Mutagen

<strong>Day ▋▋ - ▋▋:▋▋ ▋▋ - Foot of Eastern Mountain, Spirit Dimension</strong>

Mark's sudden appearance on the battlefield did not escape the attention of everyone around him. And in fact, demons and Black Duendes were quite surprised. After all, the one that he had just repelled was not just some random demon. The metal-bodied Demon was actually one of the individuals leading this attack.

It meant that compared to most of the demons here, this guy's abilities were the strongest. Without saying, in this battle, a lot of the warriors from the Stone Fortress perished in this guy's claws. However, none of them noticed his kills since this Demon was more specialized in sneak and stealth attacks while staying hidden in the middle of the battlefield.

Demons loved to play with their enemies. Whether it be physical or mental pain, they would do that so their victims, their toys, would plummet to the bottom of their despair first before killing them.

That was why, slowly, they were reducing the number of the warriors from the Stone Fortress, pushing them to break down. By their character, it was very likely that they would kill Merio last to show their dominance.

However, the plans had changed because of the sudden arrival of the Chaflar. Although they had means to counter the dragon if it participated in the battle, it was better if they did not deal with such a dangerous situation.

They came here to play and inflict terror, not to commit suicide. They would retreat without hesitation if necessary.

Nevertheless, since the time they had become shorter, their target switched to the commanders of the warriors, especially Merio. They must at least take down the heads, leaving the rest helpless.

But then, Mark appeared to ruin the fun.

The worst part, however, was that they were confused.

Mark looked human to them, but for some reason, he had a strange aura that definitely felt demonic.

On the other hand, Mark did not know any of this and just sensed their surprise. He stared at the Demon in front of him, assessing the enemy while activating the crystal on his hand.

That was when almost everyone on the battlefield paused. Even some almost died to the infected that did not care about the surroundings but the living.

It was because the sky started to grow darker.

The sky was quite dark because of the thick smoke that drifted to the east. This time, however, it was different because it was the thick clouds that started to cover the sky and swirled above in a threatening manner.

But then, the first drops of rain fell, quenching the thirst of the raging flames. It was not only a drizzle but the start of heavy rainfall.

Their eyes grew blurry as the rain obscured their sight. It was when the demons realized that this amount of rainfall would soon extinguish the flames that trapped the Stone Fortress.

None of them expected this. Everyone did not know how this happened, but one thing was for sure, it was Mark who was did this.

Mark did not care about their stares. Instead, he kept the crystal once more and turned to Merio.

"Mr. General. You should get someone to check your wound. Also, gather your soldiers and get ready to retreat. The forest fire will be gone soon."

"Good."

Merio was also surprised by Mark's display. He knew that this person was powerful from what happened with the gigantic infected last time. Still, no one here expected that Mark also had the ability to control the weather and to this degree. Nevertheless, Merio was a battle-hardened general. He might be surprised, but he did not stop paying attention to the surroundings. His reply even came as quickly as Mark ended his words.

The General of the Brown Duendes immediately called for the retreat, gathering his warriors further in one place.

Of course, not everyone would be able to with the demons blocking their way. It was when Mark appeared and disappeared here and there, paving the way for the tired warriors of the Stone Fortress.

Almost none of them were still in the state to be able to continue fighting.

CLANG!

Amidst his work, someone appeared and blocked Mark's sword.

It was another Demon, and surprisingly another mutator. And instead of claws like the first one, this one had large curved blades attached to this Demon's both arms.

"▋▋▋▋▋▋▋."

The Demon spoke.

However, Mark did not pay any attention to it. In fact, the other Demon earlier spoke to him, but likewise, he could not understand it and ignored it.

Mark was interested in these Mutator Demons. However, he still had work to do, and he was going to get more compensation for it. Thus, using his [Shadow Mist Movement], Mark turned into a surge of black mist that quickly moved about to save the other soldiers from the stone fortress that were still trapped fighting.

Unexpectedly, the moment that Mark appeared, a pair of blades came hacking towards him.

It was no other than the very same Demon just now. Unexpectedly, this Demon could catch up with Mark's movements without problems. Well, it was not exactly surprising. Demons were strange beings from the start.

Mark had just appeared, but his body blurred immediately, letting the blades of the Demon pass through his body. The Demon was surprised at what he had seen and immediately jumped back before Mark could do any counter-attack.

"Tsk."

Mark clicked his tongue. He was really aiming to slash his sword at the Demon, but it jumped away before he could even do it.

"Who are you? Why are you meddling with our fun?! Why is a Demon like you siding with them?!!!"

Someone shouted at Mark. It was no other than the metal-bodied Demon from earlier and arrived to aid the other one. He might have heard Mark speaking in human language to Merio.

Suddenly, Mark was facing the strongest two among the Demons. In fact, the presence of these two was just a bit less than Diwata Danaya. If he did not go for a sneak attack, Merio might have lost his life already.

Still, this situation was of the best. With these two going to face Mark, the retreat of the warriors became much safer.

And of course, Mark tilted his head.

