The First Wife

Tōga, who had almost thought Ringetsu was about to ask whether the Admiral still had any regrets in life, inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Facing Ringetsu's gaze, clear as autumn waters, he made no excuses and answered honestly, "If we're talking about regrets, then yes, I do have some..."

Before he could finish, a refreshing fragrance, like a winter plum blossom blooming alone amid frost and snow, suddenly filled his nose and stirred his heart.

The girl rose slightly onto her toes and brushed a fleeting kiss against Tōga's lips.

An enchanting blush instantly colored her cheeks, making her radiant in the golden light of the rising sun.

An indescribable thrill surged through Tōga's heart, fierce and searing-a thousand times stronger than what he had felt with Zi Yan nestled in his arms!

"Before I knew it, Tōga, you'd grown taller than me."

Ringetsu looked at her stunned beloved and lowered her eyes with a soft laugh, her hands resting naturally together before her abdomen. Her bearing was composed, her eyes bright beneath graceful brows.

Dawn shone through her long lashes, casting dappled shadows like butterfly wings. Only her phoenix eyes remained utterly unhurried as she gazed at the man before her.

"That little Dog Yokai from back then has become a man who can shoulder the weight of a whole realm."

Ringetsu tilted her head up slightly, a trace of pride in Tōga entering her gaze.

"For a man who has caught even my eye, it's only natural to have a few pretty birds gathering around him."

"But when all birds pay homage to the phoenix-" Ringetsu reached out to smooth the last crease in his collar, her voice gentle yet commanding.

"The phoenix always perches on the highest wutong branch."

The morning light refracted through the dew like scattered diamonds among Ringetsu's flowing silver hair.

The girl took half a step back, her smile lovely and her eyes sparkling. "My Admiral, who does your heart beat for now?"

Tōga said nothing. He simply took the girl by her fair wrist and walked toward the others, facing the glow of the morning sun.

The Dog Tribe Fortress, once heavily fortified and all but impregnable, had been left devastated by successive battles.

Most of its buildings had been destroyed. Broken walls and rubble lay scattered everywhere, and the charred earth reeked of acrid smoke and the lingering stench of blood.

Under Zi Yan's direction, the surviving Dog Tribe warriors, who numbered more than half their original force, cleared a large open space to gather their clansmen's remains.

The newly arrived Dog Yokai and Karasu Tengu of the Heavenly Host immediately joined them.

As the two elders' bodies were solemnly laid in the center of the clearing, the entire gathering fell silent, without the slightest stray sound.

Zi Yan remained silent. Memories of the two elders' faces and voices flashed through her mind, and she sighed inwardly-

If I'd called out those words back then, things wouldn't have turned out like this.

Or if the intelligence from the clan lands had arrived sooner, the Great Elder wouldn't have chosen to leave the fortress over the matter of White Bone Maru, which had troubled him for so long.

Soft footsteps sounded behind her. Zi Yan turned and watched Tōga and Ringetsu approach hand in hand. Amid her grief, embarrassment and envy also welled up within her.

They really are a perfect match, a couple everyone in the clan recognizes.

As his older sister, I need to make sure he chooses well.

Countless thoughts circled through Zi Yan's mind. She struggled to compose herself, then approached the pair with an elder's dignity and slowly explained the events that had led to the fortress's fall.

While the others stood in silence, far away in the high skies, the two Great Yokai who had already learned the outcome of the battle seethed with murderous intent.

The Dog King's silver hair whipped wildly in the torrent of demonic energy. The Fang Sword had yet to leave its sheath, but golden-red patterns already crawled across the scabbard.

He stood upon clouds condensed until they were almost solid, each footprint sending up dragon-shaped wisps of white mist.

Ten thousand meters above the ground, the wind became a piercing shriek in his ears, yet it could not drown out the thunderous heartbeat coming from opposite him.

The Panther Cat Oyakata's four paws sank deep into the clouds, purple plasma bursting between his toes.

His spine rose like a mountain of blades, every bone spike breathing blue lightning.

When his beastly eyes narrowed, the entire sea of clouds suddenly collapsed downward by ten meters-a gravitational vortex created by demonic energy taking physical form.

The instant their gazes met, the battle began!

Oyakata raised a forepaw, and five rifts in space, each over thirty meters long, instantly appeared among the clouds.

A cold smile curved the Dog King's lips as his right thumb pushed the sword's guard up half an inch.

The sea of clouds churned as though boiling. The instant the Fang Sword left its sheath, the entire space turned golden-red.

Burning fragments of spirit energy lingered along the blade's path, devouring every spatial rift hurtling toward him.

Oyakata's roar shattered the clouds for five kilometers around. He soared upward in a blur of violet electricity, a pair of wings woven from lightning spreading more than sixty meters behind him.

His descending claws unleashed nine successive thunderstorms, each carrying the Panther Cat's barely containable rage.

The Dog King's armor rang with a dragon's cry amid the lightning. The bronze beast heads on his pauldrons suddenly opened scarlet eyes, and the surging power of his armor poured into the Fang Sword.

The swelling blade light cleaved through the thunderstorms, only to become entangled in purple plasma the moment it touched Oyakata's body.

The shock wave from the collision of their demonic powers tore the clouds into a ring. Birds dozens of kilometers away dissolved into bloody mist before they could even fall.

The Dog King was hurled backward, molten gold-and-red demonic blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. Meanwhile, Oyakata's lightning wings shattered piece by piece, revealing intricate runes beneath.

A rumble like trembling dragon bones sounded from deep within the clouds, and the Dog King's pupils suddenly became those of a dragon.

Dragon-shaped patterns of molten lava began flowing along the Fang Sword's blade.

Oyakata let out a roar mingling pain and excitement. Every spike along his spine tore free, converging amid the lightning into a bone blade more than ten meters long.

Just as the Fang Sword and the bone blade were about to collide, countless scarlet eyes suddenly opened between them.

A violet gap tore through space like a wound. The Youkai Sage sat sideways within it, holding a parasol. A twelve-ribbed, gold-threaded folding fan concealed the lower half of her face, leaving only her eyes, curved like crescent moons, visible.

The battle between Oyakata and the Dog King stopped abruptly. Both retreated at once, their wary, solemn gazes fixed on the beautiful girl who had arrived uninvited, elegant and dangerous.

Neither the arrogant Oyakata nor the Dog King spoke. They merely frowned in silence.

Even the Dog King, who had dealt with Yakumo Yukari before and sought her help, preferred to keep a respectful distance from this inscrutable, calculating higher-ranking Great Yokai.

"Oh my, have I arrived at an inconvenient moment?"

A soft laugh drifted from behind the folding fan as the sage maiden stepped slowly out onto the mist.

Her dark violet gown fell to her ankles, its deep purple hem fading into an eerie pale blue, as though the night sky and the abyss had been stitched together into a flowing curtain.

Elaborate ruffles at her neckline framed her smooth, fair neck, while a butterfly-shaped sapphire brooch glittered between her collarbones.

Seeing that Oyakata and the Dog King still refused to speak, a flicker of boredom crossed Yakumo Yukari's bewitching eyes, and she stepped into the open gap.

Only her lingering voice, sweet and faintly languid, drifted into the two Great Yokai's ears like a breeze.

"It seems the Ame no Murakumo will soon appear..."