Mutagen

Day 126 - 1:21 PM - Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Quezon

The time that the Féth Fíada would vanish was about to come. The vortex of energy that kept the magical veil of fog was about to stop turning. In another hour or two, it would completely vanish.

It was a well-calculated plan.

Because by the time that the Féth Fíada vanished, the Auraboros China Branch was already ready to start their siege.

At this moment, an army composed of a hundred and fifty robed people, five hundred [Level 3] Mutated Infected, and two hundred humans gathered outside the veil of fog.

Compared to the estimated number of people who resided at the base that they were going to attack, it was complete overkill. 

If it was an online game, it was comparable to a large guild attacking a small one, trying to overwhelm them using numbers.

But of course, it was a show of intimidation. This number was not only to slaughter but to force the enemy to submit without a fight. If not, it was also a method to reduce the morale of the enemy.

Anyone who lived in the era of war knew how important morale was to soldiers. Comparing a whole hundred army of soldiers with no confidence or enthusiasm to fight was way worse than half of the number who were ready to die in a fight.

The battle of morale was the first battle that commanders would face first. That was why hair raising speeches were regular before an army departed into war.

It was to raise the morale of their army, to heighten their desire and enthusiasm to win.

Without it, fighting an army of the same number, despite higher skills, might lead to a losing battle.

But of course, that was not only the leader of this army, Tan Sitong, was thinking.

At first, they thought that it would be enough to send a smaller army and surround the strange base under the Spirit Tree. However, the unknown factor that managed to get in and out of Féth Fíada appeared. It made the Tan Siton decide to increase the size of his army by capturing people from the settlement in Infant.

But who would have thought that it did not only lure out the unknown factor but the wanted child from the Supersoldier Project decades ago also appeared?

Because of that, not only they failed the mission, but Huo Long Yue was severely injured, and they lost a third of the people they sent to that mission. Fortunately, Huo Long Yue managed to carry the two disabled Jianghis back, or it would be an irreplaceable loss.

These Jianghis were not like the others. They were dead bodies of Martial Arts experts in the past eras. No matter how many they create at this point, they would never compare to these Jianghis cultivated for decades.

Even though they could create new ones having bodies of mutators, the skill and reflex would not be present. That was one of the downsides of these corpses. Although they retained their abilities from when they were still alive, they could not improve or train anymore. That was why they needed dead bodies of experienced people more than ones that had just gained their abilities.

And now, even though Huo Long Yue lost one of his arms, he was rearing to fight. The two Jiangshis he brought back last night were also ready to fight.

The army, led by Tan Sitong, started to get into position.

They needed to finish their preparations by the time that the Féth Fíada vanished.

The robed soldiers immediately moved. As for the humans among them, however, they had worried expressions on their faces. The members of Auraboros forced them to come here. Even though they failed in getting any from the infanta settlement, it did not mean that they had no other places to get more.

Among these people, only twenty were members of Auraboros. As for the others, they were nothing but sacrificial pawns that did not even know why they were here. Almost all of them were non-combatants, to begin with, and some of them were children.

Tan Sitong, together with his aides, sat on top of an elevated area of the mountain, overseeing the whole battlefield.

With the looks of his face, it seemed that he was confident about winning this. It was despite the presence of the mysterious man that cut off Huo Long Yue's arm.

Tan Sitong might be respectable in terms of leadership. Outside that, however, he looked down on everything. His enemies were not an exception. It was not like he was underestimating their skills but was just his usual behavior.

Furthermore, from the display that the mysterious man did, just four of his aides should be able to handle him. Of course, Tan Sitong did not entirely believe something that he had not seen. As such, he had some plans hidden just in case.

After all, they were still in the dark as to who was the Master of the Spirit Tree. If it was true that man was the Master, they had to prepare.

They were in the middle of getting ready to surround the whole area. Unfortunately, the entire future messed up, things were not going to go the way they wanted.

To their surprise, black smoke slowly mixed with the Féth Fíada, swirling around, dragging the mist with it.

Chaaya did not wait for their leader's command and issued a retreat to the people assigned to her immediately. They were designated to block the southern area of the base, and they were the closest to Féth Fíada.

However, it was too late for those who were the nearest to the veil of fog.

As the black smoke swirled, surges of it swallowed those were near.

The shadow people, whose bodies made with nothing but magical energy,

left nothing but their robes behind.

Tan Sitong immediately stood up from his seat, surprised as to what was happening.

What surprised him, even more, was what happened to the shadow people consumed by the black smoke.

"Miasma..."

Of course, Tan Sitong would be surprised.

For more than two hundred years that he lived, died, and lived once more, there were only several instances that Miasma could appear.

One was a formless demon, who was as rare as the blue moon. Once they appeared, a large scale catastrophe and slaughter would happen. These creatures were not allowed to grow, and even their organization would try to eliminate such beings instead of recruiting them.

