Unbeknownst to Mitsuko's forces, up above on a cliff an armoured teal warrior was watching their ambush with short brunette hair. His eyes green like emerald armed with a teal engraved longsword. He looked in horror as Mitsuko's forces slaughtered the opposition, the ambush made him grip his spear tightly and wanted to jump in himself.

'That blasted serpent! Killing everyone because she can…if I didn't have to report back to Jezha I'd try to kill you right now…but I know I wouldn't stand a chance. Enjoy your life while you can demon, for lord Jezha will strike you down.' He thought to himself, he noticed that for a while the ground that he was crouching on was rumbling though it was a very quiet rumble he didn't pay much heed to it. Until he suddenly felt the rumbles feel really close as he heard heavy thumping behind him.

'Oho, what have we here? Enjoying the scenery are we?' He heard a menacing croaky voice behind him. He opened his eyes in shock as he turned to see a giant frog. His main body was wrapped in a viridian green tunic though the slimy skin, mainly on the back of the frogs skin that was visible was mantis green while the more underbelly side had a darker laurel shade of green. The eyes bulges out of the side with black eyes quickly darting around, unnerving the other mystic. In regular intervals the man sized frog croaks, revealing its large vocal sacs. It sits up right while resting on its large back legs while its shorter front legs are equipped with a spiked club in its webbed right hand while the other one has a circular steel shield in the same viridian green. However in the middle of the shield was a yellow outline of a frogs face in sapphire blue.

'You…why are your people here!? You should be up there with your damn princess!' the teal clad warrior exclaimed with both confusion and contempt as it points its sword at the accursed creature who laughs loudly as with its mouth open revealing how large it actually was, it looked to fit an entire human being in there.

'She told you all that we would be free of our prison. And we are! She's quite amused watching you all wonder around aimlessly looking for your prey.' The sinister frog answered.

'Tch, so you know then do you?'

'How could we not? We watch you all from above. Poor you mystics, without a proper leader so you splinter into various tribes like primitive savages that you oh so look down upon. Oh how the mighty have fallen.' The frog laughed while the mystic warrior looked upon him with a furious expression.

'Silence! Order will soon be established, once lord Jezha slays the serpent you all will go back to your wasteland on the moon where you belong.' He stated.

'Is that so? Haha. You naive fool. Your lord will be slain and so will you if you get in our way. After all, we wouldn't you to die straight away. We need our vengeance first while you all suffer for what you did to us!'

'You all did that to yourselves when you drank the elixir like your princess and hid like cowards.'

'You drove us to extermination for no justifiable reason!' The frog warrior yelled loudly.

'Yet you unfortunately survived by running away. He shouldn't have bothered to spare you all, he was too sympathetic.' The mystic stated, shaking his head in disappointment.

'Yes, we did run, we did hide. Yes you trapped us…but we survived. You will suffer for your crimes, however before we can, we will slay the serpent and then you will watch helplessly as our glorious queen takes the power to claim dominion over your realm and your people that you all hold dear.' The frog laughed heartily as the mystic steeled himself.

'You will not do that on my watch traitor!' he charged towards the frog with his sword to his side going for a horizontal swing. Before he swung, the frog jumped high in the air. The mystic was shocked that he could jump so high, he never even saw a demon jump like that. As the frog descended it raised its spiked club high going for an overhead smash. The mystic had no choice but to leap out the way. As the frog landed, the cliff edge shook the ground before the frog leapt forward at a high speed. The mystic barely had enough time to roll out of the way.

The frog lands at the mystics former position as he tries to stab his opponent in the back left leg. His opponent dropped the circular shield in time, blocking the attack while closely followed up by another overhead smash with the spiked club. The mystic crawls backwards in time as the attack landed between his legs, creating a small crater in the ground. The frog continues this flurry of attacks as the mystic crawls backwards. After a couple of failed swing miss, as the last one made impact with the ground, the frog leant in closer to the ground. Allowing the mystic to roundhouse kick him in the face as he turned over. The frog staggered back as the mystic lunged in, thrusting his sword straight at his face. The circular shield parried the attack as the frog struck the mystic with his spiked club at the right side of his ribs. He was swept off the ground before falling onto it, face first. He groaned in pain as he clutched his ribs which the spiked club penetrated part of his body. Blood started to pour from the wound, staining his impeccable teal uniform. The mystic coughed up blood in addition as he tried to stand up to face his enemy. Though he recognises that maybe this may not be the best time for bravery. If he falls now, lord Jezha and the others may not know about this impending attack from the frog princess and her servants. He hated to do this but he thought this was necessary.

