that the Great Elder understood them at a glance.
After all, his own first reaction had been exactly the same.
Yet, drawing on his many years of experience with Tōga, the Great Elder had thought things through—and ended up laughing and cursing at the boy for hiding his depth so well that even his own teacher had been fooled.
"His Majesty would not send Tōga to Wind and Thunder Gorge without reason," the Great Elder said. "There's no need for us to overthink it."
Upon hearing that it was that brat Tōga, Ziyan felt much more at ease.
Truth be told, if she weren't afraid of sounding insane, she would've said it outright:
'What does Byakukonmaru even amount to? My Tōga is the one with true Great Yōkai potential!'
Give it some time, and he'd join forces with the Dog General and beat the Leopard Cats so badly their parents wouldn't recognize them.
There was no need to fight the Leopard Cats over short-term gains.
So what if they were mocked as turtles hiding in their shells?
They weren't even strong enough to hide properly yet!
Those rebellious thoughts only flickered briefly through Ziyan's mind.
She quickly reined herself in and said instead,
"Since someone is watching over Wind and Thunder Gorge, yet no news has come back, Great Elder, I still think caution would be best."
"Before you became an Elder, this old one survived by treading on thin ice," the Great Elder replied calmly. "Caution has long since been carved into my bones. Third Elder, there's no need to worry about me."
With a casual sweep of his arm, he didn't even look at Ziyan—who wasn't yet a third of his age.
Instead, his gaze fell upon the Second Elder, who, despite losing an arm, still possessed formidable strength.
"Second Elder," the Great Elder said slowly, "times have changed. If they can go forth, then so can we."
At those words, the Second Elder could no longer remain unmoved.
"Whether it's truly Byakukonmaru or not, I don't care," he said. "What I care about… is your last sentence."
"I want to fight with the pride of the Dog Clan!"
Under Ziyan's hesitant, troubled gaze, the Great Elder and Second Elder exchanged looks—and reached an understanding.
"Third Elder," the Great Elder said decisively, "we leave the fortress to you. The Second Elder and I will go, and return quickly."
"You're really trusting me with the fortress during wartime?" Ziyan shot back. "Aren't you afraid the Leopard Cats will blow it up?!"
But as she watched the two of them transform into streaks of light and shoot off into the distance, Ziyan never voiced the one phrase that could have forced the Great Elder to stay.
Her tail drooped at her waist, unease clouding her brow.
"I just feel like… ah, stop it. Don't overthink."
"That's the Great Elder and the Second Elder. Even if the Leopard Cats prepared ambushes and traps, there's no way they could bring those two down."
"I should focus on guarding the fortress. If they pull a feint and strike here instead, that would be a disaster."
With no one above her left to shoulder greater authority—ahem, greater responsibility—Ziyan found herself restless.
She desperately wanted to return to her chambers and replenish some much-needed 'Tōga energy'.
Elsewhere, the Great Elder and Second Elder streaked through the sky like falling stars, racing toward the location where Byakukonmaru's aura had appeared.
Despite his age, the Second Elder's blood surged like that of a young warrior.
He gripped the Fang Blade in his hand, the tattered sleeve at his severed arm snapping violently in the wind.
The Great Elder's eyes burned with intensity, yōki swelling around him like a rising tidal wave.
Both had fully prepared themselves for an ambush the moment they arrived.
Yet when they reached the site—far removed from the Leopard Cat camp, the sight before them made their hearts tighten.
Purple-black miasma filled the area, rolling like churning clouds of ink and pressing heavily against the air.
The surrounding trees were reduced to vague silhouettes within the fog.
And standing clearly within it—
Byakukonmaru.
The Dog Clan Elders were not foolish enough to rush into a forest that screamed danger.
They halted instead above the forest's edge, staring across the distance at Byakukonmaru.
Then—
In the next instant, the ground surged upward.
Targeted gravity slammed down, halting the Second Elder midair, while the Great Elder flashed away more than ten meters in a blink.
By the time the Second Elder reacted, multiple figures had already burst from beneath the earth—
The Leopard Cats' Great Elder and Fourth Elder.
