Night deepened.
Gyuenmaru and Shunraiga, two members of Tōga's Heavenly Host had been running nonstop since afternoon to deliver their orders. Now, finally finding a place to rest, they prepared to warm themselves with a quick fire and a hot meal.
Just as Gyuenmaru was arranging the firewood, Shunraiga's sharp voice cut through the stillness.
"Did you already forget Lord Tōga's words?"
"When the Heavenly Host is carrying out a mission, completing the mission takes absolute priority. Everything else is to be cast aside!"
Gyuenmaru's hands froze mid-movement. His simple, honest face flushed with shame.
He tossed aside the firewood and slapped his cheeks hard with both hands, forcing his sluggish mind awake and his body back under discipline.
"There's a forest up ahead. We should find some wild fruits there. Tonight, we keep moving."
"Let's go. The road is still long."
Under the moonlight, the two figures dashed swiftly through the mountain forest.
Here and there, they encountered the scattered riffraff demons that infested the region. So long as these pests didn't hinder their march, the pair avoided unnecessary fights, cutting a direct line toward the Dog Clan's homeland.
As time passed, the sun rose from the east. Golden light flooded the sky.
On the summit above the Dog Clan fortress, Third Elder Ziyan—who had been resting with her eyes closed during her watch rotation, suddenly twitched her nose and opened her eyes wide.
"This aura… there's no mistake. It's the young lord of the Leopard Cats, Byakukonmaru!"
Ziyan stood up at once, her gaze fixed on the distant mountains. The tail that had been lazily swaying behind her froze, then instinctively curled around her waist. Her face tightened with both caution and confusion.
Among the middle-aged generation of dog-yōkai, nearly all had witnessed Byakukonmaru's ferocity on the battlefield. Ziyan naturally recognized him.
She also knew he had long been preparing to challenge the realm of Great Yōkai—a fact that was practically public knowledge among the higher ranks of the Western Lands, one that demonstrated the Leopard Cats' frightening strength.
When this information first spread, the Dog Clan's General and Great Elder had worn grim expressions for days.
Several high-level meetings had been held, all centered on one question: how to kill Byakukonmaru.
Back then, the Great Elder had even volunteered to act as bait in order to lure Byakukonmaru out.
Only after Byakukonmaru vanished for years did the tension finally ease.
But the young lord of Leopard Cat remained a dagger in the Dog Clan's heart.
"So why would Byakukonmaru leave the Leopard Cat domain and appear on the front lines…? What is he trying to do?"
Before Ziyan could deduce a reasonable explanation, the Dog Clan's Great Elder and Second Elder arrived together.
"No need for extra talk. Let us discuss how to deal with Byakukonmaru."
Their eyes met, and the Great Elder spoke first—his tone carrying an unusually forceful authority.
"This time, no matter what, we will do everything in our power to ensure he dies on our land."
"Great Elder, we still haven't confirmed whether it's truly him," the Second Elder said solemnly. "After all, so far we've only sensed an aura."
"That butcher, the Leopard Cats' Fourth Elder, can imitate our clan members. Faking Byakukonmaru is child's play to him."
"I know," the Great Elder replied, exhaling slowly and calming the agitation in his chest.
"Whether it's real or fake—since Byakukonmaru's aura has appeared nearby, we must investigate, even if it's a trap."
"If Lady Shirayuki showed up near the Leopard Cats, they would also send people to confirm, would they not?"
The Great Elder's counter-question silenced the Second Elder.
Brows knitted, he stared toward the direction where the aura had emerged, as if trying to see through the mountains and grasp the Leopard Cats' intentions.
"You're right," he admitted. "But no matter what, Byakukonmaru suddenly appearing at the front is too strange. It reeks of a Leopard Cat plot."
A Byakukonmaru who didn't pursue his ascension to Great Yōkai, and instead walked straight onto a battlefield where the Dog Clan would immediately target him—was, in Tōga's own words:
"Like a kid whose parents are both government workers, guaranteed a stable civil-service career… suddenly seeing comments online claiming a treasure is buried under a construction site, and deciding to drop everything and go shovel gravel like a lunatic."
Anyone with a brain would know something was wrong.
But years of dread surrounding Byakukonmaru had become the Great Elder's long-festering heart disease—no amount of the Second Elder's reasoning could disperse that.
He turned to Ziyan. "Third Elder, what do you think?"
"Great Elder, I agree with Second Elder. The Leopard Cats are plotting something."
Ziyan spoke honestly. She lacked grand vision or exceptional cunning—she simply wanted to live her life peacefully, with those above her holding up the sky and those below holding down the earth.
Her lifelong goal was simply to glide through life without unnecessary burdens.
Thus she said:
"We don't need to concern ourselves with whatever the Leopard Cats are doing. Without enough power, they can't break through our barrier."
"At the core of all their actions is only one goal: to lure us out of the fortress."
"This sudden appearance of Byakukonmaru is definitely the trap they prepared, banking on our fear of him!"
Her clear reasoning sharpened the Second Elder's thoughts as well.
"She's right. As long as we remain in the fortress, every trick the Leopard Cats attempt becomes meaningless."
"…I admit your reasoning is sound," the Great Elder said slowly. "But schemes only work if the schemer has the strength to capitalize on them."
He continued thinking aloud.
"The Leopard Cats have only three Elders at the front. Even if Byakukonmaru is included, that's only four. If we send out three—"
He paused. Realizing the fortress couldn't be left without a supervising Elder to maintain the barrier, he corrected himself.
"If two of us go, even if there's an ambush, withdrawing wouldn't be difficult."
"But Great Elder, don't forget about the Leopard Cats' Third Elder—"
The Second Elder suddenly stopped, unable to continue his objection.
The Great Elder chuckled.
"So you've realized it too. If their Third Elder were truly at the front, with his temperament, they would have already launched a direct assault."
He snorted.
"Plots? Schemes? These are used only by those who lack the strength for an honest fight."
Given their understanding of the Leopard Cat Elders, the Great Elder's assessment was not inaccurate.
There had been times in the past when the Leopard Cats fought three against one, forcing Dog Clan Elders into humiliating retreat.
With the current power balance, even the Second Elder had long chafed at staying inside the fortress.
In the past, the Leopard Cats had simply overwhelmed them with numbers—there was no choice.
But now, mocked as cowardly turtles, the Second Elder felt the itch to act.
Ziyan, noticing his growing eagerness, twitched her eye and interjected urgently:
"Great Elder, that's only your assumption. What if, for once, the Leopard Cats actually did change their temperament? Are we just going to walk into a trap?"