The frog leapt forward again, going for another attack. The mystic dodged backwards and reached into his dark blue sash to reveal a small blue sphere. He throws it on the ground and immediately covers the area in a white fog.

'Wait, what's going on!?' The frog darted his head around, trying to look for his mystic opponent.

'This should buy me enough time, now I got to flee.' The mystic thought to himself as he quickly sprinted away from the fight as fast as he could. The frog heard the footsteps and with its superior eyesight turned its head and found the figure of the fleeing mystic beyond the fog.

'Gotcha.' The frog opened its mouth and extends out its long tongue at a high velocity towards the mystic. The slimy mucus made contact with the tunic of the mystic and yanked him back. He was shocked as he felt himself get yanked back and finds himself being dragged backwards. He quickly became terrified as he flailed his arms as well as his whole body trying to escape, though it was futile. The frog took great pleasure in the mystics attempt to retreat. As it slowly pulls him closer to it, his large mouth seemed to grow even larger as the mystic grew larger. When he was close enough another yank was made by the tongue, taking the mystic off the ground and his torso was in the frogs mouth. The mystic quickly put his hands on the top half of the frogs mouth, which his thumb gripping the outside of it. Preventing the frog from closing the jaw. The mystics sword was pointing further down the mouth. The pitch black abyss almost beckoned him to give up and embrace his fate, though he refused as he used all his might to stop the jaw from crushing him. He knew if he didn't do anything he would be doomed, he couldn't fall here. Not to this traitorous abomination, not when lord Jezha needs his help the most. The tongue still kept a firm hold of the tunic as it pulled him far enough for his feet to not touch the floor so he would be unable to run or try anything. All they're doing is uselessly flailing around.

The mystic yells out loud as held on with all his might, using the momentum of his body to try propel him out, though the sticky mucus prevented this from being effective. He held on to the mouth with one arm for a last ditch attempt as he used his sword to swing inside blindly before trying to stab the top membrane. However as he did, the mouth quickly closed as if instinctually. The mystic screams were muffled as they echoed inside the frog. The legs flailed more wildly. Golden blood started to drip out of the lips at the centre of the lips where the legs were hanging out. The frog keels his head back and gobbled the legs in the mouth. That was when the last mystics voice was heard before the mouth was closed. As the frog with his mouth closed croaked, the vocal sacks were filled not only with air but visibly filled with the same golden blood that it dribbled from the mouth. The sound of the screams were replaced by crunching and squelching from the inside. The sounds of various fluids rushing through the mouth before the frog vomited the remains. A pile of the same sticky mucus was in front of him along with the uniform, surprisingly free from any blood stains. Various bits of bone that was grinded into small molecules of dust were trapped in the mucus, and on top was the mystics sword. The tip broke from the main blade. The frog reached to grab the main handle of the blade and chuckled to himself.

'If they ever discover the remains, they will remember us. And they will remember our lady's vengeance is at hand! I should report to my lady at once. Although…'It paused as it looks over the cliff and spots Mitsuko down below dealing with the noble.

'If I claim her head and serve it to her ladyship, she will reward me greatly rather than just claiming it for her own if she sent the rest of us to this location…hehehe. Be warned serpent, you won't live to see the retribution of the mystics.' It stated as it hopped away with loud thuds becoming quieter and quieter. Underneath the cliff a familiar chuckle was heard. Pang Tong climbed up and investigated the mess left by the mysterious enemy. Pang Tong reached into the mucus with his shadow hand and pulled out the broken tip and examined it closely.

'My, my. How interesting, looks like Zhang Yan isn't the only threat we have to worry about…hehe. I should inform lady Mitsuko and give her the heads up.'

'Was pretty much my thought process.' Pang Tong concluded. Mitsuko and her officers were huddled around by a campfire while the rest of the soldiers save a few lookouts were in tents and resting for the night.

'Great so I have to worry about these "mystics" trying to assassinate me. This night keeps getting better and better.' Mitsuko sighed as she looked to the 3 demons opposite her.

'I suppose this is because of "lord Orochi" am I right?'

'Of course, these mystics always hold grudges. They won't stop until you are annihilated.' Dodomeki stated with his arms crossed and venom in his words.

