That night cheers could be heard from the bandit camp as they organise their loot and plunder into various crates as they all drink and be merry.

'Ahahaha look at all this stuff we got! We're eating good tonight men! With this many supplies lord Zhang Yan can finally go on the offensive against those goddamn nobles! All that had to be done was to slay a few villagers. Who needs them when we have master Zhang Yan!?' The leader states while holding a crude looking spear above while standing on a box, overlooking his fellow bandits. Wearing plain black clothes with an open vest to reveal his muscular abdomen.

'Tomorrow we'll be off to deliver these supplies to master Zhang Yan however for today we drink and be merry, we earned it men! Soon not even that infernal bandit queen won't even stop us!' Everyone cheers as they start drinking and feasting on various foods. The camp was bustling with the drunken joys of merry men as they started to sing various songs and dancing soon after. During all this Mitsuko manages to simply stroll in, she's surprised that she's inside and no one is trying to stop her. She looks around as she sees the bandits too busy drinking to notice her. Though when she was examining her surroundings, she accidently bumps into quite a large bandit who stumbles forwards and spills some of his drink. He turns around angrily.

'Hey watch where you're…oh hello there.' His anger disappeared as he saw Mitsuko's face and realised she was a woman.

'What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this? Those are some awfully sharp toys you have there.' The bandit states, Mitsuko knew what he was doing and she wasn't going to have any of it.

'Yeah no I'm not doing this.' Mitsuko quickly raised her scythe and cleaves through his throat. She struck so quickly the bandit couldn't even reach for his blade in time as he grasped his wound tightly however the blood was still flowing between his fingers and down his neck before he promptly fell to the ground. His two friends quickly drew their blades and shouted at her.

'hey what do you think you're doing!?' They shout, getting everyone's attention.

'What do you think?' She demonically smirked before slashing diagonally at their torso's. Slaying them instantly. Everyone around her now draws their weapons and surround Mitsuko. However, they take a couple of steps back as the leader emerges from the group to stand face to face with Mitsuko. His weapon drawn and ready to spill blood.

'Who are you intruder?' The leader demands

'The names…Mitsuko.' She twitches before stating her name. A couple of hushed whispers spread throughout the camp. The deeds of the serpent had spread to some of the bandits.

'The serpent herself? What brings you here to our humble camp?' The leader questions, wary of why she's here in the first place. He heard a couple of tales of how she dismantles her opponents and duelled one of the tiger's cubs and lived to tell the tale.

'Word reached to me that you have supplies, supplies I need for my soldiers so if you don't mind, I'm going to be taking them.' Mitsuko requested. Trying the diplomatic game however she hopes that falls apart very quickly. The leader laughs at this, not taking her seriously.

'Is that so? Well I'm sorry to say but we can't give you any, these need to go to master Zhang Yan, the time of the mountain bandits has come!' The rest of the bandits cheer as their leader declares this. Mitsuko sinisterly smirks. Her reptilian eyes starting to appear.

'Really? Well sorry to say but I'm going to be taking them.'

'Oh yeah? Hahaha, have you not noticed you're surrounded by the strongest bandits in the land what can the serpent do on her own?' He questions while arrogantly smiling. Though that smile is quickly replaced with blood as Mitsuko quickly sliced his neck with her crescent blade. The leader crashes to his knees as he holds tightly to the wound to prevent more blood from flowing however he can't. He feels his strength waning, he glances around at his men to see them all paralysed with fear. Only silence filled the air, he looked up to see Mitsuko's wide demonic grin on her face. With that the body fell to the ground as blood seeps through the wound, staining the earth. As the body crashes the bandits take a step back away from her. In one swing she manages to kill their leader.

'Turns out I can do quite a bit. Now then.' Mitsuko turns around to see the terrified look on the bandits and smiled dastardly as she points her scythe at them with the tip pointing down to the ground.

'Who's next?' She snarls viciously. Her canine teeth start to transform into more fanglike. A bandit attempted to take his chances and tried to attack Mitsuko from behind with his axe, he yells loudly as he raises his weapon high and took a step forward. Mitsuko quickly silenced him as she quickly sliced his throat. Blood quickly flows from the wound as the body falls backwards. As the body drops to the ground more bandits rushed Mitsuko. Mitsuko twisted her body and cleaves through the bodies slaying them all instantly as the crescent blade cleaves through their torsos, knocking them all down. She quickly steps to the side as she saw a bandit lunging in front of her. She withdraws the scythe before swinging it full force into the stomach as he rushes past her. He spits out blood and quickly drops his weapon as his arms dangle and the body slumps over the crescent blade. Two bandits saw their opportunity as the crescent blade is stuck within their comrade. They charged on both sides of Mitsuko, hoping for one to wound her. Little did they know that the serpent had yet to reveal all her fangs.

