Azure Dragon Strike

Tōga did not watch the Heavenly Host's battle, because from beginning to end, victory was the Dog Tribe's only option.

The Yokai-Pattern Tomoe borne by the four members of the Heavenly Host contained more than the essence of his yokai power. They also held a small portion of Tōga's understanding of combat.

That was enough for the four to develop combat techniques suited to themselves within a short time.

The remaining sixteen Heavenly Host reserves had all been tempered in battle against enemies several times their number.

With Iron-Reaver Soul-Stealer and Steel Fist complementing each other in offense and defense, one dog could easily take on five cats among ordinary low-level yokai.

Nor did he head to Wind-Thunder Gorge. Whoever won the bloody struggle between the Panther Cats and the Karasu Tengu, Tōga would be the one to reap the rewards.

He stood alone atop a mountain along the shortest route between the Panther Cat Homeland and Wind-Thunder Gorge, his gaze keen as he watched a black speck gradually grow larger in the distance.

Deep within the Panther Cat Homeland lay a hollowed-out mountain.

The Messenger Panther Cat prostrated himself on the stone steps below the throne, his back soaked in cold sweat.

The skull braziers hanging on the walls crackled, scattering sparks onto the trembling tips of his ears.

Under Oyakata's increasingly oppressive presence, he struggled to report what had happened to the Third Elder at Wind-Thunder Gorge.

The Leopard Cat Lord forced himself to listen to every detail. His already imposing face instantly twisted with fury, veins bulging across his forehead like writhing snakes.

His knotted fingers crushed the throne's armrests. As his yokai body, over thirty meters tall, abruptly rose, the entire mountain chamber shook.

"How dare he! Who gave him the right to act on his own authority!"

"Bring him back to me! If the Sixth Elder is dead, throw him into the Death-Row Camp and put him on the front lines of every battle!"

"Until he kills a Dog Tribe elder, he can stay there for the rest of his life!"

In his fury, the Leopard Cat Lord immediately ordered his Personal Guard Captain, who possessed the strength of a high-level yokai, to depart for Wind-Thunder Gorge.

The Personal Guard Captain accepted the order, turned, and strode away.

He raced onward beneath the stars and moon. When the sun stood high overhead, he abruptly halted his flight and stood in midair, coming face-to-face with a Dog Tribe youth on a mountain cliff.

Their gazes crossed in midair, and seething killing intent spread in every direction!

Yokai energy even stronger than the Panther Cats' Second Elder's slowly seeped from the Personal Guard Captain. The air seemed to tear apart, hissing around him.

His cold expression rested on a face half ravaged by lightning and fire-his left eye had a molten, red-gold slit pupil, while his right cheek still bore an old scar torn by the Dog King's fangs before the king had become a great yokai.

Those unmistakable features brought an excited curve to Tōga's lips.

Oyakata's beloved son, personally instructed by his father and the Personal Guard Captain most likely to become a great yokai-White Bone Maru!

"Dog whelp."

A low growl like boiling magma rolled from White Bone Maru's throat, and the Bone Whip at his waist raised its head like a living snake.

"It seems your people had a hand in what happened to the Third Elder at Wind-Thunder Gorge."

"With the way you Panther Cats conduct yourselves, would our Dog Tribe even need to interfere?"

"It was only a matter of time before you fought the Karasu Tengu Tribe until your feline brains spilled out."

Tōga scoffed and slowly drew the Fang Sword from his waist. His waist-length silver hair whipped wildly in the clash of yokai energy.

A battle hunger he had not felt in a long time surged through his heart as the Fang Sword emerged inch by inch.

"Your clansmen are waiting for you down below. You'd best be on your way!"

There was nothing more to say between enemies. White Bone Maru's molten, red-gold slit pupil turned cold and merciless.

Dark clouds began gathering in the previously cloudless sky as the oppressive aura of a high-level yokai poured unchecked across heaven and earth.