'I don't even get it, what did I…or rather lord Orochi do to them to piss them off so much?'

'Its been so long that we don't really remember. Its been an age of war between us demons and the mystics so you'd be hard pressed to find a demon who remembers why this all began unfortunately.' Gyuki stated.

'And I suppose I shouldn't expect them to stop trying to hassle me if I asked politely right?'

'Not in the slightest, in fact they may do it more.' Diamondback replied as Mitsuko sighed.

'Then what do you know about these mystics? If they're a threat to lady Mitsuko then we need to know everything about them.' LingQi stated.

'They're warriors from another realm, you humans call it heaven I believe. They believe themselves to be gods and parade themselves as such, though only a few reach true "godhood" as they call it. Basically just means they're the strongest around. They're all arrogant all the same however. You fought a couple of them before, those teal clad warriors. That's how they distinguish themselves from the normal mortals. They normally take the form of humans as the souls of the fallen are "purified" and naturally become mystics. Though its not uncommon for stronger individuals to take other forms like that frog. They're a unified people normally that looks after their own.' Dodomeki explained.

'Purified? In what way?' Mitsuko asked.

'In the way that they see you as an enemy for simply existing. I had hoped that you had more time before they found you. However it seems that we may have to deal with a large number of them soon rather than later.' Dodomeki answered.

'Hmm, if I may interject. You mention that they are unified, but the mystic warrior seemed to refer to the frog creature as a traitor. Plus, from their conversation it seems that they're fractured greatly.' Pang Tong deduced from his memories.

'We demons kill mystics, we do not invite them for tea you must realise.' Diamondback responded.

'True, though based on that conversation it seemed a significant event happened to the mystics to have them fractured like the way they described. It would make sense considering it was only one scout and not a group of them. If their only objective was to assassinate lady Mitsuko, then they would've sent a scout group and only one would leave to report to the rest of them. But there's not, there was only one. You would only do that if you were very small in number and can't afford to waste any troops.' Pang Tong deduced.

'No, that can't be. In Orochi's previous incarnations they presented a clear united front when they discovered his presence. What could've changed?' Dodomeki asked, somewhat angrily.

'Hmm, we could look at what happened to our own land for that. Think about it, we were unified under a single emperor until the yellow turbans caused a ruckus. Then Dong Zhuo rose to power, they rose to power but after he died all the warlords were splintered. Without leadership people had no idea on who to flock to, who to serve. Many at the moment are trying to make their name known, like our lady over here. If you cut the head off the snake, the body will fall. However, who's to say that the more heads will not appear from the body, vying for control?' Pang Tong chuckled.

'So what you're saying is, the leader of these mystics would have to have died for them to be splintered like this?' LingQi guessed, noticing the parallels.

'Correct, however that is my hypothesis anyway.' The three demons look at each other.

'Did Orochi actually slay the emperor himself?' Gyuki asked.

'I don't know, I was slain before that happened. But that would make sense. Their emperor was the lynchpin, without him I can see the others vying for power. Tch, how poetic.' Diamondback responded. Dodomeki snarled quietly to himself after hearing that.

'That doesn't explain why they would go after me and not each other. Sounds like they have bigger issues than just trying to kill me.' Mitsuko responded.

'As I said, Orochi is…was the biggest threat of the mystics, they probably want to stamp you out now before you become a threat to them first before dealing with each other? Though I would've thought they would be less fragmented than what they seem to be.'

'The reasons for their actions are not important, what matters is that they're trying to kill Mitsuko and they need to pay dearly for daring to do that.' LingQi chimed in with a serious, dark tone.

'I agree, I have no real interest in finding their motivations, just turning them into carcasses for the vultures.' Dodomeki responded as he stood up.

'Aww.' Gyuki whined.

'Oh, ok fine, for you as well.' Dodomeki sighed, Gyuki's spirits perked up.

'That is all well and good, however finding out their motivation will help us combat them. Knowledge is an underrated ally after all. Once the bandit queen trusts us enough, I should be able to find out more information as they'll trust us more and I may be able to make use of their…hidden merchandise lets say.' Pang Tong chuckled.

'Good to know, I'll try and play the diplomacy game with the bandit queen, hopefully now that we did this task she'd look at us with a bit more favour. You guys have any more info on the mystics, this Jezha or these traitorous frogs?' Mitsuko enquired to her demonic servants, they all shook their heads.

