Internal strife

While the dogs held their meeting, weak but furious curses rang through a Panther Cat camp of stone houses outside Wind-Thunder Gorge, leaving the surrounding Panther Cat Soldiers silent with fear.

"Damn those Karasu Tengu! Curse Anhamaru! That idiotic Sixth Elder!"

Gravely wounded and carried back by his tribesmen after they found him outside, the Panther Cat Third Elder stared at his severed left arm the moment he woke.

An indescribable fury and sense of absurdity welled up within him.

The puny Karasu Tengu Tribe had actually left two Panther Cat elders dead and maimed!

He had never imagined such an outcome even when fighting the Dog Tribe, yet he had come to grief in Wind-Thunder Gorge.

"Curse them! All we did was kill a few little birds and demand their Tribal Treasure, and they dared... they actually dared..."

"Argh! It was all that fool Sixth Elder's fault! If he'd joined forces with me sooner, we'd have killed them all long before the wind and thunder went berserk!"

"Who knows what he was doing beneath Thunderclap Hall! The Thunder Spear that brat was holding was clearly unfinished!"

The Panther Cat Third Elder struggled to quell his resentment, rubbing his still-foggy head as he quickly reviewed the entire battle.

In the end, he concluded that the real reason for their failure was the Sixth Elder, who had died in the gorge.

"His greed knew no bounds! He couldn't accomplish a thing, only ruin everything!"

Only after quite some time, when the Messenger Panther Cat outside heard the room fall quiet, did he dare enter and deliver the latest news.

After hearing him out, the Third Elder's expression shifted uncertainly, and his resentment toward the Sixth Elder and the Karasu Tengu deepened.

The message was chiefly an inquiry from the Panther Cat Great Elder.

Everything here was a disaster. No matter what he reported, he would only humiliate himself and lose every last shred of dignity before the tribe.

Most importantly, the Dog Tribe across the lines would mock him, especially the Dog Tribe Second Elder, who had likewise lost his left hand.

The mere thought of that hateful canine face sent a chill through the Third Elder.

A man needed his dignity as a tree needed its bark. He had to get back up where he had fallen.

"Once I wipe out the Karasu Tengu Tribe and seize the Wind Wing and Thunder Spear, my strength will soar. Then no one will dare mock me!"

"Then I'll kill a Dog Tribe elder, too, and make up for the fighting strength lost with the Sixth Elder's death!"

His mind made up, the Third Elder told the messenger that he would return to the Panther Cat Front Line within seven days at the latest.

After leaving the camp, the Messenger Panther Cat ran faster than he ever had in his life—not toward the Panther Cat Front Line where the Great Elder was stationed, but toward the Panther Cat Homeland.

The Third Elder was gravely wounded, evasive about the Sixth Elder's condition, and claiming he would return within seven days. Everything about it set the messenger's heart pounding; the more he thought, the more frightened he became.

As the Great Elder's trusted confidant and younger relative, he was no fool and had some authority to act as circumstances demanded.

If he first ran to the more distant front line to tell the Great Elder what had happened, he would then have to wait for the Great Elder to consider a response, perhaps even consult their lord.

By the time that whole process was over, it would probably be far too late.

His only option was to let the Leopard Cat Lord decide directly and issue orders as quickly as possible.

At the same time, within the ruins of Thunderclap Hall in Wind-Thunder Gorge.

A heated argument woke the groggy Anhamaru.

With the Azure Wings of Wind on his back sustaining his last breath, Anhamaru thought of the Karasu Tengu Tribe's current state, and grief rose within him.

Their main lineage, which had wielded the Azure Wings of Wind for generations, lived primarily on Thunderclap Mountain Cliff beneath Thunderclap Hall. After this battle, eight or nine out of every ten of their people were gone.

The collateral branches of the Karasu Tengu, spread in a fan around the cliff, had suffered fewer losses because they had not been at the heart of the battle.

"Nuregarasu, since you're the chief's only surviving child, I won't hold this against you. Now let us in to check on Lord Anhamaru!"

Outside the hall, the roof had been torn away, and there was not even a clear place to stand.

Nuregarasu sat on a fallen block of bluestone, her fine black robes torn and still unchanged.

Scorch marks now marred her once jade-white palms.

She held up the dimly glowing Thunder Spear, and drops of blood falling from its tip sent wisps of smoke rising from the scorched earth.

Only her dark red eyes remained calm, even cold, as she stared with unwavering resolve at the tribesmen before her, who claimed to have come to visit but truly intended to defy their superior!

Whoever obtained the Azure Wings of Wind would become the next High-Level Yokai among the Karasu Tengu, and their next rightful chief!

Anhamaru's lineage had held power for hundreds of years, only to fall into decline today.

How could the two commanders from collateral branches, who had survived only because they feared death, not entertain wild ambitions and malicious intentions?

"Go back. I'll take care of the chief. There's no need for you two commanders to trouble yourselves."

Nuregarasu answered coolly, facing the two commanders she had repeatedly turned away.

Before they could launch into another tirade, lightning flashed from the Thunder Spear in her hand.

Both recoiled a step in fright, then flushed red, the envy and greed in their eyes all but spilling out!

Once it's done, the Azure Wings of Wind and the Thunder Spear-one for each of us!

The two Karasu Tengu commanders exchanged a glance, each understanding the other without prompting.

Without another word or another glance at Nuregarasu, they led their nearby subordinates away.

The surviving Karasu Tengu of the main lineage who had been confronting them approached Nuregarasu, only to be coldly driven away by the girl as well.

Amid a flurry of silent condemnation, Nuregarasu gazed at the cloud-shrouded sky, exhausted in body and mind, her eyes dim.

"I suppose this is the last little thing I can do as his child."

Other people's gossip was no more than a breeze brushing her face. Nuregarasu did not care.

Her two older brothers had died one after the other, and her father hovered on the brink of death. Though the girl had never liked them, the blood ties between them could not be severed.

Right or wrong, good or bad-Nuregarasu no longer wanted to care.

Just as one Karasu Tengu commander had said yesterday-

As long as they removed the Azure Wings of Wind, whether they gave them to her or someone else, they could very quickly provide the Karasu Tengu Tribe with another elder-level demon, who could continue protecting their existence in the Western Country.

Failing that, the new elder could lead the Karasu Tengu to another country to recuperate and rebuild.

The Thunder Spear could also continue serving as the main lineage's source of support.

It all sounded so wonderful, but the price was Anhamaru's life.

Nuregarasu could not be bothered to think about it, nor would she give those people a chance to pressure Anhamaru. She simply sat quietly on the bluestone block.

As for escaping with Anhamaru, Nuregarasu, who might collapse at any moment herself, could no longer manage it.

Besides, the unfinished Thunder Spear in her hand could only exert a little power within Wind-Thunder Gorge, where lightning spirit energy was abundant.

Outside the gorge, it was practically a shaft of scrap iron.

"It's time to make a decision."

Inside the room, a glimmer of clarity appeared in Anhamaru's clouded eyes.