No room for compromise

Dark red candlelight flickered in a lamp fashioned from a beast's skull, casting three twisted shadows onto the smoke-blackened tent walls.

The Panther Cat Great Elder's withered fingers traced the sheepskin map, where some dark red slime outlined the Dog Tribe Fortress as menacingly as fangs.

As the Great Elder began to speak, the Second Elder, whose yokai power was earth-aligned and whose temper was the fiercest and most blunt among the Panther Cat Elders, felt the corner of his eye twitch sharply with impatience.

His right claw dug into the stone armrest, as though recalling the pleasure of crushing a Dog Yokai's skull, easing a little of the frustration that had built up from sitting idle for so long.

"Those dog whelps are all hiding inside their barrier like thousand-year-old turtles. Without enough power, we can forget about breaking through their fortress barrier."

Sparks burst between the Second Elder's fangs, his interlocking teeth grinding together with an unnerving sound.

"So when exactly are the Third Elder and the others getting here? How much longer are we supposed to wait?"

"Exactly, Great Elder. You keep telling us to hold our positions. With everyone gathered here, the meat we consume every day could practically pile up into a mountain."

The Fourth Elder leaned back in the shadows with a soft chuckle, his aura waxing and waning, shifting back and forth.

One moment, he seemed like a Karasu Tengu; the next, a Dog Yokai. His features also blurred beyond recognition amid the shifting light and shadow.

"If you ask me, we might as well disband. It's not as though we can..."

"Nonsense!"

Before the Fourth Elder could finish, the furious Second Elder cut him off harshly.

"Even without those two, the three of us can still crack those dog whelps' turtle shell!"

The Fourth Elder shrugged indifferently, unwilling to argue with the Second Elder, who was as famous within the tribe for his foul mouth as for his formidable strength.

He even worried that the Second Elder's flying spit might land on him and edged a little closer to the entrance.

By now, the Western Country's bitter winter was gradually retreating. The north wind, no longer so piercingly cold, gently stirred the tent flap.

Through the gap, the Fourth Elder watched the Panther Cat Soldiers lounging carelessly around the campfires beneath the night sky and could not help sighing inwardly. This cannot go on!

Most of the middle- and lower-ranking Panther Cats had lost the eager anticipation and fighting spirit they had brought with them.

All that remained in the Panther Cat camp was clowning around, laughter, and bickering.

"Enough."

The Head Staff in the Great Elder's hand struck the ground hard. Its dull thud echoed through the tent, forcibly cutting short the Second Elder's increasingly incessant ranting over the Fourth Elder's attitude.

"At this point, we can only prepare for the worst regarding the Third Elder and the Sixth Elder."

By his reckoning, no matter how lax the Panther Cat messenger had been, he should have returned to camp by now.

Since he still had not returned, there were only two likely possibilities.

The first was that the Panther Cat messenger had become stranded or died along the way for any number of reasons.

The second was that something so important had happened that even the Great Elder lacked the authority to decide what to do. Rather than return to the front, the Panther Cat messenger had gone to their tribal homeland to report to Oyakata.

The strength of a mid-level yokai amounted to little among the Cat-Dog tribes.

Out in the wider world, however, it was more than enough to conquer a human city and become a daimyo.

With the Dog Tribe's forces pulling back, the Great Elder had thought it over repeatedly and become increasingly convinced that the second possibility was true. Yet the implications sent a chill through him.

"Great Elder, what do you mean by preparing for the worst?"

The Second Elder could not help blurting out his question. The Fourth Elder was equally desperate to know.

"...This is only an unfounded conjecture, but you must prepare yourselves."

Faced with the Great Elder's frost-cold expression and refusal to explain further, the Second Elder's fiery temper seemed to freeze solid in an instant.

His eyes widened as he slumped in his stone chair. His mouth opened and closed several times, but ultimately, no words came out.

"Great Elder, this is not something you can say lightly."

The Fourth Elder stared fixedly at the Great Elder's aging face, trying to catch even the slightest hint that he was joking.

But when he met the Great Elder's utterly placid gaze, the shaken Fourth Elder walked to his own chair and sat down in silence.

"Our strategy of steadily bleeding the Dog Tribe has failed. The war ahead is no longer merely a matter of obeying Lord Oyakata's orders."

"It is a war that we of the Leopard Cat must fight for our standing, our position in the Western Country, and our tribe's future-even if we must pay the price!"

The Great Elder's forceful words echoed through the tent. The Second Elder and the Fourth Elder sat upright, their expressions solemn.

The Great Elder lightly tapped his Head Staff against the ground. A gentle breeze rose in response, slowly lifting the tent flap.

Directly opposite them, the Dog Tribe Fortress stood silently before their eyes, built against the mountain, towering beneath the night sky and ablaze with lights.

It weighed on their hearts like an enormous boulder.

"With the strength of just the three of us, we can forget about taking the Dog Tribe Fortress head-on. Our only option is to lure them out, concentrate our forces, and annihilate them!"

The Fourth Elder said, "But given the Dog Tribe Grand Elder's cautious, steady nature, even if we captured hundreds of Dog Yokai and skinned them and devoured them alive before his eyes, he would not send a single soldier out of the fortress."

When the inexperienced Dog Tribe had first taken refuge behind the fortress walls, some Dog Yokai clans had failed to retreat in time.

Right outside the Dog Yokai fortress, the Panther Cats had slaughtered hundreds of Dog Yokai, sparing neither young nor old.

Even now, the Fourth Elder still remembered the Dog Tribe Grand Elder's terrifying gaze, as though he wanted to devour them, yet had forcibly restrained himself.

It was then that the Fourth Elder understood there was no longer any room for compromise between the Cat-Dog tribes!

One tribe would live, and the other would die!

The north wind blew into the tent, carrying threads of cold like countless tiny needles of ice, stirring the candle flames.

The shifting light and shadows played across the three elders' grave faces.

"If we cannot draw them out, are we supposed to keep wasting time like this?"

Though the Second Elder's voice remained rough and booming, he could not conceal his impatience.

The Great Elder glared at the Second Elder, silencing the fool who knew nothing but fighting, then turned to the Fourth Elder.

"Fourth Elder, would you have any trouble imitating Young Master White Bone Maru's aura?"

"Impersonating a Dog Yokai to slip into the fortress as before might be difficult, but imitating someone from our own tribe would be no problem at all."

The Fourth Elder's eyes lit up. Looking at the Great Elder, who already had a plan, he too began to see what to do.

Under the Second Elder's disdainful yet envious gaze, a simple, direct baiting scheme slowly took shape.

Like an invisible net, it was gradually being cast toward the Dog Tribe Fortress.

"The three of us are already prepared to sacrifice ourselves for our tribe."

"What about you, Dog Tribe?"

Once the meeting ended, the Great Elder walked out of the tent, leaning on his Head Staff.

The north wind stirred his hair and beard, and his eyes were deep and unfathomable.