Little Qin was a bit sulky.

Currently she was standing in front of a group of grumpy Oni Elders (having just been woken up from a night of drinking), their servants (who were surprised they even had someone to follow orders from) and another Oni that weren’t still counting sheep. The number of their combatants had taken a heavy hit. Clearly this was the first problem found with Oni when compared to their enemies; they always made sure to get wasted as soon as war was officially declared. 

Yet it was her job to find some of the top dogs (who obviously would have the finest alcohol available) to instead join the morning brawl and deal with some weaklings. No wonder they were grumpily glaring at her like she stole their candy. Oni loved to fight but at the same time they enjoyed fighting strong opponents the most. Who was the strongest? 

Other Oni Elders!

One may ask where were her bosses, Ojou-sama & companions? They had obviously ran to the frontlines after making sure to leave her with this job!

The reasoning from Slate was that she “is the second best at long distance among Violet’s shadow guards” but she believed it was just because she was the youngest shadowguard under Slate & Ashue. Probably also because Ojou-sama was flirting with her… Well it was worth it as long as their Ojou-sama was happy!

“Right, as you know the Matriarch is… Out of commission. Because of this, Ojou-sama is currently the one in charge as the heir to the Matriarch! I have been left behind to give the Elders Violet Ojou-sama’s orders till her mother awakens. The plan is simple but should be effective; we hit them where it hurts by dealing with their weakest links.

Cultivators always let the weaklings go to the front lines to fight for themselves - they do this no matter the conflict. They say it’s ‘to give experience’ but really they just don’t want to risk their own lives for their own dumb conflicts. So we’ll do the opposite and send some true fighters up front to wipe out their ‘disciples’. That’s where you all come in!” <Qin>

The elders nodded in acknowledgement at this point. Although it would be more fun attacking the heart of the whole operation. Beheading those Nascent & Spirit Elder cultivators would not only be fun but delicious! Though… It would be annoying to annoy the Beasts who loved keeping balance and all that. 

Plus iff they caused enough problems they may instead be able to get the attention of an Ascendant Ancestor - maybe even an Immortal realm one (though they tended to focus more on protecting the sects than even the Ascendant Realm)! Perhaps they couldn’t get away with killing an Ascendant Realm cultivator as they were basically the highest ranked cultivators in the eyes of mortals but they didn’t think they would be blamed for killing Ascendant Realm ones since they weren’t at the peak. 

They did have to be worried about killing any Nascent Realms since they could be a sect master of a great sect. From the reports it seemed there was only one Nascent soul cultivator who couldn’t be killed as he led the {Absolute Divine Truth Sect} which was a very important sect for mortals. Without it they would need more help than planned to deal with the next large scale demonic campaign. Plus it could get annoying if they wiped out the management of too many large sects as well.

So, the best idea wasn’t to hurt the higher ups but target the little annoying guys who haven't managed to become important enough. In the grand scheme of things the effect of killing a load of them could be mitigated better than a pivotal  leader but to these ‘ancestors’ it would be a shocking insult. Who targets their disciples and gets away with it?!

The Oni Elders, that’s who!

“Obviously we’ll need some of them to survive; doubt makes it too obvious. Just give one of the kids a chance to survive no matter how low it is. I imagine that means you can dislocate their vertebrae and bludgeon their brains as long as their insides aren’t complete? Though only occasionally let one live - don’t want them to think we’re too weak was what I was told.” <Qin>

“Eh?! And who is a little doggy in black to give us mighty Oni instructions!” <Crimson Oni Male>

However that man was silenced as one of the 2 available elders - one with gems of quartz embedded in her outfit cluing one into her name (based on how the Oni worked) - vanished from her position only to appear behind that Oni. Lightly reaching out her hand to touch his lower back only to cause his entire body to shake as blood poured from his pours. If he wasn’t an Oni he would’ve no doubt been dead before he fell to the ground… Which he did with a large thud considering he was 11 foot tall. That also the reason she only touched his lower back since, she as a female, was only average height for a women.

This caused everyone to shiver but the woman said nothing as she seemed to phase out of existence to stand where she once did before. This action confused a lot of the lower ranked members of {The Oni Village} and Yakuza… Luckily there was another more familiar voice to fill in the gaps. Of course, she did this while adjusting her square framed glasses from behind her own veil.

“Foolish man couldn’t even realize he insulted the shadow guard of the heir to the Oni - allowing her an authority greater than even us {Assura Elders} in situations when she is representing Ojou-sama -  in front of Quartz-sama. An Oni known for being more loyal to the {Little Hannya Family}’s bloodline than even Ancestor Ruby. She personally has trained the Shadow Guards for all our princess’ while, acting as the absolute head Shadow Guard, is legendary even outside our people. She has the rare ability to control oscillations and electric fields to a far finer degree than any silly cultivator or beast!