Another was if an archdemon appeared. The evil energy these demons had could corrupt the surroundings. 

Magical energy sources corrupted by the evil energy could run amok, scattering Miasma around it.

As for the most common one, it was the same as what happened to magical energy sources when corrupted, but more naturally. Sometimes, impurities in these magical sources could change its nature in a good or bad way. Worse, it could turn corrupted and release Miasma instead.

With those three listed, there were still others that were less more frequent to happen. It was like a single comet passing near Earth twice.

Nevertheless, while an archdemon appearing was not unlikely, Tan Sitong was sure that it would not happen that easily. The Spirit World had two divisions, after all.

Then, there was only one possibility in Tan Sitong's mind. The thing that they came here for, the Spirit Tree, became corrupted. Spirit Trees were not only magical trees. They release magical energy as a source as well. Or else, how would cities built under these trees flourish faster compared to those that did not.

Tan Siton frowned.

"What bad luck!"

He said as he thought of that reason.

After all, they came here for the Spirit Tree. Also the source of that metal used by that base under it. If the Spirit Tree had become corrupted, all the preparations they made would have gone to waste. Furthermore, as the Féth Fíada trapped everything inside, it was very likely that everyone inside was gone.

"Retreat! Do not let the Miasma hit anyone!"

Tan Sitong shouted in a loud voice that echoed across the field. He declared what the black smoke was and that the mission was a failure.

Standing behind the ranks, however, Huo Long Yue did not think the same. He reported about the mysterious man appearing like mist and hurling black smoke towards them the previous night. They had thought that it was just the man's ability.

But seeing this now, Huo Long Yue felt the same feeling as he had last night.

He could not be sure as he had not really seen Miasma before, as it was quite rare. Opportunities and danger alike, one could only encounter one by chance.

Still, he could not shake the feeling. Thus, he decided to leave his post and tell their leader.

"Sorry, but I can't let you."

A voice echoed from his side, making him take a defensive stance immediately.

However, it was too late.

He turned his head as he saw the blade of the strange western sword approaching his neck. There was no time to dodge it. He could not defend either as the attack came from the direction of his severed arm.

The only thing he could do was to use a defensive art to use his inner force to strengthen his muscles. Concentrating it on his neck, the skin around his neck released a metallic hue.

And then, his eyes turned wide. With a black fire on the blade of the sword, the inner force he used to defend his neck was consumed instantly.

Huo Long Yue's neck was sliced off like tofu. As his head flew off, the only thing he saw was the mysterious man holding that strange sword while wearing the same robe as everyone else in Auraboros. The only thing different was a crystal floating in front of him, releasing a bright glow.

They have been had. The enemies were not inside Féth Fíada but within their ranks.

A loud thud was heard, and the members of Auraboros in front of Huo Long Yue looked behind them.

And, they saw nothing.

They noticed that Huo Long Yue was gone. However, it was not new to them that the Crazy Dragon would leave without saying anything. Thus, they returned their attention to the front.

Unknown to them, Huo Long Yue was still there with the assailant. Standing in front of them without any of them seeing.

The assailant, Mark, snicked at the reactions of the members of Auraboros. Huo Long Yue was an eccentric person. And his eccentricity backfired here. If not, anyone would surely report his disappearance immediately.

As Mark could not leave the body behind, he pulled his left sleeve, revealing his hand that now had two rings. One looked ancient while the other was beautiful with a black gem.

Pouring some energy on the ring, he touched Huo Long Yue's dead body. Suddenly, it vanished, leaving nothing but some stains of blood on the ground.

Then, Mark left as if nothing happened.

At this time, the Miasma finally finished absorbing the Féth Fíada. It soon vanished along with the veil of fog, revealing the scene inside.

But then, they saw nothing.

All was there was a vacant piece of land.

The Spirit Tree was not here, nor the base that existed before. There were still marks as to where it stood. However, nothing stood on it anymore.

"Go! Investigate!"

Tan Sitong shouted. Then he called the commanders.

"Chaaya! Long Yue!"

As soon as she was called, Chaaya vanished in her station and appeared in front of Tan Sitong. However, Huo Long Yue did not appear.

"Where is Long Yue?!"

Tan Sitong shouted furiously.

Then, someone reported.

"Sire, Huo Long Yue is missing again."

"That crazy bastard. Forget it!"

Tan Sitong rubbed his forehead. Then, he turned to Chaaya.

"You go and lead the investigation. Be careful. I feel that something is not right here."

"Yes. As you command."

Chaaya vanished and appeared in front of her troops.

With her lead, they rushed towards the area where the base should be located before.

It was the worst decision.

From multiple unseen sources, projectiles flew from everywhere.

Chaaya and her troops, who were the closest, caught most of it.