Mutagen

Mark faced the horde of infected Spirit Races. Even though most of them chased after the retreating Demons, there was still a lot left to tail Mark and the warriors of Stone Fortress. Among them, a few infected Demons could be seen here and there. Facing all these enemies alone, Mark was forced to use his miasma to block magical attacks that came his way. Fearless and with a grin on his face, he tainted the charred forest with blood and dust of the disintegrated bodies of the infected.

The warriors saw how Mark fought and wanted to join him. However, with their current condition, they would be more baggage than help.

Nevertheless, to Mark, it was the best scenario. He was not covering the rear just for everyone to retreat safely. The actual reason that he did this was because he would be able to gather more crystals without getting too much attention. With this large amount of magical infected, Mark was bound to get more crystals than he would expect.

Unfortunately, his fun ended soon as the reinforcements arrived halfway up the mountain. They helped the injured and faced the remaining infected together Mark. He could only shrug at this. Fortunately, he already got a number of crystals that he was satisfied with.

Even Diwata Danaya came with the reinforcements and gave treatment to the injured soldiers. Because of this, their pace sped up as they climbed the mountain. Of course, even though the warriors were healed, they were still far from being able to join the fight.

Unexpectedly, not all the warriors were healed. A few remained injured and weakened. It was no doubt that they were bitten. Even so, the bitten warriors were still brought up the mountain. If they turned, in the least, they would die in the land they protected.

Soon, they reached the Stone Fortress and killed all the remaining infected. To no surprise, no one celebrated the return of the warriors. It was not like they did not want to. It was more of that they could not.

The number of warriors from different races that went down the mountain to fight the infected horde was more than enough for a safe return. Even if some accidents were to happen, it would be minimal. This time, however, less than a third of the warriors returned, and if not for Mark, it was possible that none of them would be able to return at all.

Not to mention, the whole mountain was devastated. The forest had yet to stop burning, but everyone could see that everything was charred. They tried their best to stop the fire, but they could barely extinguish the area around the fortress, not to mention the whole mountain.

The result of the forest being burnt to charcoal was an enormous setback to everyone living in the Stone Fortress. Not only the forest served as a natural defense and catalyst for the illusion magic of the Tikbalangs, but it also attract beasts that could serve as food for its people. There was also a lot of herbs, fruits, and vegetables that could be picked around the mountain.

Now, everything was gone.

They could only wish that they had anyone that could use water magic. Unfortunately, all of the people here were either forest or mountain dwellers. Races that were capable of water magic lived near large lakes and the ocean. Not in the middle of the mountains.

In this situation, there was more to mourn than to rejoice. One thing that everyone here regrets at this moment was that they could not tear Tierio into pieces on the spot.

***

After their return, Mark was escorted by a servant to a room where he could change his clothes. He fought under the heavy rain. It was no surprise that he was dripping wet, and his clothes and armor were stained with blood and mud.

"I\'ll be waiting outside. Please call me if Sire needed something."

The servant said as she closed the door after Mark entered.

Mark could not help but look around the room. Rather than a simple dressing room, it was quite extravagant. It was clear that it was another guest room. He would not complain if he was brought to an empty room since he only needed to change clothes.

Changing clothes, that was what Mark only needed to do. Yet, he could not bring himself to remove his clothes at all. He could not help but sigh.

"What do you need from me?"

Mark suddenly spoke, facing an empty corner of the room. There was nothing at that corner but the shadow of the curtains from the adjacent window.

But as Mark asked his question, that very shadow distorted and seemed to have moved from its two-dimensional plane to a three-dimensional one. The shadow formed a humanoid silhouette before a person\'s features appeared. Looking at it, it was a woman.

The shadow turned into a dark-brown skinned woman with pitch-black hair, black eyes, pointed ears, and two short horns on her forehead. Her below shoulder-length hair complemented her dark colored skimpy-looking tight clothes. Her body was quite proportional, except for her chest that was on the flat side.

"Just what the hell are you looking at."

The woman insecurely asked as she covered her front.

Mark, on the other hand, did not care about her question as he was only observing the intruder in front of him.

"I asked first. What do you want from me? I\'m going to change my clothes so you better leave."

He had no interest in interacting with her at all. The only reason he called out was only that this Demon was inside the room where he was supposed to change.

Still, it was quite a surprise to find a demon woman lurking inside the Stone Fortress.

The woman frowned as she noticed Mark\'s lack of interest in her. She was quite proud of her figure and appearance even as a demon. He did not even introduce himself or ask her name. With an annoyed snort, she went straight to the point.

"What is a Pureblood Demon like you doing? Why are you helping the Spirit and Elemental Races?"

Of course, that would be the question. This woman was obviously in cahoots with the Demon Army that ambushed the warriors of the Stone Fortress and set fire to the whole mountain. And Mark, a Pureblood Demon, was the one that stopped them.

Furthermore, Demons and the Spirit and Elemental Races were enemies. It was quite unbelievable that Mark was helping them.

"Why should I answer that?" Mark frowned. "It\'s none of your business. I won\'t say it again. Leave while I\'m still not inclined to kill you."

Mark was already emitting killing intent that made the woman shiver.