An assassin who has spent her entire life loyally serving and could be said to be just as talented as her daughter Slate if not more. Although Slate doesn’t appear to be in her mothers best books-“ <Alabaster>

A calm emotionless voice spoke out to interrupt Alabaster. One could even say it was cold to the point of making one shiver. Yet it was beautiful for all to hear thus making one shiver for a second reason - though since many had gone through her harsh training it was mostly due to sheer fear on the level of PTSD. 

Quartz herself was a very beautifully mature woman similar to her daughter. Although she didn’t have the most impressive chest out of all Oni, she had plenty of ass tempered through hard training to make up for this. Unlike the younger Oni she held herself with a far more informal nature like a trained servant who had gone through decades of training… Which was actually underselling her considering how old Oni got.

“Slate will surpass me even if not in the ways of assassination - it her duty as the one serving our brilliant Ojou-sama. Although she does not follow the exact same path as mine and I need to be harsh as her superior as well as trainer… As a mother between one elder to another I could not be more proud with the route she has chosen herself.” <Quartz> 

“Sorry for my lack of foresight senior - though I think this is the most I’ve heard you speak so you certainly do adore your daughter in secret. But to sum it up I would say it’s more shocking he isn’t dead for his silly slight.” <Alabaster>

“It would be unceremonial for Oni blood to be the first split on a fine day of war… A day that marks when we shall rise once again to serve the family for all eyes to see.” <Quartz>

It remained silent as their servants all stood straight. They didn’t dare to speak now they knew half of them would be taken by the legendary Quartz. Instead they were simply awaiting for the two elders to move out while Qin quickly ran away; both of them stood side by side. Quartz knew Alabaster wanted to ask something.

“How long did Ancestor Ruby use me after I passed out… I ended up so big I thought I was about to have my first child - a male at that.” <Alabaster>

“I think it should be the perfect time for you after the war but I’m not actually sure. It pains me to say it but Matriarch Ebony ended up feeling more eager after witnessing you faint so I too embarrassed myself hence why I won’t blame you. I just feel glad that Violet-Ojou dragged Slate out before she witnessed me at my lowest… I was just as surprised as you to find your head in my-” <Quartz>

“Wait, you also couldn’t handle it senior?!” <Alabaster>

“Indeed, it just felt so heavenly that I couldn’t contain myself which was followed by me completely losing control. Although the Ancestor isn’t as large nor impressive as matriarch it sure was a jump for a young Oni like yourself to go from men to a monster like that.” <Quartz>

Their men really didn’t know what to say… What kind of party was that?!

“I see… I wouldn’t mind some additional practice though. I could just try multiple at once in the same hole as I’ve heard some others of my generation have begun to do that to shoot out stronger kids faster - heard it puts quite the strain on our regeneration so makes some mortal races impossible to collect from.” <Alabaster>

“You can just collect orally or urethrally if you go down that route - I myself got passed around by a pack of [Radiant Lions] in order to give birth to Slate. Then more recently when trying out that technique with some ancestors Matriarch Ebony ordered me to service them. Yet I’ve found little demerit in the long run as a Shadow Guard - though you should take into account your role as more of a logistic role. ” <Quartz>

“Senior is certainly wiser than me. Actually, now that I think about it, humans at least have a weird stigma about mothers that could get in the way… I should probably stay away from children anyway since my position makes it difficult. Not like I’d be in the village to take care of them if they're female.” <Alabaster>

Quartz just nodded while Alabaster adjusted her glasses while letting out a long sigh. She loved her work but it really did limit her in many aspects; then again if an unusual Oni like her didn’t do it who would? Most Oni would rather charge into the afterlife like the original Asura than discuss the weather's impacts with a table of politicians or and merchants.

Which Oni didn’t usually prefer violence over the boring ‘negotiations’?

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[True Demon Trigger]

An explosion happened under Violet, she vanished in a violet flash, only to appear far above in the canopies in {The Forest of Mortality}. The young {Demon God Empress} calmly overlooked the entire area as her Shadow Guards far below panically searched all around her. She didn’t exactly waste her breath telling them what she was going to do. 

She wasn’t some dumb High-Demon who relied completely on their muscles… 

Violet wanted to show these fools the meaning of ‘Absolute’ so that they would realize and regret their mistakes. It’s by far the best feeling she has ever experienced in her long years as the {Primordial Goddess of Absolute}. To do that she couldn’t just thrash around wildly though…

She needed to thrash around where it really hurt to ensure she gave the most devastating blows!

While most Oni were happy with any type of war she wanted something greater than that; she wanted genocide.