"Demon? I looked human, don't you think?"

Mark replied. Of course, he was just bluffing.

"Don't joke with me!" The metal-bodied Demon shouted. "You might look human, but you can't hide your presence of a high-class Demon, especially from me!"

Mark shrugged. It looked like he could not trick this one. The other one did not seem to realize, though. That was right, Mark was a Pure-Blood Blood Demon. A high-class Demon. He could even be considered as a Royal Demon following the standards of these Demons.

That was why the metal-bodied Demon could not understand why someone like Mark was siding with the Spirit Races.

"Daellum, don't bother talking now. This Demon is an enemy. Capture him and present him to our King."

The Bladed Demon said to the other.

"Good. It's fine to injure. Just don't kill."

The Metal-Bodied Demon replied.

Mark frowned. He could not understand the two as they reverted back to speaking that language. Nevertheless, he could sense that these two were aiming to fight him.

And then, Mark's eyes opened wide.

The Bladed Demon appeared beside him. It was fast that all he was able to see was a blur.

Mark then kicked the ground, crushing the rocks under his foot. The blade of the Bladed Demon aiming to cut off his leg hit nothing but air.

"That's a close call."

Mark murmured as he landed several meters away. If he did not consume the crystal before, that slash would surely hit him. But as his speed was upgraded, Mark was able to react in time. It was now no wonder how this guy was able to keep up and chase his speed even when he activated his [Shadow Mist Movement].

The Bladed Demon did not give Mark a breather, charging at him once more with that insane speed. Furthermore, the Metal-Bodied Demon also joined the fray.

To the eyes of the surroundings, Mark was in a predicament now. Even the demons were in glee for this meddler's demise.

But as the Bladed Demon charged at Mark, a bad premonition entered his mind. He just saw the latter smile.

Without a second thought, the Bladed Demon stopped his charge and kicked the ground to go in another direction. The Metal-Bodied Demon, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on. He only saw the Bladed Demon suddenly stop his attack. It then occurred to him. But it was late.

BAM!

Black Lightning fired from Mark's hand towards the direction of the two demons. As the Bladed Demon already rushed out the way, off the lightning went towards the other.

"GGGGGGRAAAAAAAA!!!"

The Metal-Bodied Demon roared in pain. But he was not the only one.

It was raining. Everyone was wet. Then, high voltage lightning was fired in the middle of the battlefield.

The smile on Mark's face could not be hidden as hundreds of demons and infected fell to the ground as charred corpses. Most of them immediately turning to charred dust.

Mark did not hesitate to fire it as he sensed that the last of the warriors, at least the last one alive, were rescued and escorted by his comrades to the edge of the burning forest.

That was why right now, only the Demons, Infected, and Mark was left in the middle of the battlefield.

Well, the two Demons that Mark aimed for were still alive, though. Nevertheless, the Metal-Bodied Demon, Daellum, was badly injured. If he turned his whole body to metal, he could have passed it through safely. However, it was impossible for him to turn his organs into metal, or he would end up dying for it. That was where the injury was concentrated.

SPURT!

Black blood spurted out of Daellum's mouth as he fell on his knees due to the injuries he received. On the other hand, the Bladed-Demon seemed tobe still fine. This guy's intuition was top notch. He was even able to reduce the damage he received by jumping off the ground, removing the contact of his body from the wet ground and rainwater.

"Daellum!"

The Bladed Demon rushed towards Daellum in less than a second.

Without thinking twice and without even looking at Mark, the Bladed Demon picked up Daellum and turned into a blur as they retreated.

"Smart."

Mark said as he watched the two Demons bolt away. After all, he created the perfect environment to use his lightning and the Bladed-Demon realized how dangerous it was to continue fighting.

With Mark's display and the retreat of the two Mutator Demons, the remaining Demons started to retreat. Because they had a larger number, most of the remaining infected ended up chasing after them.

While all that happened, Mark just shrugged his shoulders. He was being paid to rescue Merio and the others, not chase after the troublesome Demons.

But then, he heard some annoying shouting.

"What in the world are you bastards doing?! It's just a single human! COWARDS!"

Mark could not understand what that guy was shouting while he was being pulled away to retreat by some other people. Looking at the group, however, Mark realized who they were.

"That guy must be that arrogant prince, huh?"

Mark said as he turned into a surge of black mist, flying towards the group of Black Duendes.

The shouting suddenly stopped as the prince, Tierio realized that a hand grabbed him by his neck and dragged him into the abyss. The moment he returned to reality, he was already far away from his soldiers, being dragged on the dirty mud up the Eastern Mountain.

Tierio tried shouting, grumbling, and roaring. Every time he did, however, the hand choking his through tightened until the color of his face was drained from the lack of air.

The prince of Black Duendes almost passed out. However, he realized that he was already at the camp of the warriors of the Eastern Mountain that was waiting for the flames to subside. All of them were glaring at the prince with intent to kill.

If not for Mark telling them to not make a move, Tierio's body would have been slashed to pieces now.