As the light faded, only Tōga remained standing on the scorched earth, his sword sheathed.
A gorge of boiling lava stretched out before him. The lingering might of the azure dragon had plowed the once-towering peaks into a fan-shaped expanse of scorched earth, leaving the exposed rock with a crystalline, glassy sheen.
The Bone-Armored Panther Cat still held his pose of roaring at the sky, the savage gleam lingering in his molten vertical pupils.
Suddenly, his barbed bone armor gave a brittle crack like shattering porcelain. Spiderweb fractures spread from the yokai markings on his forehead, blue-white thunderfire gushing from every fissure.
Crack-
With an explosive report from his spine, his massive body, thirty feet tall and fifty feet long, crashed to its knees.
Charred flesh peeled away layer by layer like a weathered clay figurine, revealing bones burned into a honeycomb by thunderfire.
The bone plates that had once withstood Wind Scar now crumbled into phosphorescent dust, swirling into a ghastly white vortex in the surging air.
Most horrifying of all was the hollow in his chest-the lightning left by Azure Dragon Strike was still devouring his flesh. Through his ribs, half a crystallized heart could be seen, its surface covered in cracks.
As the last wisp of yokai power escaped through the fissures, the heart exploded with a bang into a shower of glittering fragments, raining down amid the powdered remains of carbonized organs.
Thick, foul-smelling smoke poured from his facial orifices, and the kneeling remains finally toppled forward.
The moment they touched the ground, the already brittle bones broke apart joint by joint, shattering into smoking chunks on the vitrified rock.
Only the fragment of his right cheek torn by fangs remained relatively intact. His molten vertical pupil held a frozen look of incredulous fury before lava welling up through a fissure swallowed it.
Tōga extended his palm. Lightning leaped from the corpse in threads and settled into his hand, forming a diamond-shaped yokai power crystal.
Within the crystal, a miniature White Bone Maru could still be seen baring his fangs and claws at him, shrieking furiously.
"A mere manifestation of a remnant soul? Bite the dust, loser!"
Tōga abruptly clenched his fingers. Panoply yokai power enveloped the crystal, refining it in an instant!
Immense yokai power bulged beneath his skin, tracing winding paths like swimming dragons.
It surged through every limb and bone like a raging flood, rushing straight toward his heart.
Fine arcs of lightning sprayed from his pores. His silver hair danced wildly in the static, and his canine teeth lengthened uncontrollably by three inches.
Tōga transformed into a gigantic yokai dog and howled at the sky. Surging yokai aura swept through his surroundings, while his powerful heartbeat thundered like war drums.
With every beat, the white dog grew larger, and his yokai power grew stronger!
Worried for Tōga's safety amid that catastrophic energy storm, Ringetsu and the others had raced over from more than a dozen kilometers away.
They gazed at the snow-white yokai dog standing proudly in the air, his power seemingly rising without end and his aura spanning heaven and earth, overwhelmed by indescribable awe.
"Doesn't Lord Tōga focus on the essence of yokai power? How is even his yokai body so, so... magnificent and mighty!"
Struggling to find the right words, Red Evil Ogre glanced at Ringetsu's slender, alluring figure and secretly swallowed.
She looked at Qitian next. Their eyes met, and seeing his sincere, delighted expression, Red Evil Ogre felt that choosing Qitian was quite a good decision too.
At least she would not have to worry about some female yokai popping up one day and stealing her own little mutt.
"Lord Tōga keeps getting stronger. Lady Ringetsu must be under quite a bit of pressure too, right?"
Ringetsu, whom Red Evil Ogre was thinking about, watched spirit energy pour into Tōga. Alongside her joy, she felt an enormous weight of pressure.
That pressure did not come from worrying that some female yokai would steal Tōga away. How could she, Ringetsu, worry about something so trivial?
That fellow Tōga had promised to love her for the rest of his life!
Her gaze remained fixed on White Bone Maru's remains. How could she fail to recognize this infamous high-level Panther Cat, who had only vanished forty years ago?
There had been a time when the Dog Tribe's elders, and even the Dog King, had wanted White Bone Maru dead at any cost.
If he had secretly broken through to become a great yokai, the Dog Tribe would have faced true annihilation.
White Bone Maru's death is unquestionably a good thing, but Father must be warned so he can prepare in case the Leopard Cat Lord lashes out in desperation.
Ringetsu acted decisively, summoning Prison Flame Maru and Instant Thunder Raiga and ordering them to carry secret orders back to the tribal lands at top speed and report to the Dog King.
As the last trace of the yokai power crystal was devoured, Tōga abruptly opened his eyes. White Bone Maru's molten-gold vertical markings flashed within his pupils.
An instant later, azure thunderfire swallowed them completely.
"This feeling isn't bad!"
Tōga stretched his yokai body freely in the air, every inch of muscle extending to its fullest. His fur danced in the currents as he savored the pleasure of his increased strength.
The quality and quantity of panoply yokai power are overwhelming. They give me unparalleled combat strength, but advancing through the realms takes much longer.
Tōga's awareness sank into the flood of power within him. As he felt the depth and complexity of panoply yokai power, he pondered.
Even with White Bone Maru and the Panther Cat Fifth Elder, I'll still need to devour at least four or five intact high-level yokai to quickly finish accumulating the power I need.
If he cultivated step by step, he reckoned it would take him ten to twenty years to reach the pinnacle of cultivation for the masses-high-level yokai-a realm that even a yokai genius would need a century or two to attain.
Great yokai existed on an entirely different level of life, an extraordinary domain that could not be reached through conventional means.
The power radiating from them could elevate the bloodlines of their entire kin.
When one attained greatness, all their kin rose with them.
At that thought, contemplation surfaced in Tōga's eyes.
Ten to twenty years was so brief against a yokai's long lifespan that he would hardly feel the passage of his life.
But in this turbulent age, time was life!
I've killed White Bone Maru. What happens next in the Western Country will depend on what Oyakata does. Before that, I need to make the most of the time I can still move around outside.
Tōga had also noticed Ringetsu's actions on the ground. He reined in his aura and returned to human form, his fur becoming armor and robes. With the Fang Sword at his waist, he landed before the others, looking radiant.
"We've gathered the spoils from the Panther Cat camp for you. Where are we going next? Still heading to Wind-Thunder Gorge?"
Ringetsu could not be bothered to ask whether Tōga had broken through to become a high-level yokai. If he could kill White Bone Maru without suffering a scratch, then even if he was not one, he might as well be.
Several centuries ago, before ranks of power had been established, there had only been two categories in the world.
Those who could be killed, and those who could not.
Later, the distinction became great yokai and lesser yokai. The low, middle, and high ranks had only appeared within the past century.
"We've come this far. Of course we're going."
Tōga answered Ringetsu's matter-of-fact question with a smile.
At the same time, he beckoned, and five yokai power crystals reeking of blood flew straight toward him from his subordinates' hands.
Tōga caught them all in one hand, then devoured and refined them.
"Let's go. We can't keep our guests waiting."
Before you continue