"Tsk." The woman clicked her tongue. "We will retreat for now but you won\'t be able to stop us."

As she said that, her visage turned shadowy once more as she drifted out of the window.

Sensing that the woman really left, Mark shrugged.

"A Shadow Demon, huh. For them to send a spy here, their goals are not just to cause trouble for sure."

Mark stared at the window that the woman used to exit. The window was closed, and she just drifted through the tiny space under it. It was an ability that the denizens of the shadow could do.

He could have killed the woman in one go. She was strong but not comparable to the two Mutator Demons that he encountered earlier. However, letting her go would serve as a warning. She would definitely report that Mark could sense her despite hiding in the shadows. It would become harder for them to send spies and infiltrate the Stone Fortress because of this. This situation would delay the demons of whatever goals they had and would give the fortress a little more time to prepare.

***

After changing his clothes, Mark was led towards the throne room. There, Diwata Danaya and the representatives of the races were already waiting for him.

"Our gratitude is yours for your help once more." Diwata Danaya, the guardian of these mountains, bowed towards Mark despite her status. "Although many lives were lost and only few managed to return, it was way better than none. Even though I am the one guarding this place, at times like this is when I could realize my weakness."

Diwata Danaya was crestfallen. As she said, she was the guardian of this place. However, she could barely do anything at times like this. After all, she was just a young Diwata. Her abilities were limited compared to others.

The representatives were also the same. Having this position, they could not step unto the frontlines at all except for emergencies. If they were there in the first place, this situation might have been avoided.

"I don\'t need your gratitude. Give that to those that died. I\'m getting paid for the help I gave, remember?" Mark shrugged. "It\'s a fair trade. I\'m just upholding my end of it."

Hearing Mark\'s words, everyone did not know what to feel. Should they be annoyed or glad? Who knows?

Since the start, every time that Mark helped them in their troubles, it was because he needed something from them. There was something he wanted in exchange.

It was the same in this situation.

When Mark\'s group arrived and learned the situation, Diwata Danaya implored him for his help. Given that she saw his capabilities, she knew that he could handle this situation. And of course, Mark wanted something in return.

This time, however, they were glad that it was not something material. It was information.

Diwata Danaya nodded to Amayana, the representative of the Anggitay and the Tikbalangs. With that signal, she stepped toward Mark and handed a square piece of animal skin rolled like a scroll.

Mark opened it, and it was a rough map of the mountains that were under the protection of Diwata Danaya, exactly the same mountains in General Nakar, Quezon. On the map, several points were marked along with raggedly written roman alphabet letters that most humans currently use around the world. Whoever wrote this was familiar with the letters but was not used to writing them. Still, the effort was much appreciated even though it was really not necessary since he had Amihan with him.

"There\'s quite a lot, huh?"

Mark said while looking at the map. There were twenty-eight markings all over different mountains.

"But isn\'t that what you wanted?" Diwata Danaya smiled. "That is one of the reasons all of us are gathered here. Everyone contributed their knowledge to finish that. In fact, we are reluctant if that is enough for your help this time."

"Okay then. I recieved the payment." Mark shrugged. "Can I leave already, or am I still needed here?"

"No, it is fine to leave. The rest of the agenda for us gathering here is our problem. If possible, we did not want to trouble you anymore than this. A servant will lead you to where your group is."

Diwata Danaya then called for the same servant that brought Mark here to lead him back.

With that, Mark left the throne room with a smile as he looked at the animal skin he grasped in his hand.

What was this map? It was something he needed to progress his research.

Back then, when they came here for the first time and saw the trade area, one thing occurred to Mark. There was no form of currency that was being used here, and instead, it was barter trade. Among the items being traded were materials that only some races offered and not the others. It meant that some items were only available to certain areas and were managed by different races.

And it was what Mark wanted. The possible location on where to get those materials, for example, magical gemstones, metal mines, old Spirit Trees, or even medicinal herbs that did not exist on Earth. If Mark had these materials, maybe, he would be able to find alternative materials that could be used to recreate the equipment that Freed invented.

Actually, Mark did not expect that it would be easy to get this map. However, it seemed that Diwata Danaya and the representatives already realized that the state of the world would never go back to the way it was before. Even if they did not give the locations to Mark, whatever was found there would end up rotting, unused for eternity.

Furthermore, they already knew about the incoming event after Teremillio and Felenia brought back the news. The news about the Second Wave and the fusion of Dimensions. Although believing it or not was another issue, there was nothing wrong with thinking about the worst-case scenario. If that really happened, there was no way that they would be able to go back to those locations at all in the future. The possibility was too slim.

Besides, giving the locations to Mark was not a bad decision. If he was able to bring things back, there was a chance that they could trade for it if they needed some since Mark was more or less allied with them at this point.

No, they were definitely allies considering that the Princess of the Stone Fortress was already one of Mark\'s people.

Mark reunited with the group. Unexpectedly it seemed they were given a permanent place in the Stone Fortress. It was a large hall with different branching rooms. Even the decorations in the room were pleasing to look at. It was simple but luxurious.

And here, everyone with Mark would start to talk about their future plans.