"Hmph! What the hell are you all doing?"
Dissatisfaction immediately appeared on White Tiger's adorable face. Her senses had long since spread out, yet she had not detected anything threatening nearby. She therefore believed Phoenix and Chimimōryō were trying to mess with her!
Faced with White Tiger's displeased question, Phoenix and Chimimōryō did not answer. They merely silently counted to three in their hearts...
Three seconds later, several mysterious Black Rods pierced through every vital part of White Tiger's body, causing her to drop from the air and fall to the ground. Restricted and controlled by the interference of the Black Rods, she immediately lost control of her body and could only lie sprawled on the ground, completely at their mercy...
Seeing White Tiger in such a miserable state, Phoenix showed a trace of sympathy on her birdlike face. She had been through it herself. The abilities of those mysterious Black Rods were simply bizarre and terrifying...
White Tiger, sprawled on the ground, tried to communicate with the surrounding Natural Energy, but gained nothing. She could not even mobilize the energy stored within her body, leaving her both uneasy and consumed by endless fury!
As Sky's Darling, who wielded wind and space-time movement, she had never suffered such humiliation since gaining sentience!
Especially not while lying in such a humiliating position on the ground, getting her snowy fur dirty!
"Firebird! Was it you who ambushed me?"
White Tiger roared at Phoenix, but her childish voice carried no anger at all. Instead, it gave the strange impression that she was acting spoiled.
"It wasn't me. You should know what my abilities are. I can't use that thing."
Phoenix shook her head, then added, "Oh, right. My name is Phoenix now."
White Tiger did not care what Phoenix was called. Right now, she only wanted to tear apart the one who had ambushed her with wind blades, then throw them into an unknown spatial rift!
"Little monster, then does that mean you were the one who ambushed me?!"
White Tiger struggled to turn her head toward Chimimōryō and spoke to him in a contemptuous tone. Though she phrased it as a question, she had already decided he was the culprit.
After all, there were only the three of them nearby. It was not herself, nor was it Phoenix, so the identity of her attacker was obvious!
Chimimōryō dryly kept quiet. In front of Yokai of Phoenix and White Tiger's level, he truly was just a little brother. With Phoenix as a lesson, he felt it was better to keep his mouth shut, lest White Tiger use it as an excuse to put him in his place once she regained her freedom...
"Cough, cough..."
At that moment, a cough sounded out. Then White Tiger saw a "person" abruptly appear before her, as if he had materialized from thin air.
Since she was lying prone and could barely lift her head, she could only roll her Byakugan to see Yuzuru clearly.
The "person" before her had pale skin and pale white hair. A strange long curved horn grew from his head, beginning at the brow of his left eye and ending at his right temple. From afar, it looked as though he wore a crown!
The pure Byakugan and Golden Rice-Character Eyes within his eye sockets gave her an oppressive feeling that came from the depths of her soul...
"Do you want to live?"
Yuzuru slowly crouched down and smiled at White Tiger. Yet in her eyes, that smile looked like the sinister grin of a demon from the abyss!
"Ah—"
The next instant, White Tiger let out a piercing childish scream. The sharp sound seemed ready to rupture eardrums and drill straight into the brain.
"Shut up!"
Yuzuru frowned at White Tiger and barked at her. At the same time, the pressure of his Dōjutsu Power descended upon her, instantly forcing her mouth shut. Her watery tiger eyes looked pitifully at Yuzuru, as though tears might spill out at any moment.
It was no wonder White Tiger reacted like this. She was not very old to begin with, and her abilities were extremely powerful. She belonged to the sort who might not be able to win, but could definitely escape. As a result, she had always been bold and curious about everything. Since her abilities kept her from suffering any harm, she naturally had no idea what fear or terror was...
But now, she had been subdued so easily by Yuzuru. Coupled with his intimidating appearance, he had thoroughly frightened this little girl. That cry of "ah" earlier had merely been an instinctive reaction from being too scared...
"..."
Looking at the little White Tiger, who was practically about to cry, Yuzuru was speechless. Why were all the Yokai he encountered so strange?
No, Phoenix seemed to be the only normal one!
Thinking this, Yuzuru glanced at Chimimōryō again. The latter immediately greeted him with a fawning, ugly face...
Yuzuru shifted his gaze away from Chimimōryō's idiotic face and, without another word, used the same method to leave a means of restraint inside White Tiger's head. He then withdrew all the Black Rods from her body.
"Phoenix, treat her."
Yuzuru glanced at White Tiger, who was too timid to speak, and said irritably.
"Yes, Master!"
Phoenix nodded. Then, under White Tiger's astonished gaze, she covered her with the Flames of Life and treated her wounds. The injuries left by the Black Rods immediately healed at a visible rate, as though she had never been pierced at all.
"Phoenix, you... you call him Master?"
While Phoenix treated her, White Tiger spoke softly, staring fearfully at Yuzuru.
"Mm."
Phoenix nodded, then calmly said to White Tiger, "You will call him Master too from now on, if you do not want to die..."
"...Master!"
After hearing that, White Tiger instinctively shrank her adorable head back before immediately calling out to Yuzuru. The sight left Yuzuru unsure whether to laugh or cry. He truly had not expected to subdue such an obedient Yokai so easily. Her intelligence also seemed somewhat worrying. He really did not know whether bringing her under his command was the right decision...
"Mm."
Yuzuru met White Tiger's watery tiger eyes and gave a soft hum in response.
Then Yuzuru opened a black-red Space-Time Transfer gate behind him and stepped into it without another word. Chimimōryō immediately darted in after him. Phoenix said nothing, merely giving White Tiger a calm glance before following close behind.
White Tiger shook her adorably dazed little head, her watery tiger eyes filled with curiosity. Her earlier fear and terror had greatly faded due to the sudden appearance of the black-red Space-Time Transfer gate...
The next moment, she leaped in without hesitation and entered the Space-Time Transfer gate...
Before you continue