"I considered that too."
The Great Elder paused, then said frankly, "But the king sent people to Wind-Thunder Gorge long ago. Tōga and Ringetsu are leading them."
News within the Dog Tribe generally passed through the Dog King and the Great Elder first.
Afterward, they would relay it to the other elders or commanders as needed.
"Why those two?!"
The Second Elder's eyes widened in disbelief. For a moment, he wondered whether Oyakata had beaten the Dog King senseless.
With war on the verge of erupting, sending two people who were not even high-level yokai out on a mission-did he think the Dog Tribe had too many promising youngsters?
Even if the king disliked Tōga, there was no reason to send Ringetsu along!
One look at the Second Elder's vivid, undisguised expression told the Great Elder exactly what he was thinking.
After all, that had been his own first reaction.
But after carefully considering his many years with Tōga, he had begun to laugh and curse the brat for hiding his abilities so deeply that even his teacher had been fooled.
"The king must have his reasons for sending Tōga to Wind-Thunder Gorge. There is no need for us to overthink it."
Hearing that it was Tōga eased Zi Yan's heart considerably.
Honestly, if she had not feared sounding so boastful that people would think she had lost her mind, she would have declared that White Bone Maru was nothing-her Tōga was the one with the makings of a true great yokai!
Given time, he could join forces with the Dog King and beat the Leopard Cat so badly that even their parents would not recognize them.
There really was no need to fight the Panther Cat over a momentary advantage.
So what if people called them cowards hiding in their shells? Those people did not even have the ability to hide!
Those unconventional thoughts only passed briefly through Zi Yan's mind.
She quickly gathered herself and continued, "Even if someone is watching Wind-Thunder Gorge, no news has come back. You should still be cautious, Great Elder."
"Long before you became an elder, I was already treading on thin ice to make it this far. Caution is carved into my very bones. You need not worry about me, Third Elder."
The Great Elder swept his arm out airily without looking at Zi Yan, who was not even a third of his age.
Instead, he watched the Second Elder, whose strength remained formidable despite the loss of an arm.
"Second Elder," the Great Elder said, "times have changed. If the enemy can come to us, we can go to them."
With matters put so plainly, the Second Elder could no longer remain unmoved.
"I don't care whether White Bone Maru has come in person. What I care about is that last thing you said."
"I want to show them the spirit of our Dog Tribe!"
Under Zi Yan's hesitant gaze, the Great Elder and the Second Elder exchanged looks and reached an agreement.
"Third Elder, we'll leave the Fortress in your hands. The Second Elder and I will be back shortly!"
"You're really that comfortable leaving the Fortress to me in wartime? Don't blame me if the Panther Cat blow it apart!"
Watching the Great Elder and the Second Elder turn into balls of light and fly away, Zi Yan still did not call out the words that would have forced the Great Elder to stay.
The tail at her waist drooped, and unease clouded her brow.
I just feel... forget it. Don't overthink things. Those are the Great Elder and the Second Elder. How could mere Panther Cat hurt them, even with ambushes and traps?
I'd better focus on guarding the Fortress. If the Panther Cat really are feinting one way and attacking another, we're done for.
Without anyone above her to take the blame-no, without anyone with greater authority and responsibility backing her up-Zi Yan felt restless.
She desperately wanted to return to her room and replenish some "Tōga energy."
Meanwhile, the Great Elder and the Second Elder sped like meteors toward the place where White Bone Maru's aura had appeared, their bodies transformed into balls of light.
Despite his advanced age, the excitement in the Second Elder's heart rivaled any youth's, surging ceaselessly like raging waves.
He gripped the Fang Sword, the empty sleeve over his severed arm snapping in the fierce wind.
The Great Elder's gaze blazed, and the yokai power around him surged like a tsunami poised to break.
Both he and the Second Elder were prepared for a Panther Cat ambush the moment they left.
When they reached a location in the opposite direction from the Panther Cat camp, the sight before them made their hearts tighten.
Thick purple-black fog filled the area. The miasma churned like banks of ink-dark clouds, weighing heavily on the air.
The surrounding trees were reduced to indistinct outlines beneath the fog. Only one Panther Cat figure stood out clearly before their eyes-White Bone Maru!
The Great Elder and the Second Elder were not foolish enough to descend into a forest so obviously suspicious.
They merely hovered above its outskirts, facing White Bone Maru from afar.
But the next instant, earth and stone bulged upward. A targeted gravitational pull stalled the Second Elder, while the Great Elder beside him had already flashed more than ten meters away.
