Demon Binding-Cherry Blossom Blizzard: Chaotic Blossoms, Heavenly Wind Slash (Part One)

The instant the last sliver of moonlight was swallowed by thunderclouds, the world lit up like day.

The Azure Dragon, wreathed in starlike sparks of lightning, plunged from the heavens, its scales scraping against the clouds with a clash of metal.

Its fangs, stained blue-violet by lightning, sank precisely into the wind-and-fire dragon's throat.

The instant the two yokai powers collided, the foundations of the entire fortress groaned beneath the unbearable strain.

Lightning collided and intertwined with the radiance of wind and fire, unleashing a dazzling glare that washed the burning, battle-ravaged Dog Tribe Fortress in a deathly white stillness.

"Who is that?!"

"Reinforcements for the Dog Yokai?!"

The sudden attack struck like a heavy hammer, jolting the Panther Cat Great Elder out of his triumphant confidence and setting his heart pounding.

His blood-red eyes fixed on the unfamiliar figure flickering within the lightning.

Unease spread unchecked through his heart, and his knuckles whitened around the Head Staff.

The yokai power within him surged like a flood bursting through a dam, pouring into the Head Staff as it groaned in agony, seemingly on the verge of collapse.

The faltering radiance of wind and fire, already more than half consumed by lightning, suddenly blazed brighter.

A moment later, the almost-solid wind-and-fire dragon threw back its head and roared.

Its blue eyes seemed to gain a spark of intelligence, flashing with bloodlust, while its gaping jaws threatened to swallow the Azure Dragon whole!

Without further power to sustain it, the coiling Azure Dragon let out a mournful cry before the Wind-Fire Dragon tore into it and devoured it.

Brilliant fragments of light scattered like snowflakes, gradually revealing a tall, straight-backed figure.

Dressed in fine silver robes beneath black armor, with the Fang Sword blazing with lightning in his hand, his handsome, martial presence shot into Zi Yan's heart like a brilliant meteor.

"Tōga!"

Like a bullied little girl whose guardian had finally found her, Zi Yan, who had nearly died in the dragon's jaws, called out plaintively.

"Sorry I'm late. Leave dealing with this old cat to me."

He swung his sword, unleashing several Wind Scars that drove the approaching Wind-Fire Dragon back.

Tōga stepped back to Zi Yan's side and looked at the tears brimming in her eyes.

The voluptuous woman clutched the corner of his clothing like a child who would never grow up, instinctively seeking a hug, and his voice carried self-reproach.

Even a hundred kilometers away, Tōga had clearly sensed the terrifying power surging through the earth's veins.

By the time he rushed to the fortress at full speed, everything in sight was engulfed in scorching flames!

Through the Mind's Eye of the Netherworld, he could see only two life-lights belonging to High-Level Yokai.

Merely thinking about what that meant sent killing intent boiling through Tōga!

"You're not late at all. Besides, this battle isn't yours alone."

Roused by the sound of the Wind Scars tearing through the air, Zi Yan answered, then regained her stern composure as an elder.

She glanced at Tōga standing beside her with his sword in hand, her thick lashes casting faint shadows that neatly concealed the boundless tenderness and dependence in her eyes.

You always turn up at the most important moments of my life. I really can't win against you.

With that silent thought, Zi Yan stepped forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Tōga, the shimmering blade reflecting her faintly upturned lips.

"Tōga, do you remember that fusion secret art you mentioned back then-Demon Binding?"

Zi Yan turned her head slightly and looked intently at Tōga, anticipation shining in her eyes.

"Of course I remember."

The youth glanced at her, his flecked-gold eyes reflecting Zi Yan's bright eyes and radiant smile.

"But it's only a concept. I've never actually used it."

"So can you do it or not?"

"We can give it a try."

"If we can try it, that means it'll work, right? Then I'll gladly claim your first time, little Tōga!"

"What kind of outrageous line is that? And aren't you worried something might go wrong?"

"If it does, I'll cling to you for the rest of my life~"

"You're really willful!"

"A little brother has a natural duty to indulge his big sister's whims!"

As she spoke, Zi Yan's yokai power wound around Tōga's body without restraint, phantom cherry blossoms blooming around them both.

"Then I'll leave everything to you, my Dog General!"

The fierce winds raised by the Wind-Fire Dragon tore through the Wind Scars' sword energy, and amid the Panther Cat Great Elder's frenzied howling, it lunged at them again with claws and fangs bared.

The Fang Sword trembled in Tōga's hand, releasing a clear, dragonlike cry that rang across the battlefield.

The Panoply Yokai Power, which embraced and gave rise to all things, swept outward like a tide.

Zi Yan's figure suddenly blurred, and the phantom of a thousand-year-old cherry tree blossomed in breathtaking splendor behind her-

This was the Sword Cherry Tree manifested from the Third Elder's yokai power, now resonating with the Fang Sword in a cherry-pink halo.

"Here we go, Zi Yan."

The Fang Sword's edge reflected cherry blossoms filling the sky like drifting snow, each blossom dancing through the air as though alive.

The Sword Cherry Tree had already pierced his backplate and merged with his heart.

At the same time, a tattoo of blooming cherry blossoms appeared on Tōga's back.

A secret art was born within his heart in a flash of inspiration.

"Secret art-Cherry Blossom Blizzard: Chaotic Blossoms, Heavenly Wind Slash!"

The instant the two colors of yokai power merged, twenty-four cherry-pink pillars of light burst from the earth.

In soil scorched to charcoal by lightning and fire, countless flowering branches sprouted and bloomed at a visible pace, every petal branded with sigils embodying the myriad forms of existence.

"No!"

The Panther Cat Great Elder's heart trembled as an unprecedented sense of danger surged through him.

Without time to think, he poured out yokai power in a reckless torrent. The male and female faces on his Head Staff released piercing, anguished cries, and searing streams of fire burst between the wind-and-fire dragon's scales.

"First act-Sword Cherry Realm: Windstorm Oni Giri!"

The Wind Scar unleashed by Tōga transformed into a sky full of cherry blossoms, then became phantoms of three hundred sword-wielding warriors-each wearing a hideous Hannya mask!

The oni warriors charged across the falling petals, their blades leaving cherry-pink trails in their wake.

The instant the Wind-Fire Dragon shredded the front rank of oni warriors, their shattered figures exploded into petals, forming cherry-pink wind blades.

They sliced through the Wind-Fire Dragon's body, plundering its yokai power.

Whenever they absorbed enough, the wind blades transformed back into Hannya oni warriors, who cackled shrilly and swung their swords, dismembering the Wind-Fire Dragon as its body grew ever more insubstantial.

On the ground, twenty-four blooming pillars of cherry-pink light crisscrossed and linked together, their cherry-blossom patterns forming a vast, spreading net that enclosed the entire Dog Tribe Fortress.

The Panther Cat Soldiers trapped within the cherry-patterned barrier, commanders and rank-and-file alike, were pierced and torn apart in an instant by vine-like roots of yokai cherry trees thrusting up from underground.

Their flesh and blood became fuel for the cherry-patterned barrier, and in moments, the entire Panther Cat Army dissolved into chaos and agonized screams.

Before the Dog Yokai could even react to the dizzying turn of events, they were tossed outside the barrier one by one.

They stared, dumbstruck, at the fortress, now submerged in a sea of cherry blossoms.