Mitsuko lets go of the scythe with her left hand, grabs the hilt of her hidden blade and horizontally slashed the bandit's torso on her left when she unsheathed the sword. Before the body dropped Mitsuko quickly attacks the bandit to her right side over her scythe. The blade piercing the middle his skull and blood pours from the open wound, stopping the corpse in his tracks as the weapon was dropped. Mitsuko shoved the corpse slightly at an angle causing the head to slide off the blood drenched blade as it fell backwards. She forcibly removed the scythe. She wildly recoiled the polearm and knocked a couple of bandits back as the rear of the scythe smacked into them, knocking them off their feet.

She twisted her scythe with the crescent blade pointing in the air before crashing down on an unsuspecting bandit, the crescent blade piercing the skull before crashing it to the ground. Mitsuko dragged it out of the skull as she pulled it backwards with her strength, carving some of the earth in the process as she drags it upwards, slaying another bandit coming behind her, the crescent blade pierces his throat before his chin, the tip of the blade comes out of the bandits mouth as the bandit groans in agony as he dropped his weapon. He grasped the crescent blade weakly before his limbs went limp, his strength rapidly faded away. Blood coming out from his mouth and the wound in his throat. Mitsuko threw the body as she swung her scythe, forcing the body to slide off from the crescent blade and onto another group of bandits who get knocked down by the newly formed corpse. Mitsuko ran up there as she sliced a couple of extra opponents before reaching the group. They struggled desperately to get the body off before Mitsuko's arms start to convulse violently. They quickly pushed the body off as Mitsuko drops to her knees as the arms started to transform into the very arms that gave her the strength to slay Lu Bu. Everyone looks horrified as the snake's heads started from the shoulders and started to swallow the arms as Mitsuko started sinisterly laughing. Eventually the snakes swallowed the arms and even the weapons before letting the blades hang out of their mouths. The snakes hiss as they and Mitsuko look around their surroundings to see the terror of their faces.

'Sh-she's a monster let's get out of here!' One yelled out in fear, causing the rest of the bandits to lose their nerve, not caring about anything else but their own hides. However, Mitsuko hasn't had enough yet. She wanted…needed more of their blood soaking into the earth. Her demonic bloodlust became overbearing as she started to laugh maniacally. She planted the crescent blade in the ground and pulled with all her might making her leap in the air.

'We've almost made it!' one of the lead bandits exclaimed with excitement as they almost reached the exit however Mitsuko put a stop to that excitement as she lands on his back. She smiled dastardly as her snakes swallowed the blades uses their fangs to penetrate both sides of the bandit's skull though the fangs prevent the blood from escaping the wounds. The bandits were too terrified to interfere and took a step back. Mitsuko stomped on the back of the bandit and kept her foot on his back as she pulled the snakes towards her with their fangs still deep within his skull. The bandit screamed in agony as he felt his flesh getting torn. He screamed for help though no one dared to interrupt the execution, fearing for their lives until finally Mitsuko decided to put an end to it and pulled the head off the body. Blood drips from the open neck wound as one of the heads keep a hold of it with their fangs as Mitsuko holds it high as she looks at the rest of the terrified bandits. The snake closed his jaw, crushing the skull with blood and brain matter scattering near Mitsuko's feet.

'Who was it that called me a monster?' She questioned the petrified crowd in front of her. They were all too frozen with fear to respond.

'Who called me a monster?' She asked again while snarling this time. The rest of the bandits murmured and whispered frantically as they try to locate the bandit in question. Mitsuko's face starts to twitch violently as scales begin to form on her neck. The murmurs and whispers grew louder as a noticeable voice of protest begin to get closer to Mitsuko. Eventually the source of the bandit, a mere grunt was pushed to the ground in front of Mitsuko. He landed on his hands and knees. He looked up to Mitsuko, terror paralysed him from moving as he looked into her reptilian, demonic eyes.