'Not really, as we say we just kill mystics, Orochi didn't normally take any prisoners.' Gyuki stated.

'Though if the strategist is correct with his assumption of them being splintered, having even a small band of mystics under their command is quite the accomplishment and shows the level of trust they have for him. He can't be underestimated. As for the frogs, I truly don't know. The mystics normally don't like to interact with other people and most likely have their own set of secrets.' Diamondback warned.

'Noted, thanks. That's all for now. Get some rest, we have a busy day tomorrow.' Mitsuko disbanded the small war meeting, as most of the officers left, she stood up and about to go however LingQi carefully grasps the neck of her right serpent. Looking Mitsuko in the eyes as she turned around.

'What's up?' She questioned, unsure why LingQi suddenly did this.

'Earlier on you hesitated. I never saw you like that before. Do you…want to talk about it?' LingQi asked, noticing since Mitsuko let the carriage go, she seemed…off.

'And here I thought I had a good stoic face I kept on.' Mitsuko chuckled before sighing.

'Truth be told, I don't know why I hesitated. I mean I killed so many by now so its not like killing bothers me. But when I heard that baby crying and saw how terrified the mother was…I don't know. I never had to kill a child but I never expected after hearing its cry I would just…stop. Or preventing other people from doing so and jeopardising an alliance I need for our soldiers. I just…I just.' Mitsuko stammered as she tried to come up with some plausible explanation.

'Hey, I wasn't judging your actions. I just thought it was a little abnormal see you like that, I never saw you so…doubtful. You don't need to beat yourself over it. As you said you never killed a child, right? Killing warriors is different than a helpless infant. I don't think anyone blames you for that.' LingQi comforted Mitsuko as her hand made her way to the serpent's mouth as most of the palm fits inside, with her thumb resting on top of the serpents head. The serpent instinctually closes but it doesn't snap shut, it was more delicate, like hands holding each other.

'I know, its just…now that its been over and done, what if she sees through my lies and then demands blood, then what do I do?'

'Then you'll deal with it, like you always do. You know we'll all stand with you. Even if we to deal with them with arms. I'm sure Pang Tong concocted a scheme already in case diplomacy fails.' LingQi jested slightly, making Mitsuko laugh softly, alleviating her worries a small amount.

'heh, that's true. I'm surprised he hasn't taken over the south yet. Hehe…so…do you think I made the right choice?' Mitsuko questioned, wanting some validation for her choice. LingQi paused for a moment to choose her words carefully.

'I'm not sure and I can't say I know for certain. But I know its your decision and I'll stand by that decision and I'll stand by you.' Mitsuko's serpent closed its jaw a little tightly but not enough to cause pain or discomfort.

'Thanks…for staying with me.' Mitsuko whispered. LingQi gave her a warm smile before Mitsuko suddenly removed her serpent head away from LingQi's out of embarrassment as she realised what was going on.

'Ahh, erm sorry about that. I erm…I'm still erm, getting used, to erm…serpent hands in more…erm…physical contact that doesn't involve slaughter.' Mitsuko stammered as she looked in the opposite direction. Seeing Mitsuko's embarrassment activated LingQi's mischievousness.

'Is that so? I never thought the serpent would be so…human. Just imagine the news and the whispers of your forces if they found out the serpent has a heart.' LingQi teased, Mitsuko was about to retort however she decided to play fire by fire.

'I know, it'll almost be as great as the talks once they find out the stoic, strong warrior is secretly just a mischievous prankster, just imagine no one taking you seriously after that.' Mitsuko smirked as LingQi looked stunned.

'Hey that's not fair.' LingQi stated.

'Ahh well, neither is life.' Mitsuko winks at her playfully earning a shove from LingQi. Mitsuko couldn't help but laugh and LingQi couldn't help but laugh with her. For just a moment they forgot the world they inhabited, their plans for the future, their worries and anxieties. They didn't notice Dodomeki hiding behind a tree, peering over. Watching lady Mitsuko act so…casual was an interesting thing for Dodomeki. Hearing what Mitsuko thought, how she felt made him feel even more regretful, especially after thinking about Pang Tongs hypothesis about the mystics being fractured. If he'd known, Mitsuko wouldn't have had to suffer the way she did. He would've done more with her. Her laughter with LingQi served him as a reminder of his failure, his failure to protect her. One he hoped to rectify as soon as possible with his undying devotion as he clenched his right fist in anger, anger he directed at himself.