The Second Elder unleashed a whirlwind sword strike, shattering a dark green yōki projectile.
But in the momentary chaos—gravity vanished, wind howled, and his body was swept downward into the forest below.
A purple-black barrier bloomed like a carnivorous flower—
And swallowed the Second Elder whole.
"Damn you, old leopard!"
In the blink of an eye, the Dog Clan's Great Elder was furious beyond measure, drawing his blade and striking.
A sky-piercing Thousand-Shadow Slash erupted, layered sword-light tearing at space itself—
Only to be stopped by a sea of white-blue flames.
The Leopard Cat Great Elder shook his flaming skull staff, watching coldly as the Dog Clan Great Elder carved through the firestorm.
Together with the Fourth Elder, he retreated into the forest barrier.
The instant the barrier sealed, the Dog Clan's Great Elder smelled the raging yōki within—
The Leopard Cats' Second Elder.
And the Dog Clan's Second Elder.
No Byakukonmaru.
No Leopard Cat Third or Sixth Elder.
Three against two.
What was there to fear?!
"Old dog!"
"If you want to save him—come down!"
Without hesitation, the Dog Clan's Great Elder dove straight into the barrier.
The barrier roared as combat erupted, instantly surging to its peak.
The Leopard Cat Second Elder manipulated gravity.
The Fourth Elder drifted through shadows, wielding a venom-fanged dagger, his presence ghostly and lethal.
The Great Elder unleashed storms and seas of fire from his skull staff, a cataclysmic wind-and-flame assault.
Trapped within limited space, the Dog Clan Elders crossed blue and green sword-light, blade qi raging so fiercely that the barrier itself shuddered.
But the Dog Clan Great Elder's expression darkened—
Nearly all of the Leopard Cats' attacks were focused on his Second Elder.
The Fourth Elder fought with reckless abandon, repeatedly throwing himself into lethal exchanges.
It was as if the Leopard Cats were the ones outnumbered.
The Great Elder knew he could break out of the barrier.
But the Second Elder—held fast by three Leopard Cat Elders willing to pay any price—had almost no chance of escape.
'Abandon him? Preserve my own strength?'
The thought arose—
And was instantly severed.
Until the very last moment, who could say how the battle would end?
Gravity twisted.
Speed warped.
Attacks slowed, then accelerated in chaotic succession—
And the scales tipped.
The venom fang pierced the Second Elder's throat.
Blood sprayed forth, warm droplets scattering through the dim light like blossoming crimson flowers.
A blue sword-flash erupted like shattered silver—
The Fourth Elder's face, twisted with savage resolve, was cleaved apart.
A dragon of wind and fire roared skyward, engulfing the Dog Clan's Great Elder in blazing fury.
From the earth rose a giant palm of stone, hands clasping together—
Smashing into the dragon and tearing it apart.
From the blood-soaked wreckage emerged the one-fanged hound.
A flash of blue—
The Leopard Cat Second Elder, wearing a strange mix of grief and laughter, lost an arm to drifting fragments.
The Leopard Cat Great Elder gazed over the devastated battlefield, sorrow in his eyes fading into utter indifference.
The Dog Clan Great Elder—now in his true form—ripped apart the weakening stone giant's grip and stood within the barrier, drenched in blood.
He held the Second Elder's corpse.
Guilt and killing intent flickered in his eyes—
Then vanished into stillness.
Without any thought of continuing the fight, he turned and shattered the already collapsing barrier, taking flight—
Only for an overwhelming presence to descend from the heavens.
His body froze.
"Great Elder… you truly disappoint me."
"Shakumyōmaru…!"
Before the roar in the clouds could fade, pain exploded at his neck.
Strength drained from his body.
The Leopard Cat Great Elder bowed respectfully toward the sky, where Lord Shakumyōmaru had appeared at some unknown moment.
Then, carrying the severed head of the Dog Clan's Great Elder—
He rushed toward the front lines.
In the Leopard Cat camp—
War drums thundered.