Past the first garrison there were catapults stationed at the end of the path moving forward to the garrison. The crew were ordered to get to the first garrison and fire their boulders against the army to cause damage however because the catapults were heavy and thus took more time to get into position and fell behind as a result.

'C'mon guys we're almost there, the faster we get there the faster we don't have to move these things.' The leader announces in front while the rest of the crew push the catapults known as thunder carts which made the soldiers groan in response.

'Urgh, easy for him to say he who doesn't get to do anything.' One soldiers whispers to another next to him.

'Hey what was that!?' He questioned angrily.

'N-nothing sir.' He replies. He seemed satisfied with this answer.

'Good now c'mon.' He orders. After about five minutes though the men collapse in exhaustion, the leader demands that they stand back up and march however they physically needed a break before they could continue. He sighs in frustration wanting to fulfil his orders quickly as every second that's lost is a second the enemy to gain the upperhand on their forces.

'Alright fine! Everyone you have five minutes! Then we must move out again got it!?' All the crew sigh a breath of relief as some lean on the thunder carts or lie on the floor. They stopped in the middle of a path with a mountain on the left and a thick forest on the right. One soldier leaning on the thunder cart facing the forest piped up when he heard something. It was not a sound he was accustomed to hearing. Everything became silent for him as he looks in the forest. It was so thick the sun couldn't penetrate it, however there it was. In the distance he could see an alluring bright blue light. He fell for the temptation and walked closer to it, wondering what exactly it was. As he got closer to the edge of the forest he hears beastial snarling which stopped him in his tracks. He suddenly sees just below the blue light are bright yellow eyes which pierces his soul as he stares into his eyes. Paralysed by fear he feels his legs turn to jelly however the light or the eyes do not move.

'All right break's over everyone lets move!' The leader orders forcing the soldiers to break eye contact with the light. He looks forwards towards the path and back again. As he turns his head a pike decorated with light blue diamond like spikes around a rectangular tip was thrown into his abdomen pinning him to the catapult. The light source and golden eyes that are locked on like a predator catching his prey. The rest of the crew come around as soon as they hear something. They look in horror as the figure emerges from the forest.

A towering lizard with dark black scales walking like a man appears. He had a crest coming from the top of his skull upwards with 3 main points of the crest in the middle. The two sides with a layer of skin and scales connecting them together, while at the top of the points spikes were showing. He was armed only with a large, circular and scaly shield decorated by bone spikes on the edges. He snarls which shows off his razor sharp teeth. His back were littered bright blue crystallised blocks of diamonds coming out. He was also accompanied by a long black tail with a sharp diamond tip at the end. The soldiers look on in horror, the golden eyes scan them all before starting to walk forwards each of them taking a step back when he does this.

'D-don't panic he's only one! Get him!' The leader orders, the troops hesitated at first but found the courage to attack him. The lizard smirks as they foolishly attempt to slay him. He lunges forward towards them fearlessly. He smacks the first one in the face with his shield away making him fall. He punches the second with his shield making the spikes cut through the right side of his cheek. He blocks an overhead strike and grabs the perpetrator by the neck with his right hand and chokeslams him to the ground making him scream in agony. As he got ever so closer to the pike he throws the shield to his right like a frisbee hitting a soldier diagonally in his chest. The velocity of it throwing him to the ground backwards coughing up blood but still alive…barely. He looks at the soldier impaled by his pike in his eyes to see the fear he was harbinging. The rest of the ones that are still breathing paused once again paralysed with fear.

'W-what are you doing!? G-go after him this is our chance!' He orders however his frightened self was showing with the rest of the soldiers not convinced that this should be the best thing. One decided to take a chance and charges forward. Satisfied the lizard removes the pikes with his right arm with such he spins around with the momentum causing the pike to penetrate the aggressive soldiers skull, pinning him to the catapult. He removes it as the body slumps to the ground. He swipes across in front of him lacerating a neck. As he does this The final soldier still up charges forward and strikes with his sword. The lizard grabs the sword with its bare hand. He pulls up the pike and brings down striking between the shoulder and the neck. He went down to his knees after the first strike but he kept striking it like a butcher cutting meat. Satisfied he lets go of the sword after causing a massive wound from the area where he struck with enough force to cause a gaping wound. The leader of the crew could only stand and watch as his soldiers were slain one by one. The display of brutality struck fear within him to the core. To the point where he could not feel his legs. The lizard went towards the soldier with the shield, collects it from his chest and sees that he's barely alive. He strikes down with his shield so hard that the head rolls off. With everyone else slain he looks towards the only survivor. He takes a step forwards with a low snarl before he finds himself with feeling and flees as quick as possible. The lizard smirks as he flings his shield again this time hitting the back of his left kneecap forcing him to tumble.