The pressure of a higher order of life made Tōga frown slightly, his body tensing.

In an instant, a streak of black lightning tore through three sonic barriers and lashed down through the air.

Wherever the Bone Whip passed, the air boomed dully as though struck by a heavy hammer.

Visible rings of air rippled outward in every direction. Any rocks they touched shattered instantly, scattering as dust.

Rather than retreat, Tōga advanced. The instant he drew the Fang Sword, he carried the motion into a slash, unleashing a golden blade of light that soared skyward as though to split the heavens!

Bearing peerless sharpness, the Wind Scar crashed head-on into the Bone Whip.

Its tremendous tearing force instantly disrupted the airwaves stirred up by the Bone Whip. The two powers tore at each other and collided, erupting in a blinding glare.

A flicker of surprise crossed White Bone Maru's molten, red-gold slit pupil, only to be replaced an instant later by even deeper killing intent.

"The more gifted a dog whelp is, the more he deserves to die!"

Thinking of the current Dog King, White Bone Maru released an ever-denser surge of yokai energy.

His already powerful aura grew heavier, pressing down until even the surrounding air seemed to solidify.

White Bone Maru flicked his arm. The Bone Whip twisted nimbly as though alive, forcibly withstanding the Wind Scar's impact before beginning to break through it and close in on Tōga.

Tōga stamped down, instantly shattering the rock beneath his feet. Propelling himself into the air, he unleashed several Wind Scars in rapid succession.

The Wind Scars linked end to end like a golden torrent, threatening to engulf the Personal Guard Captain and grind him to pieces.

The Panther Cat gripped the Bone Whip with both hands and coiled it into a spiraling shield wall, blocking every Wind Scar.

As he defended, the yokai energy within White Bone Maru churned madly like a raging black tide, enveloping his entire body.

The moment that energy reached its peak, White Bone Maru swallowed the Bone Whip in his hands, which had come from his own spine.

His body twisted and swelled, his face lengthened, and sharp teeth and fangs jutted out. In moments, he transformed into an enormous panther cat resembling a smaller version of Oyakata.

Barbed bone armor covered his spine and shoulder blades. With a fierce sweep of his huge, unusually formed claws, he tore the Wind Scars to pieces.

Facing White Bone Maru, who had cultivated his yokai body to a level surpassing even the Dog Tribe Grand Elder, Tōga looked ever more delighted, battle hunger blazing in his eyes.

"Now this is an opponent worth fighting!"

"Azure Dragon Strike!"

Tōga held his sword horizontally before his chest, and muffled thunder rumbled deep within the clouds.

Countless serpents of lightning darted through gaps in the clouds, their blue-white flashes illuminating his flowing silver hair.

The Fang Sword hummed and trembled, and the acrid scorch of ionization began to fill the air.

Lit by the surrounding thunderbolts, a torrent of yokai power wreathed in pale blue lightning and fire surged skyward, condensing in midair into an immense azure dragon spanning thirty meters.

Its whiskers were woven from leaping arcs of electricity, and every reverse scale held crackling balls of lightning. As its claws moved, ripples like waves on water spread through space.

The Bone-Armored Panther Cat let out a deafening roar, gathering yokai power into a pitch-black vortex within his mouth.

But the azure dragon was already diving down with the thunder of the heavens. Its jaws spread wide and swallowed the beam of destruction, and violent lightning burst from White Bone Maru's eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.

Layers of the mountain peeled away beneath the dragon's passing claws. Towering ancient trees burned to ash before they could even fall.

The impact of that immense power warped the surrounding space, as though it might collapse at any moment.

Azure light intertwined with black yokai energy, forming an enormous storm of power.

The instant the two forces collided, everything within five kilometers blazed as brightly as day.

A ring-shaped shock wave swept across the sky, tearing a circular passage of empty space through the clouds.

The earth trembled, dark clouds churned, and lightning flashed amid roaring thunder, as though a heavenly calamity had descended!