Mutagen

Day 237 - 12:22 PM - Secret Realm, Mount Madia-as, Panay Mountain Range, Province of Aklan

On the other side of the battlefield, the magical races residing in this secret realm were having a difficult time.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

Arrows rained as the winged [Centaur]-like horse-headed beings, the [Bentohangins], flew around the smoke-covered sky and shot their bows.

BOOM!

Balls of fire stormed the already burning forest as the three-foot-tall, flame-haired women, the [Buralakaws], shot their magic to their enemies.

The other magical creatures did their best to fend against the invading [Infected]. Unfortunately, while being called magical or paranormal creatures, not all of these creatures were versed in manipulating magical energy. Many still had to resort to weapons. Unfortunately, these weapons were far more primitive than what modern humans had.

Of course, the [Infected] were doing what they were well known about. It was to use their horde's overwhelming numbers to swarm their victims. Then, turn their victims into one of their own.

The situation was dire for the residents of this realm. The population of the inhabitants of this realm was small, only numbered around a thousand in the entire mountain. It was everyone, including the humans that currently resided in it. Worse, the ones actually capable of fighting did not even reach half of the number, and not everyone was present since the only area affected by the event was the north-eastern side of the mountain. The mountain was big. Most villages of the magical races were scattered about in the entire mountain. There was no way that all of them would be able to gather in one place in a short amount of time.

And the worst thing...

The [Infected] managed to kill many already, turning them all into [Infected] capable of using their magical skills and fighting prowess when they were still alive. This situation caused more deaths among the camp of the defenders, causing the number of the [Infected] ones to increase further, which was stronger and had more dangerous abilities than the initial intruders, who were all [Mutated Infected] humans and animals.

The worst about this horde, they were hard to fight in a prolonged amount of time. Since the [Mutated Infecteds'] bodies were hot, the temperature around the horde was far above the tolerable degree.

Being outnumbered, having their own people turned against them, and with the extreme temperatures, the residents of the realm were being pushed back. There was no need to mention that because all of the [Infected] within the initial horde were all mutated, having bodies with high temperatures and burnt crust-like armor, the attacks, especially the fireballs, barely had any effect.

Furthermore, the forest fire was quickly spreading.

The residents of the realm could barely defend themselves. There was no way for them to subdue the flames and control the fire's spread.

Their line of defense easily crumbled, and the residents could only slowly retreat up the mountain while defending their lives.

But then, while the army of Mt. Madia-as was slowly retreating the line of defense, a beam of light tore through the frontline of the marching horde of [Infected].

The magical races looked at the sky, seeing the familiar female Demon, who now displayed her two pairs of rainbow-colored wings. Since most fighters here were present during the time that the passage to Kahilwayan was opened, they knew the familiar-looking Demon.

Surely, the magical races hated Demons. However, this time, the warriors in the frontline could not help but feel amazed and rejoiced once they saw the frontline of the threatening invaders turn to nothingness in one go.

Furthermore, it was not only the female Demon in the sky. On the ground, several others also reached the battlefield.

Right now, the enemies were not the Demons nor the Humans. It was the [Infected], who were the threat to everyone.

Mei and the others arrived.

From the sky, Mei swooped down and transformed her weapon, the [Shooting Moon Blade], from a sniper rifle into a large sword. Unfortunately, although she could shoot those powerful beams more than before, they still have a limited number of empty [Mental Crystals], not to mention the [Crystal Converters] that were hard to make. And since Mark was not present here, she needed to lead the group up front. Every [Infected] present were either mutated or those with magical powers. There was no way she would let her daughters fight on the ground all on their own.

Mei reached the ground in front of the enemies at great speeds. She could feel the sudden change in temperature, but she did not care that much as she glided towards the [Infected]. Gliding with her sword at her side, the blade decapitated several [Infected] before she came to a stop. Unfortunately, the bodies of the [Mutated Infected] were hard and her speed decreased severely after each kill.

Even so, landing on the ground was Mei's initial intention. She held her large sword with both hands as she began to clear the area of the burnt [Mutated Infected]. It was all to set up their battlefield, where their group would face the enemies.

Being the fastest, Abbigale arrived riding on her rabbit golem, Inaba. The rabbit golem, designed to have strong jumping legs, jumped over and around obstacles without any effort.

The moment the two arrived near Mei, Abbygale jumped off the rabbit golem's back. It was a dangerous stunt for an ordinary girl as they were moving too fast. But Abbygale was far from an ordinary eight-year-old. She landed on the ground without any sound or impact like the agile cat that she was. And as soon as she landed, she immediately took off to kick the nearest [Infected's] head, causing its neck to break. Pieces of its burnt skin armor around its neck fell to the ground as its head was flung away somewhere deep within the horde.

Inaba joined the fight with its master. Together with Abbygale, the two jumped around the battlefield, making heads fly and necks snapped everywhere.

Soon, Amihan arrived, riding the wind she conjured. She immediately felt the hot temperature exuded by the [Infected] and the burning surroundings. As such, her first move was the use her magic to blow cold air into the surroundings. Since the wind's temperature control was not her forte, it was not cold enough to counter the heat. However, it was more than enough to reduce the temperature to make everyone last longer in the battle. Not only the temperature but the wind Amihan conjured cleared the area of smoke and steam. It became easier for everyone to fight, not only their group but also the warriors of this realm.

The next to arrive were Iola and Miracle, riding on the feline-canine golem, Cavall. Behind the three were the maid golem, Brynhildr. They were just in time as [Flying Infected] swooped down on Mei and the others. Surely, they would be able to avoid it. However, there was no need to with Iola present.

