Mutagen

<strong>Day 139 - 7:15 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Quezon Province, Philippines</strong>

Yesterday was very fruitful, but it was, without a doubt, a tiring day for Mark.

Even though he was used to it, Mark was without a wink of sleep since yesterday. Not to mention that he had just gone under a deadly amount of pain during the process of consuming three crystals at the same time.

Immediately after that, the Eyes appeared one by one, not giving Mark any chance to have a good rest. Their presence was enough to make anyone uneasy, and Fourth only controlled it when Mark complained. Without a doubt, most of the Eyes were inconsiderate about others.

Nevertheless, Mark got information about a few things from the Eyes, and Aimee's circumstances were answered thoroughly. Still, awakening Aimee's child was not something to be rushed, though.

Aside from those things, Mark managed to finish the final checks and preparations for the day and managed to find time to relax afterward.

Spending time with the little girls while playing video games was something that Mark enjoyed.

And the night was peaceful with Mark finally getting a good night's sleep with Mei.

Now that morning came, it was time to depart once more.

Almost everyone present at the base gathered at the central area where Chiyo, the Night Everred Spirit Tree, was planted. They were all here to wish Mark's group a safe journey.

"Elder Brother, can't I really come?"

And of course, someone was begging to tag along. It was Elise. In the first place, she was quite awkward towards her family. After what happened to her and losing her memories, she was more inclined to spend more time with Mark and Mei. Her parents were a bit sad because of this. However, they did not want to force her and decided to go on a slower route to fix everything.

Mark patted Elise's head like how he usually did, not only to her but also to others. This gesture, together with that soothing feeling that his hands had, could give them mental comfort.

"Just behave and stay here. The Spirit Dimension is more dangerous than most places on Earth right now."

What Mark said was no joke. Comparing the infected here on Earth that had physical abilities and the magical infected in the Spirit Dimension, the latter was way more dangerous. And if Elise was to come with them, they would become a beacon that would attract all troubles because of her ability.

Elise was disappointed that she could not tag along. But like what Mark said, she behaved herself and did not insist on coming any longer.

With everyone's overlapped voices, this time's group that was only composed of Mark, Mei, and their daughters, along with Amihan, rode on Chaflar and entered the bright door that Chiyo opened.

This time, they were not going to use Spera's portal to go back to the Stone Fortress. Her ability was needed more in the base than Mark's group.

And there, after a short greeting with Chiyo, Mark stepped once more in the Spirit Dimension.

***

Looking around the Night Everred Spirit Tree on this side, the scene was different from before. The dried land had better color than before. It seemed that after the infected that was the cause of this situation was destroyed, the affected land started to recover. Nevertheless, with that much damage done, it would take years for everything to return to normal.

The most different thing in the surroundings was the vast area around Chiyo that was devoid of everything. The dried trees were gone, and even the large mountain boulders here and there were removed. It was the result of the preparation they did here, according to Mark's deductions.

As it was one of the priorities, it was finished early in the past few days. It also became easier since dried brittle trees were not really hard to remove, and the boulders were taken care of by the infected under Aephelia's control.

"The surroundings is that clear, huh."

Mark said, looking around some more. Before arriving, Chiyo had already informed him that there were no infected around. Still, it was quite strange that in every nook and cranny of the mountain that their eyes could see, not a single infected could be found.

"Gege, this is strange, isn't it?"

Mei said.

This situation was really unexpected, considering how many infected the clearing team had encountered while removing the trees and boulders. Even Mark was called out for help several times because of some pesky infected Sylphs. Some workers also got injured.

"The infected are erratic, to begin with. Let's just go to our destination as soon as possible."

Mark replied as he told Chaflar to move on through his mind.

Like before, they had to go up the higher areas on the east side of Mount Malabito to get to the other side of the mountain.

Strangely enough, even as they made their way up the slopes of the mountain, both steep and not, not a single infected was present.

Eerily, all of them seemed to have gone somewhere else.

Because of this, Mark could not help but heightened his alertness as he sat at the foremost seat on Chaflar's back.

But then, halfway up the mountain, Abbygale started to sniff the air.

"Papa! Papa!" Abbygale called out. "Something smells burning?"

Since her mutation was a cat, Abbygale's senses were higher than everyone present here. The others had not sensed it yet, but she already smelled the burning stench from the direction they were going.

Mark frowned after hearing Abbygale. He would never doubt her even a little.

"Chaflar, fly up."

Mark commanded his dragon. They were traveling on land since flying up high would attract unnecessary attention. Of course, that attention would all be infected that was possibly in the area. But since the situation seemed strange, and now, the burnt smell, something worse might be happening.

Chalflar's large wings flapped, and everyone was brought up the mountain faster.

Before they could reach the top, however, they could already see the thick black smoke that was rising towards the sky from the east.

It did not take long, and the whole scene was revealed before their eyes.

The whole forest of the Eastern Mountain, the home of the White Duendes, was covered in flames.

Aside from that, a three-way skirmish seemed to be happening by the foot of the mountain.

The familiar forces of the Stone Fortress, the infected that was missing from the surroundings, and unexpectedly...

...An army of demons together with the Black Duendes.

It was a total mess as the fantasy-like battle happened by the river that separated the Eastern Moutain and Mount Malabito.