He clutches his leg while yelling however as he sees the beastial lizard walking sinisterly towards him he tries to crawl away as fast as he can. He uses his pike and crashes it onto his other leg dragging him against his will towards him and stabs him in his stomach with his pike down. Silencing him suddenly, he places his foot on the carcass and removes it forcefully. The pike now drenched in blood.

'Well, this is a rather pleasant surprise.' The lizard turned around and sees Dodomeki standing there.

'its been a while hasn't it Diamondback?'

'Dodomeki…I would've thought you'd have been slain in the last battle.' Diamondback replied, his voice gruff and growly.

'Really? This coming from the demon who is back from the dead after getting decapitated. How did you return?'

'I…I'm not sure. It was like I was just sleeping and suddenly woke up in a new body. It was when our lady injured one with that sword of hers. Then for some reason I began to grow more conscious of my surroundings, the body I inhabited and so forth. Eventually claiming it as my own much to the dismay of his…peers.' He sinisterly laughs softly as he shows the scar on his right arm that has been healed.

'And that mystic is dead, we don't have to worry about him retaking your body right?' Dodomeki questions, unsure of what to make of this situation.

'None whatsoever. This body is mine and the mystic is all but consumed.' He licks the top part of his mouth showing off his long tongue.

'Ooh is that diamondback?' Gyuki emerges from the forest aswell creating a thud everytime he took a step. He goes wide eyed as soon as he sees the blue light and runs up to both of them.

'It is really you! I can't believe it its been so long!' Gyuki responded joyfully.

'Haha its pleasure to meet you once again Gyuki.' He nods towards him in which Dodomeki clapped his hands together.

'Well now that we have introductions are over, come Diamondback. We located a good vantage point for our lady to observe her.' Dodomeki stated however Diamondback was confused by this s the pair was retreating back into the forest.

'Observe? What are you talking about?'

'You may not be aware of this but lord Orochi last cycle ordered us to wait until the next harbinger is fully developed before being fully involved with their life. Our lady isn't fully developed yet so we will observe her and wait until she is ready for us to serve.' Dodomeki explained.

'I see…well you can observe if you wish but I will fight alongside her.' As he started to walk away towards the garrison Dodomeki placed a hand on his shoulder.

'Perhaps you did not hear me, Lord Orochi ordered us to wait for this one to develop.' He stated again this time more annoyed.

'He gave YOU that order, I received no such order. Besides the fact I am alive and well thanks to her suggests to me she is developed enough for my services.'

'You're not the one to decide that.'

'And you are?'

'We have observed her for some time and we have a better understanding of where she is rather than someone who has just woke up after being slain all those years ago.' At this point both were at each others faces, neither of them backing down.

'That maybe but our lady is the one that gave me life again. What else does she have to do to show you that she's ready?'

'Haven't you noticed that Lord Orochi hasn't done his takeover of the body as he normally would do by now? Something is amiss.'

'Maybe there's a good reason for that.'

'Maybe there is, all the more reason to watch for any sudden developments and wait before moving.' Dodomeki stated raising his voice in annoyance.

'You can observe from afar like a coward if you wish but I will be a loyal subject to her.' Dodomeki was seriously annoyed by this and immediately got up into his face only his golden eye showing through his helmet, not even blinking. His hand formed a fist ready

'Say that again and you may end up sleeping permanently.'

'I will be-' Gyuki couldn't take the fighting of his fellow demons anymore and roars while he swung his club down. The two jumping backwards to avoid the strike. They both look up to Gyuki in shock.

