Oni

The Oni Clan (鬼族, Onizoku) were a manufactured race of demi-humans designed to smell miasma. Though they existed for a long time, they have nearly been wiped out by the Witch Cult.

Information

A demi-human race manufactured in the ancient past, the Oni Clan was created with the ability to smell miasma.^[1] Despite this, for unknown reasons, most modern oni were unable to smell miasma, and very few manifested the ability to catch its scent. While mostly identical to humans, the primary characteristic distinguishing oni from humans were their two inborn mana-absorbing horns, organs that differed in appearance from oni to oni that they could manifest from and retract into their foreheads at will. They rapidly drew mana from the atmosphere, greatly enhancing an oni’s physical strength and magic capabilities. However, in this state, an oni could lose control of themselves, acting only on instinct. At one point, with their high mana potency, they were considered the mightiest of demi-humans. Their strength made the onis prideful, giving them the mentality that they were superior to all other races. As a way to maintain purity and pride in themselves, the onis lived isolated from other races.

Without a horn, an oni was made weaker and frailer without the use of their full power, derided as hornless (ツノナシ, tsunonashi), and acquired difficulties with taking mana into their bodies, requiring supplementary mana from another person directly sent into the location of their broken horn in order to survive. Attempting to use their power for more than a few seconds while in this state also left them bleeding from the strain. If twins were born, they would have one horn each, and thus be typically weaker than a typical oni. As such, it was ritual to murder them after birth as a way to maintain the clan’s place as the strongest of demi-humans. They also revered the Oni God, a powerful oni from the era of Witches, lauding them as the exemplar of their clan. Led by their chieftain Setanta, the Oni Clan believed, after seeing her strength after birth, that Ram was the Reincarnation of the Oni God,^[2] and her strength only increased with age. Moreover, when Ram still had her horn, she often had the impulse to attack others, and after it was cut off, this impulse stopped afflicting her.

Uniquely, there is a case in which twins were able to share their power with each other. After Ram lost access to most of her power after losing her horn, she was able to draw on her comatose sister’s power via Synesthesia (共感覚, Kyōkankaku), an ability that she shares with her sister that allows them to share their feelings and emotions with each other through telepathy,^[3] to access her own power, Rem’s own horn protruding from her head in response.^[4] As an oni herself, her body was better built for handling the power. However, as the power Ram had was excessive even for a member of her clan, the backlash left her sister unable to walk without assistance, as the sharing of her power interrupted the mana flow within her body. This power also allowed the two to alert each other of danger, as well as let them feel each other when they are apart. They also possessed certain secret arts that were passed down through the tribe, one such ability being Clairvoyance (千里眼, Senrigan),^[5] which allows the user to synchronize with the vision of other living beings, which, while leaving the user defenseless, allows the user to surveil areas over a wide range.

The onis were effectively wiped out by the Witch Cult before the events of the story, with the final village, the home of Rem and Ram, being slaughtered by Witch Cultists, leaving the twins as the two lone survivors of their race. According to Roswaal L. Mathers, the onis’ demise was due to natural selection rather than discrimination or prejudice, as they refused to accept new ideals and were left in the past as a result.

List of Onis

• Rem
• Ram
• Setanta (deceased)
• Temae (deceased)
• Quark (deceased)
• Chikya (deceased)
• Oni God (deceased)
• Reize (non-canon)

Trivia

• Non-canonically, Reize, a survivor of a Kararagian oni village destroyed by the Witch Cult, awakened her ability to smell the scent of the Witch after someone poured a strange liquid into her ear. Whether this unlocked this ability from within her or gave her the ability artificially is unknown, and the purpose this was done for is unknown.
• After Ram’s horn was severed from her body, it was fashioned into a wand.^[6]
• The Oni Clan seemed to have something akin to kindergarten within their village; Ram, and maybe Rem, had apparently once taken such classes.^[7]
• It is believed that the Oni God once lost in a drinking competition with Reid Astrea,^[8] and according to legend, they were rumored to have been felled by the Dragon Sword Reid at some point.^[9]

References

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