Arrows and magic flew here and there.

Blood splattered as attacks were exchanged by the camps.

Spirits, Demons, and Elementals turned to ash shortly after they died.

While most of them were fighting on land, a lot of them were clashing their weapons and magic mid-air.

And to say, the situation did not seem to go well with the races from the Stone Fortress.

"Just what in the world is going on?"

Amihan shouted out in total shock. None of them expected to arrive at a scene like this.

"Obviously, not something good."

Mark said with a frown as he tapped on Chaflar's neck, urging the dragon to fly towards the Stone Fortress.

The sudden appearance of a dragon alarmed both the camps. The infected did not pay attention, though, and continued to swarm towards the two camps. But as the forces of the Stone Fortress recognized Chaflar, their morale rose spontaneously.

As Chaflar flew closer and closer to the battlefield, they started hearing the shouting from both sides. Only Amihan was able to understand all of it, though, as they were using the languages native to their races.

There was one thing that Mark understood, though. The Demons and Black Duendes viewed Mark group as enemies.

CREEEEEE!!!

Several dozen screeching sounds echoed in everyone's ears.

"TSK!"

Mark clicked his tongue as several dozen human-sized bats charged towards Chaflar.

These bats were something that Mark never heard about in Philippine Folklore and Mythology. It was very likely that these bats were just normal ones. However, it seemed that they had gone some sort of demonization and turned into bloodthirsty servants for the demons.

Mark could not help but frown as they were at a disadvantage if they were to fight in the air. He and Mei might be able to fly, but the little girls could not.

And thus...

"Chaflar! Fly faster!"

Mark shouted as a crystal floated in front of him.

Suddenly, a swirl of wind appeared in front, and the air resistance around them vanished.

And by Mark's command, Chaflar flew faster.

Like a spear of spiral wind, Chaflar tore through the horde of flying bats, destroying everything that obstructed its way.

Seeing how the Demonic Bats were being obliterated, loud cheers could be heard among the forces of the Stone Fortress.

They all watched Chaflar as much as they could as the dragon tore through the thick smoke and flew towards the Stone Fortress surrounded by the burning forest.

The air above the forest was hot and impassable. If not for the swirling wind that surrounded Chaflar, it would be hard to cross the sweltering smoke.

Chaflar arrived at the Stone Fortress. The sudden arrival took the people in the fortress by surprise. But as most of them recognized the Reddish Black Dragon that accompanied the Princess of the White Duendes before, the soldiers did not make a mistake to attack the dragon.

Mark and Mei looked below. There was still a considerable number of soldiers and warriors in the open area of the Stone Fortress. By the looks of it, they might be reinforcements that were meant to aid their forces below the mountain. However, because of the forest fire, they were not able to move at all.

Still, it looked like that the Stone Fortress was protected from the flames with magic from the Sylphs.

The people in the fortress made way for Chaflar to land. Before Mark's group could get down, Mark could already spot Pefile, Edzel, Pearl, and Teremillio's entourage rushing to meet them.

"Boss!"

Edzel called out, looking relieved by the arrival of Mark's group.

"Just what is happening?"

Mark asked seriously.

"Some idiot Duende lost his mind."

Pefile replied with a grumble. Of course, the way he answered did not give any information at all. Instead, it was full of spite towards someone.

Still, Pefile mentioned a Duende, and Mark could only turn to Teremillio and Felenia.

Teremillio was not looking good at all. Mark could sense the heavy emotions swirling inside him.

"My home kingdom had already fallen."

Teremillio said with a heavy heart.

And to say, it was no surprise. Considering how the Kingdom of Sylphs fell, other Kingdoms could also suffer the same demise.

Still, what was the relationship between the fall of the Kingdom of Black Duendes and the war that was currently ongoing?

Before anyone could answer, the King and Queen of the Stone Fortress came out to meet Mark's group. Together with them were the representatives of the races that were taking refuge in this place.

It seemed that the King, Hieromano, heard Mark's question. He did not wait for Mark to ask him and spoke.

"It is one of Teremillio's brothers. I had no idea if you know this, but Black Duendes were commonly mischievous, vengeful, and jealous about things. They could not accept that their Kingdom had fallen, and we are still able to stand. We did not know how they were able to collude with the demons, but their goal is to make our Kingdom fall like theirs."

No wonder why Terrimillio was heavy-hearted. It was actually one of his siblings that orchestrated the situation.

"What a load of bull."

Mark said with a frown. Just what was that Duende thinking for orchestrating an event like this?

"What about this forest fire? Can't any of you put it out?"

Mark asked another question.

Unfortunately, everyone could only look around with troubled faces.

And there, a familiar voice echoed into Mark's ear as the familiar woman appeared before them. It was the Diwata Danaya. At her appearance, all the Spirit Races around kneeled down in respect.

"The Demons lit up the entire forest to prevent the reinforcements from aiding the frontlines. Unfortunately, we lacked people capable of water magic. There is no way for everyone here to put out the fire and can only wait it out."

Mark looked at Diwata Danaya. She seemed to be heavily fatigued due to the dire situation. She really valued every single life here and was really sad for the loss of the lives of their brave warriors.

Diwata Danaya looked quite pitiful.