'So despite razing a village to the ground you think I'm a monster?' She sinisterly chuckles while grinning demonically at him. He fell backwards and attempted to tell his body to crawl backwards as she knelt down to his eye level. He couldn't respond to her question, he was just completely paralysed, his body wouldn't respond.

'Well…its not like you're not wrong.' Everyone was surprised when she uttered those words. The bandit starts to sit up more however Mitsuok's left snake arm grabs him by the top of his skull with his mouth and drags him next to Mitsuko. The fangs don't penetrate the skull as it drags the unwilling bandit as he struggled to escape and brought to his knees. He's forced to his knees, the fangs hover an inch away from his eyes. The snake's drool starts to drip from his mouth and onto his head which quickly joined the sweat the bandit is producing down the side of his face. The slimy thicker drool made him squirm to the best of his ability though he struggled to resist the temptation, in fear of angering the serpent.

'I didn't try to be like this. It wasn't a conscious choice I made…though when I did…kill her. I…was heartbroken and tried to tell myself it wasn't my fault. Though deep down I knew it was, I knew from then on I was just a horrible person. Though…' Mitsuko stopped herself as the snake pulled the head back slightly revealing his exposed neck as the top of the tip of the crescent blade soaked in blood and the snakes slobber caresses the neck very softly.

'Ever since I came to this world, I've realised something. I may be a horrible person, though the fact is I can't change that. I can't change the fact that I am a monster, though you all there…are just cowards. Calling me one when you deny your very own character. Do you really think razing a village makes you less of a monster than me? You goddamn hypocrites! You don't get to think you're the good guys when you slay innocents…just like me.' Mitsuko whispers the last words to herself, her sight down at the ground to her right rather than at the bandit crowd in sadness as memories of Akari comes flooding back, she lowered her scythe temporarily. The bandit sighed a breath of relief. Though those memories and her guilt are quickly numbed by her desires of bloodlust.

'So with everything going on in this world, I am no longer shackled by fear. Thanks to this past I realised I need to embrace the very monster I was destined to be!' Mitsuko declared as she turned the tip of the scythe to face the neck and slowly slices the neck open. The bandits could only watch as their comrade's blood seep from his cut. The bandit gurgled as he struggled to scream though only blood escapes from his mouth as he coughed it up which dripped down his chin. Mitsuko saw the horror in their eyes before the snake holding the bandit regurgitates the sword through his skull, the tip of the blade bursts out of his chests, silencing the victim's gurgles. The blade is retracted back inside the mouth and the snake lets go of the skull, leaving the corpse to promptly drop to the ground. Mitsuko chuckled at their dread as they realised they have nowhere to go. She needed this as her serpent fangs started to show, she also revealed her serpent tongue.

'And this monster demands your demise!' Both her snakes regurgitate her weapons and lunged towards them while laughing demonically. Her laughter took over the screams of terror and agony. The next morning a red sun rises. Dodomeki did as he was told and ordered the army to follow him to where the bandit camp is almost instantly. He explained to the generals what was going on though LingQi and a few soldiers weren't a fan of this.

'You keep making such a stern expression people will think that you can't enjoy yourself.' Pang Tong did his signature chuckle though LingQi didn't change her expression.

'How can I enjoy myself? I don't like taking orders from this one and Mitsuko was far too reckless to go out on her own, she could be in danger for all we know.'

'Hehe, I think she'd have thought about this before going ahead with it. Besides having those supplies would be very beneficial for us. Since without that chances are the army would start to perish one by one which would not be the greatest thing to put down in the history books I think.' Pang Tong chuckled again as he pulls the tip of his hat up and looks up to LingQi.

'I know…but still she should still be able to come for us to aid or at least tell us what's going on instead of getting that one to order us around.' She motioned her head at Dodomeki.

'Perhaps. But alas it is what it is.' He glances at her sad expression on her face.

'But I'm sure its nothing to worry about, I'm sure lady Mitsuko merely just…acted on the information given to her.' That didn't really help her nevertheless she appreciated the support.

'Maybe, maybe.' Unbeknownst to them that the demons in front could hear them.

'Tch, its not about enjoying yourself its about doing what your told you damn human.' Dodomeki whispered to himself to make sure they couldn't hear, though his fellow demons did.

'Watch yourself cyclops.' Diamondback snarled at him. Not appreciating his comments.

'What you have a soft spot for humans now or something?'

'No I just have respect for strong warriors, respect you should learn to have.'

'Her skills are not in question its herself that is the issue.'

