At Tōga's praise, Ringetsu could hardly contain her delight. She raised her head slightly, revealing the graceful lines of her fair neck, and a pride almost imperceptible to anyone else crept into her expression.
She lightly tossed her cascading hair, its silver strands shimmering softly beneath the fiery red sky.
Then Tōga's affectionate words, "my Ringetsu," kindled her heart like a gentle little flame.
Her cheeks flushed faintly. She felt sweet inside but still wanted to save face, so she gave Tōga a reproachful look and hurriedly changed the subject, asking softly.
"How are things going with the Great Elder and the Second Elder?"
As she asked, Ringetsu looked up at the burning clouds held firmly in place on the horizon. The answer was already clear.
"Chi Yan, today is the day you die! Never thought you'd end up like this, did you?"
Amid the blazing sea of fire, Chi Yan raised a hand to wipe the blood from his mouth. Scarlet brutality now flowed through his flame-like feline eyes.
Facing the Dog Tribe's Second Elder's cold yet eager taunt, Chi Yan scoffed, making the pale skin of his chest, marred by savage claw marks, tremble.
He looked at the Great Elder, who had already set up the barrier.
Woven from yokai power, the barrier shimmered with a deep blue glow. Runes darted through it like nimble fish, sealing off his escape completely.
Then he looked at the Second Elder blocking his path, whose gaze was as cold as frost.
Those eyes were like winter ice, capable of freezing every last hope.
Finally, he slowly lowered his gaze. Below him lay the gruesome sight of his own people, slaughtered to the last and strewn in every direction.
Lives once so vibrant had become nothing but cold bodies. Winter Gale's brutal death struck a nerve.
Recalling the quiet words spoken before they set out, Chi Yan closed his eyes and opened them again, finally abandoning every last trace of wishful thinking.
"Words are useless. Fight me!"
Chi Yan roared, his voice shaking the wilderness. The flames around him suddenly surged, raging outward like towering waves with the force of an overwhelming tide.
Wherever they passed, the thick dark clouds burned away in an instant. The once-dim sky glowed crimson beneath the terrifying heat.
The air seemed to be torn apart by that power, visible ripples of distortion spreading through it.
"Explosive Flame Spear Rain!"
At his shout, the raging flames rapidly took shape, transforming into countless sharp fire spears.
Each spear burned with searing flames, whistling through the air as they shot toward the Dog Tribe's elders like a torrential downpour.
The Second Elder showed no fear. A flicker of excitement crossed that stern face, like a hunter spotting prey.
The Fang Sword swept a sharp arc through the cold wind, moving so fast that the air howled in its wake.
The Fang Sword collided fiercely with the fire spears, scattering brilliant showers of sparks amid a rapid barrage of metallic clangs.
The dense, crisp ringing sounded like a rousing symphony of clashing metal, echoing across the smoke-filled battlefield.
Sparks flew everywhere, illuminating the entire battlefield and casting light on the Second Elder's stern, excited expression and Chi Yan's face, filled with fury and resolve.
Facing the fire spears hurtling toward him like rain, the Great Elder stood with sword in hand. Yokai power surged around him, and his eyes gleamed deep blue, like unfathomable icy pools.
"Spectral Light Sky-Splitting Slash!"
The Great Elder's shout rang out like a great bell. He brought his longsword down fiercely, sending a deep blue wave of sword energy into the rain of fire spears with the resolve to cleave through everything.
Wherever the sword energy passed, the air seemed to rip apart with a piercing howl.
The sword energy struck the fire spears in a series of deafening explosions. Sparks scattered as flames and sword energy intertwined, forming a dazzling yet deadly radiance.
Seeing this, Chi Yan rapidly formed hand seals before shouting, "Flame Purgatory Heaven-Burning Array!"
In an instant, an enormous fiery array slowly emerged with him at its center.
Flames churned within the array like a volcano on the verge of erupting, containing boundless energy.
Countless fire serpents burst from the array. Each writhed ferociously, its body resembling a flood dragon, as it lunged at the Great Elder and the Second Elder with searing heat.
"Wind Blade Sword Dance!"
The Second Elder flashed into motion, weaving freely among the fire serpents while swinging the Fang Sword in a blur of overlapping sword shadows.
Each stroke carried powerful wind sword energy, cutting the approaching fire serpents in two one after another and reducing them to nothing.
As their remnants drifted away on the breeze, an even stronger scorched smell filled the air.
The Great Elder remained unhurried. Yokai power surged ever more fiercely around him, and his longsword shimmered with deep blue light like a sinuous flood dragon.
He advanced toward Chi Yan step by step, swinging his longsword.
"Spectral Light Consecutive Slashes!"
One deep blue wave of sword energy after another shot toward Chi Yan like lightning. Wherever they passed, flames were cleaved apart, leaving deep rifts.
The surrounding barrier rippled endlessly under the battle's aftershocks, as though the clash of their yokai power would shatter it completely at any moment.
Caught between the two elders, Chi Yan rapidly fell into a hopeless, deadly predicament, even though he had transformed his body into flames!
Wounds covered his body, and blood stained his fur red, looking especially stark in the firelight.
It looks like there's no chance of surviving now!
But if I can take one of them with me, at least I won't lose out!
Watching the barrier tremble without breaking, Chi Yan narrowed his eyes. He mustered the last of his yokai power and formed a massive flame shield around himself.
The flame shield radiated searing light, warping the surrounding air like a burning sun.
The blazing light suddenly surged. The Second Elder's eyes narrowed, and the sword came out in an immediate slash!
"Don't even think about it!"
The Great Elder instantly realized that Chi Yan intended to self-destruct. His gaze sharpened as he gathered all his yokai power into his longsword, making it blaze with dazzling light.
"Spectral Light Obliteration Slash!"
The Great Elder thrust his longsword forward, sending a wave of sword energy capable of cleaving anything toward Chi Yan's fiery sun.
The sword energy collided with the fiery sun in an earth-shaking explosion, shattering the barrier the Great Elder had so carefully erected.
The surrounding peaks shook violently beneath the blast, and snow thundered down their slopes like waterfalls.
On the snowy ground below, Tōga, Ringetsu, and the others were watching the heart-stopping battle closely.
The moment the explosion reached them, Tōga tightened his hand on the Fang Sword at his waist, then his expression relaxed again.
"Don't panic. I'm here!"
The Second Elder had already flown in front of them and raised an invisible defensive barrier above and ahead of the Dog Yokai.
Ripples of yokai power spread outward, blocking all the swirling snow and the shock waves rushing toward them.
Only snowflakes and Panther Cat corpses flew through the air.
After the explosion, the battlefield lay in ruins.
Acrid smoke and the stench of burning hung over the blackened earth.
Chi Yan slowly collapsed, his eyes filled with defiance and regret.
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