With a wave of her hand, Iola conjured a barely visible barrier facing the incoming [Flying Infected]. The unknowing [Flying Infected] slammed onto the barrier and immediately started to burn. Since some of them were newly turned ones, the barrier burnt them to crisp. However, the already [Mutated Infected], having burnt bodies with already high temperatures, were still alive.

The [Flying Infected] that survived Iola's [Burning Barrier] fell to the ground. Charging towards Iola's barrier at high speeds was not something advisable, [Infected] or not.

Of course, the [Infected] that fell were still alive and would recover in any second. But before they could do so, Miracle's small figure together with Cavall appeared to destroy the necks of the [Infected]. The strength of the two was more than enough to crush the burnt skin armor of the [Mutated Infected]. Furthermore, as the two were both non-human, the heat could not bother them at all, and they could perform at their best.

Finally, the last of the group arrived. It was the Chinese Sword Cultivator, Feng Zhiruo, and the maid golem, Brynhildr. It was not like the two were slow. It was just that the other members of the group moved faster than the two.

Without waiting for anything, Brynhildr moved in front of her master, Iola. After all, Iola's power was more for defense than attack, and the girl would need her strength as an intelligent weapon. Transforming her right arm into a sword and left arm into a shield, Brynhildr activated one of her forms on her own, the [Assault Defender Mode]. In this form, her specialty was to intercept and kill any threat that would approach her master.

On the other side, Feng Zhiruo also joined the fray. In each wave of her sword, a head would fly. One could also see a thin film of energy around her body as she used her [Inner Energy] or [Ki] to protect her from the harsh temperature.

GRROOOAAA!!!

All of a sudden, a large [Mutated Infected] charged through after spotting the group. Like the others, its body was all burnt and crusted, with cracks glowing like lava. However, while seemingly a mutated human, it was about three meters tall with its body having the shape of a bloated gourd. It unstably tottered towards the group, knocking and killing any obstacle on its way. Whether it was a burning tree or another [Infected] did not matter. The large [Infected] charged like a crazy madman towards its target.

The first within the large [Mutated Infected's] trajectory was Feng Zhiruo.

One would fear the charge of this [Mutated Infected], as it could mow down trees and a large number of [Infected] in its path. Even crushing some of its allies under its feet.

But Feng Zhiruo only raised her blade in front of her. Staring straight at the [Mutated Infected], she released a breath of air, taking in another breath in a certain rhythm. Her [Inner Energy] circulated within her body fiercely and soared towards the blade of her sword.

And then, Feng Zhiruo's soaring energy stabilized as if it was not flowing fiercely in the first place. At this point, the large [Mutated Infected] was just a few steps away before grabbing onto her small body.

Suddenly, just as the [Mutated Infected's] arms stretched out to grab Feng Zhiruo, her figure blurred before vanishing. The large [Mutated Infected] froze in this tracks as Feng Zhiruo's figure appeared behind it, with her sword stretched at her left side.

"[Noiseless Blade]."

Feng Zhiruo muttered.

Without any sign of being slashed, the body of the large [Mutated Infected] began to crumble into pieces. Each of its pieces fell to the ground, finally making noises.

Multiple slashes without making any noise as it cut its target to pieces. It was a [Ki] infused sword technique that Feng Zhiruo could not perform at all in the past. It was named as such because it was a silent killing technique. Nonetheless, it was not a technique that was made not to make any sound at all. Instead, it was a technique that displayed fast, strong, and accurate slashes that were more than enough to avoid making any sound of cutting flesh and bones or even the sound of friction between the blade and the air in the surroundings.

After killing the large [Mutated Infected], Feng Zhiruo faced the other enemies near her, releasing a few more techniques which mowed down quite a number of [Infected] at every slash of her sword.

The arrival of Mei and the others and the scene of them mowing down enemy after enemy. It was witnessed by the warriors of this realm. Their morale rose as they began to advance instead of retreating.

Furthermore, Amihan's methods were seen by the fleeing [Sylphs].

They finally found something where they could help as they tried to copy her. Of course, their strength was nothing compared to Amihan individually. However, there were many of them. Together, they were able to perform the same technique and managed to aid their warriors in this fight for survival.

Soon, Silim arrived. Just her appearance alone rose the fighting spirit of the warriors even more. And with her killing the [Infected] using her magical energy put the frontline into a standstill.

Unfortunately, even Silim could not do much to stop the flames from consuming the forest. At most, she could slow its spread as she commanded the unburnt trees to bend away from the flames.

It was at this time that something crashed in the middle of the burning forest, followed by the [Encantado] that was the cause of this mess. Surely, the [Encantado] was swarmed by attacks of the angry magical creatures and was also targetted by the [Infected] below him.

Silim and Mei saw who the one that fell. As they knew that it was Mark, they immediately shifted their attacks to the [Encantado], thinking that he was able to overpower Mark.

Unfortunately, Silim's magical attacks barely affected the [Encantado], and Mei's bullets could not even scratch the enemy's body.

As Mei was thinking of shooting another beam using the [Crystal Converter], the unexpected scene occurred.

The flames that consumed the forest began to change in color in a certain area. The red hot flames turned into a hellish tint of black. Those black flames began to spread, swallowing a large area in the middle of the burning forest.

This eerie scene was witnessed by everyone, warrior or not. Of course, many of them could not help but feel scared, while the [Encantado] flying in the air was also baffled at the scene.