By the time he reacted, figures had already burst from underground-the Panther Cat Great Elder and Fourth Elder.
The Dog Tribe Second Elder shattered a Dark Green Yokai Energy Bullet with Wind Sword Dance, only to be swept up by a gale and blown into the forest below as gravity vanished around him.
A Purple-Black Barrier opened like the maw of a carnivorous flower aimed at its prey, swallowing the Dog Tribe Second Elder whole!
"You old Panther Cat! How dare you!"
Everything happened in a flash. The Dog Tribe Grand Elder's eyes burned with fury as he drew his sword and slashed.
A Dark Radiance Thousand-Shadow Slash soared skyward, its overlapping sword shadows nearly tearing space apart, only to be blocked by a sea of white-blue flames.
The Panther Cat Great Elder waved the fire-spewing Head Staff in his hand. Watching impassively as the Dog Tribe Grand Elder tore through the flames and charged toward him, he descended into the forest barrier with the Fourth Elder.
The instant the barrier opened, the Dog Tribe Grand Elder sensed the yokai energy raging inside-the Panther Cat Second Elder and the Dog Tribe Second Elder!
No White Bone Maru, no Panther Cat Third Elder or Sixth Elder.
Two against three. What was there to fear?
"Old Dog Yokai!"
"Come down here if you want to save him!"
Without a moment's hesitation, the Dog Tribe Grand Elder swooped down and charged into the barrier.
The barrier thundered. In an instant, the three Panther Cat elders drove the battle to its fiercest pitch!
The Panther Cat Second Elder manipulated gravity; the Fourth Elder roamed the shadows with the Poison Fang Dagger in hand, his aura sinister and elusive; the Great Elder's Head Staff spewed gales and seas of fire, unleashing a wind-and-fire assault that swept across heaven and earth.
With little room to maneuver, the Dog Tribe elders interwove deep-blue and green radiance. Their sword energy crisscrossed the battlefield, slashing the barrier until it shook and swayed.
But the Dog Tribe Grand Elder's expression darkened. Almost every Panther Cat attack focused on his Second Elder.
The Panther Cat Fourth Elder repeatedly risked his life, fighting so recklessly that one might have thought the Dog Tribe were the ones with the numerical advantage!
The Dog Tribe Grand Elder was confident he could break out of the barrier. But the Second Elder, whom all three Panther Cat elders were determined to hold at any cost, had almost no chance of escape.
Abandon the Second Elder and preserve my own life for another day?
The Dog Tribe Grand Elder crushed that thought the instant it arose. Until the final moment of battle, who could know which side would prevail?
The Panther Cat Second Elder manipulated gravity, making attacks and movements on both sides alternately impossibly fast or slow, then abruptly shifting their speed. The flow of battle changed in an instant.
And in that instant, the scales of victory tipped decisively!
The poison fang pierced the Dog Tribe Second Elder's throat. Blood sprayed, warm droplets scattering through the dim light like a blossoming flower of blood.
Deep-blue sword light burst forth like water from a shattered vessel, shredding the Panther Cat Fourth Elder's face, which held no regret even in death.
A Wind-Fire Dragon bared its fangs and claws, blazing with fierce flames and wrapped in raging winds. With a deafening roar, it swallowed the Dog Tribe Grand Elder.
A giant's hands formed from the power of the earth rose from the ground and clapped together, striking the fangless dog as he cleaved through the dragon's body and emerged drenched in blood!
A deep-blue sword edge flashed and vanished. One arm of the Panther Cat Second Elder, whose face was caught between sorrow and a smile, disintegrated into drifting fragments.
The Panther Cat Great Elder surveyed the devastated battlefield, the grief in his eyes finally settling into indifference.
Having assumed his true form, the Dog Tribe Grand Elder tore through the faltering Stone Giant's Hand, revealing his bloodstained body within the barrier.
He held the Second Elder's corpse, guilt and murderous intent rising in his eyes before giving way to calm.
With no intention of prolonging the fight, he turned and shattered the already tottering barrier. As he flew away, an immense aura descended from above, and his body instantly stiffened.
"Great Elder, you have truly disappointed me."
"Oyakata!"
The furious roar had barely rung out among the clouds when the Dog Tribe Grand Elder felt a pain in his neck, and the strength began draining from his body.
The Panther Cat Great Elder respectfully bowed to Oyakata, who had appeared in the sky at some unknown moment, then hurried to the front line carrying the Dog Tribe elder's head.
War drums were already thundering through the Panther Cat camp!
Before you continue