'How? You have yet to clarify this, what has she done to earn you ire?' Diamondback interrogated. The conviction in her attacks during their sparring convinced him that she was loyal to Mitsuko.

'She needs to learn to not worry about lady Mitsuko like that. She's her subordinate. She needs to understand her position better. Its not up to her how lady Mitsuko handles things. She needs to shut up and obey orders.' Dodomeki explained.

'She's our ally and a strong one at that. She also care deeply for Lady Mitsuko, you should be proud that she displays such loyalty.'

'Is that why we're keeping what happened in that castle a secret?' Dodomeki inquired, glancing at Diamondback who grits his teeth while growling softly.

'Tch, you know full well why that's the case. Our strategist -'

'If we were really sure of her loyalty she'd have known the truth by now and still be loyal. But no we're keeping it a secret.' Dodomeki interrupted.

'Humans are more complicated than that and you know it you imbecile. You never had this sort of attitude before but now you're all of a sudden you're being very hostile to a warrior who doesn't deserve it.' Diamondback defended LingQi.

'Is that so, did you think that when you were sparring with her? You didn't think I saw you helping her out?'

'You act like I have something to hide, I'm not afraid in helping a fellow comrade get stronger in order to assist Lady Mitsuko. Its how I know she's genuine. You on the other hand have only assumptions and your own opinions to work off.'

'Hey guys I think we're here.' Gyuki interrupted both of them as they found themselves at the entrance of the bandit camp. The supply crates are left untouched though the camp itself is drenched in bandit blood, corpses littered the ground with various limbs and body parts scattered around the camp. The army starts to enter the camp being cautious to not step on any bodies. Several quiet splashes could still be heard as they traverse the littered graveyard. The soldiers start to grab the supply crates and take them out the camp. The generals scour the area for Mitsuko for a while before they manage to spot her sitting down on a dead bandit's back with her back leaning on the crate. Her face looking up to the sky, though she was fast asleep with a peaceful expression on her face.

'Mitsuko!' LingQi exclaimed as she sprinted, budging Dodomeki accidently in the process who growled at her as she passed. She knelt in front of her and tried to wake her up by shaking her.

'Hey Mitsuko, wake up.'

'Urgh, just 5 more minutes.' She groaned, not wanting to awaken just yet. She didn't really want to brake her slumber. LingQi could tell she's still tired, she wanted to let her sleep a bit more as requested however she knew she couldn't do that and that they needed to get going.

'Sorry Mitsuko but I think we better get going now.' She couldn't help but speak softly. Mitsuko slowly opened her eyes to see LingQi looking relieved with her army behind her.

'argh, ok just…give me a minute just to wake up.' Mitsuko requested as she fought against her sleepiness by trying to move her body. LingQi helped her stand up. Mitsuko started stretching her limbs to help wake her up.

'What were you thinking going off on your own?' LingQi unwittingly began to scold her.

'Sorry, I just thought you'd be sleeping so I didn't want to disturb you. Besides I needed a break and forget about her.' Mitsuko responded although she didn't mean to let out the last part.

'Forget about whom?' LingQi inquired. Who was she trying to forget, was it that important for Mitsuko to forget about her? Why would she?

'Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!'

'No one really important, just you know…someone I met at Xia Pi, just wondered if she was ok that's all. But I just needed to forget about her and move on, I'm sure she's fine. Hehe.' Mitsuko nervously chuckled, LingQi wasn't entirely convinced by Mitsuko's lie. She could tell by how tense Mitsuko was when she let it slip. Whereas before she noticed how relaxed she was.

'Oh look the sun is just rising, we need to get going, c'mon guys lets grab these crates and get going.' Mitsuko called out to her army whom began to get as many crates as they can. LingQi can only stare at her as she walked away from her. LingQi's curiosity for Mitsuko's secrets grew into concern and uneasiness. Did she really need to fight this battle on her own? Did she really need to just walk away from herself and fight on her own needlessly? As Mitsuko walk past Dodomeki he glanced back at her. LingQi stared at his sole, golden eye. It made her uneasy, though she stood her ground. Before he walked behind her, she could've sworn there was also concern in his eye. LingQi thought she may have been imagining it but something about that look that can't be imagined. She shook her head and realised she needed to help Mitsuko anyway she can for the moment. She grabbed a crate as a fellow soldier attempted to lift it up, with her strength the crate was picked up with ease.