'We can't be fighting each other. Not now, not when the mystics are hunting for us and our lady. We are on the same side and we all serve Mitsuko right? That means we need to fight our enemies alone.' Gyuki announces leaving both the other demons speechless by his sudden burst of confidence.

'Dodomeki is the one of the most loyal demons that was ever spawned, however we received orders before to observe and wait and Dodomeki has done that even though he may not like the orders himself. We observe waiting for any developments, once we're satisfied we will immediately rush to her side, we just want to be sure.' He tells diamondback who began to chuckle.

'is that so?'

'Yep. You can go fight for our lady if you desire however…maybe not openly just yet.' He suggested.

'Our lady needs all the help she can get! How can-'

'He's right.' Dodomeki interrupted Diamondback.

'She and the other humans are not accustomed to demons like us, you appearing may cause them more problems than not for the time being. I may not be able to prevent your actions but I'd rather you not cause more problems for her.' Diamondback snarls ferociously for a moment before lowering his crest realising they have a point.

'Fine, for now I will wait but do not expect me to lie solely in the shadows forever.' He stated. Satisfied Dodomeki nods directly at him.

'Very well this agreement works for now.'

'Great, now since that's settled.' Gyuki immediately picks up a corpse and eats half in one bite.

'We may aswell get rid of the bodies before the reinforcements come round.' He says with a mouthful of guts.

'Haha you haven't changed have you?' Diamondback picks up another corpse over his shoulder and starts to carry it to the forest. He looks up to Dodomeki who sighs as he sees the other two demons clean up. He knows they probably shouldn't do this and let the enemy discover them as they were not supposed to interfere with Mitsuko's battles. Saying that though, what Gyuki said wasn't completely false when he mentioned Dodomeki not liking his orders. He broke the rules a few times before…what is the worst that can happen? This will be the last time though he tells himself before carrying some corpses to the thick forest.

'Ghurk!' Mitsuko slays another enemy in front of her. As he falls backwards two more from different directions sprint towards her. She looks to the closest one emerging from her right, as he strikes overhead she deflects the strike upwards with her crescent blade, twists and quickly sliced his neck cleanly. She then twists the scythe again and swings it behind her hitting another soldier, penetrating his gut stopping him in his tracks. She quickly removes the scythe, the momentum making him fall forwards. She swings her scythe low, using it to trip up one running towards her. He falls face first onto the ground and Mitsuko strikes down aiming for his chest. He coughs up blood before promptly stopped moving. She places her foot on his skull and with such strength carves out the scythe and flings up some dirt as she does so striking an enemy. He was sent flying while screaming with a huge wound diagonally across his chest and lands on his back coughing up more blood.

Mitsuko looks across the garrison and sees her forces cleanup the unprepared enemy. As the last one was slain the soldiers cheered for victory and raised their weapons high.

'Well well, that was easy. Then again since they weren't prepared they didn't really have much of a chance and we suffered minimal casualties.' Pang tong did his signature chuckle.

'Yep, hopefully after this battle we get the credit that we deserve.' Mitsuko smirks looking around at her troops cheering. As they were doing so a scout sprints towards Mitsuko and kneels in front of her coming from the exit of the garrison.

'My lady enemy reinforcements are coming this way on horseback, they will be here within 5 minutes.' The news of this made some soldiers start to doubt, they don't have enough spearmen to stop a full on cavalry charge.

'Really? Oh no who could've forseen such events?' Pang Tong exclaims dramatically.

'Let me guess, you?' She glances towards him as he emerges behind her who chuckles.

'I may have had a slight look at the maps and I may have sent a couple of extra scouts to confirm this inkling.' Pang Tong admitted.

'Well thanks for telling me…but I assume you also have a plan for this?'

'Well the fact they are not going to be expecting us is a big key, so I suggest we lay an ambush in the garrison. But what would be the best way to lay it I wonder?' Pang Tong feigned wondering, attempting to see how Mitsuko herself would lay it. Mitsuko looks around the garrison unsure on how to do it. As she scans the garrison an idea suddenly pops into her mind.

'Wu Zi?' She looks to her left as Wu Zi immediately comes to her side.

'My lady?'

'Gather the men, I have an idea.' Wu Zi did just that as Mitsuko smiles sinisterly as her eye colours glitch.