The sun sank behind the western mountains, leaving only the bonfires to illuminate the blood-soaked camp.
Her unconscious siblings groaned faintly.
Toran crouched beside Shunran, tucked the girl’s disheveled hair behind her ear, and gently stroked her pained face.
“Don’t be afraid.
Your sister is still here.” A thin mist of ice gathered over Toran’s palm.
She used the extreme cold to hold Shunran’s broken bones in place, and the girl’s tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed beneath the frost.
Before long, a muffled groan came from beside her.
Having recovered a little strength after being burned by Kagutsuchi’s flames, Karan opened her eyes to a hellish scene—a mountain of corpses, scattered remains, and a thick stench of blood hanging in the air.
The girl’s body instinctively shrank back.
Only when her gaze found Toran did the panic on her face slowly fade.
“Karan,” Toran said without looking back, the icy mist over her palm never faltering.
“If you can move, check on Shuran.” “…Okay, Toran-neesan.” Karan gritted her teeth and forced her still-weak body upright.
Her tail dragged limply across the ground as she struggled to her feet and staggered over to Shuran.
Sesshomaru’s Poison Claws had wounded him.
Foul-smelling green fluid seeped from his injuries, and although his breathing was weak, it remained steady.
Using demonic energy and her claws, Karan began treating him in the most primitive way possible.
After a while, Shunran’s broken bones had been secured, and Shuran’s breathing had stabilized.
The two gradually regained consciousness.
Shunran opened her eyes to Toran’s exhausted but stern face.
Her eyes reddened, and her voice came out hoarse.
“T-Toran-neesan…” Missing a chunk of flesh, Shuran could not sit up.
He glanced at his roughly bandaged wounds, looked toward Karan, and gave her a slight nod.
Toran stroked Shunran’s hair, then looked over each of her siblings and told them everything that had happened while they were unconscious.
“Whatever decision you make, Toran-neesan, I’ll support it,” Karan declared first, her eyes heavy with determination.
Shunran sniffled.
“You only did it for us.
Once we’re strong enough, we’ll take brutal revenge on them!” “Exactly!” Shuran nodded hard, only for the motion to pull at the wound beneath his ribs.
He sucked in a sharp breath and clutched his side with a grimace.
Seeing her siblings support her made Toran’s eyes redden.
She quickly turned away and took a deep breath, suppressing the warmth surging through her chest.
When she faced them again, she was once more the calm and disciplined eldest panther.
“Today, we endure this humiliation for the sake of our future.
Once Panther King-sama is revived, we will capture Sesshomaru and Inuyasha and make them our prisoners!” Toran’s catlike eyes gleamed sharply in the firelight as she spoke with absolute conviction.
“With the Dog General gone, no one in this world can stand against Panther King-sama!” The expressions of Karan, Shunran, and Shuran sharpened.
Having witnessed the might of a Great Demon, they knew exactly how terrifying such power was.
A Great Demon could overturn the world with a flick of his hand, standing at heights ordinary demons could never reach.
The Panther King was one such Great Demon.
He still had a chance to return from the Netherworld and lead the Panther Tribe back to glory!
Seeing the fighting spirit rekindle in her siblings’ eyes, Toran gave a small nod.
When she looked around at the camp, her voice became somber.
“Karan, use your flames…
and send our clansmen on their final journey.” Karan silently stepped forward.
Flames erupted from her palm and transformed into a fire dragon that surged toward the mountain of pale bones.
Fire soared into the sky and licked at the black night, staining the heavens dark red for miles.
Heat and the stench of burning flesh rolled outward as bone and meat crackled like the final sighs of their fallen clansmen.
Toran, Karan, Shunran, and Shuran stood side by side before the flames without speaking.
Shunran’s eyes reddened again, but she bit her lip and refused to cry.
Shuran forced his unsteady body straight, while the fire sharpened Karan’s profile until it looked like the edge of a blade.
Toran reached out and gently took Shunran’s trembling fingers in her own.
The flames burned ever higher, swallowing every crime, grudge, tear, and drop of blood.
When the first ray of dawn pierced the horizon, four figures leaned against one another as they slowly walked away from the scorched earth.
Their shadows stretched between firelight and dawn, as though they carried the weight of their entire tribe while walking step by step toward a distant sunrise.
…
“Inuyasha-sama, are you really going to let them leave?” Beside a forest stream some distance away, Yura was tidying Inuyasha’s clothes after their night’s rest.
She glanced toward the black smoke fading along the horizon.
Her small lips, still slightly swollen after drinking milk that morning, gently parted as she spoke.
“I actually agree with that bald little demon.
It would be best to eliminate them root and branch.” “The world has no shortage of demons.
If Inuyasha-sama needs subordinates, I can find more for you.” “You really are a wicked woman.” Inuyasha raised a hand and stroked her cheek.
Yura rubbed herself against his palm like an obedient puppy.
Her bewitching pink eyes tilted upward, their corners forming a seductive curve.
“Then…
does Inuyasha-sama like me that way?” “Whether I like it or not, didn’t you experience the answer last night and this morning—day and night?” Inuyasha chuckled.
His hand slid from her cheek to her chin, and his thumb gently pressed against her slightly swollen lower lip.
Yura tilted her head back with his touch, exposing the pale curve of her neck.
Her wet eyes remained fixed on her master.
Since they still had to travel today, Inuyasha ignored her invitation.
He withdrew his hand and started walking toward the source of Sesshomaru’s scent.
“As for the panthers, my urge to collect things simply got the better of me.” “Oh?” Yura drew out the sound as she lightly stepped up beside him.
With both hands behind her back, she leaned forward and looked up at him, displaying every curve of her body in the morning light.
Her expression somehow managed to look innocent and seductive at the same time.
“I thought Inuyasha-sama had taken a liking to those little kittens.” “Oh?” Without slowing down, Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.
“Are you afraid they’ll replace you?” “Hmph.
Yura is one of a kind.
If those kittens dare misbehave, I’ll kill every last one of them.” Her gaze shimmered as she continued.
“Besides, could any of those kittens serve Inuyasha-sama the way I do?” Inuyasha glanced sideways at her.
“Then make sure you serve me well.” “As you command, my master.” Yura slipped in front of him and gracefully knelt.
Raising her face, she gazed up at him with pink eyes reflecting both the morning light and Inuyasha’s figure.
“Then…
would you like me now?” Looking down at her utterly shameless face, Inuyasha’s mouth twitched.
“…We went at it from last night until dawn.
Aren’t you tired?” “It doesn’t matter whether I’m tired.” Yura blinked.
“As long as my master isn’t tired.” “Besides, your servant is hungry again.” After she put it that way, what else could Inuyasha do?
Their journey became a cycle of walking, stopping, and suffering one delay after another.
By the time they caught up to that wandering bum Sesshomaru, it was already the afternoon of the fourth day.
The two had leisurely crossed more than half of the Western Lands.
When it came to a dog’s instinct to patrol his territory, Sesshomaru was astonishingly dedicated.
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