Mutagen

Day 264 - 7:51 AM - General Nakar Mountains, Municipality of General Nakar, Province of Quezon

Early the next day, after visiting Infanta Settlement, Mark was on his way northeast of Mount Malabito. The current destination was the Stone Fortress. Although he was not really in a hurry, he wanted to finish what he wanted to do as fast as possible.

Unlike yesterday when Mark went to Infanta Settlement a little later in the morning, he decided to leave early this time. It was because Spera's portal could not be used to travel to the current location of the Stone Fortress.

The [Fusion of Dimensions] caused the Earth's geography to shift and change drastically. It disabled Spera's portals from working since the places she had been before were displaced from their original locations.

That was why, right now, Spera was dragged along with Mark for today's excursion. Yes, dragged.

After traveling around during the previous month, Spera was feeling pretty tired. Well, she had been traveling around since six years ago after she was sold as a slave and escaped due to luck. It was not surprising that she finally reached the thought of staying put. Not permanently, but at least for a considerable amount of time.

Because of Spera's rough past, she never had the chance to think about things like this. But now that she had found a place she could call home, the thought finally came to her mind.

Unfortunately, while Spera was able to rest yesterday, she was dragged out by Mark today. And she could not say no.

Since the Stone Fortress was beneficial to keep as an ally, it would be convenient if there was a quicker way to travel between them and the Mountain Base. Of course, Spera's portals were the most efficient ones. And if they wanted her to be able to open a portal to the Stone Fortress, Spera needed to visit the place first at least once.

The two were currently flying over the mountains northeast of Mount Malabito on Chaflar's back.

It had been a while since the last time they used Chalfar to fly to their destination. While the dragon, or technically, Quasi-Dragon, was still afraid of Mark, it already embraced the life of a flying mount and a pet. Thus, Chaflar was pretty excited to accompany Mark this time. If not for Mark smacking its head to calm down, it would have been flying quite erratically this whole journey.

Still, while riding on a fire-breathing winged lizard looked pretty cool, it was not the most comfortable ride. It was fine for quick and short to mid-length travels. For longer traves, Mark would still prefer the [Mini Cube]. It might be slower at normal speeds but much more comfortable. However, Mark could not just use the giant flying vessel anytime he wanted. It was not his property, after all.

It was not nice to get used to using other people's property even if they had no problems with it.

Though in the future, Mark would want a flying vessel of his own. It might be impossible in the past. However, he now had Freed's advanced technological knowledge, materials from space could now be found on Earth through the [Mechids], and lastly, the sealed magical past of Earth was now released. With all these factors combined, what was sort of impossible in the past was now highly possible.

The creation of new things was for the future, though. Right now, Mark should focus on the tasks before him.

Mark and Spera silently traversed the sky over the mountains of the Municipality of General Nakar. Both of them had low social skills compared to other people. This kind of silence was not surprising. Of course, if Spera had some questions and stuff to say, she would blurt it out. It was due to her having a hard time controlling her emotions after her first encounter with Mark. But, right now, she had nothing to talk about and was busy etching the surroundings into her mind.

As for Mark, he had his eyes closed, recalling the reports about the Stone Fortress that Odelina gave him.

Teremillio, the [Hybrid Duende], a former suitor of Amihan and the former leader of another magical tribe of outcasts, left the Mountain Base to go to the Stone Fortress with his harem and his mother. After all, Teremillio's first wife was the former princess of the [Brown Duwendes] that ruled that place. Given the struggles that came after the [Fusion of Dimensions], it was no question that she was worried.

And since the Stone Fortress was also an ally of the Mountain Base and Teremillio's group went there, Berrak went there from time to time as a messenger. The same task he had while going back and forth to Infanta Settlement.

That was why Mark had a clear path to follow to get to his destination.

Berrak had never been to the Stone Fortress before the [Fusion of Dimensions]. As such, no comparison between the distance before and after could be seen in his reports. However, Mark was sure they had already traversed twice the supposed distance before the fusion.

The geological shift in the north and east was far greater compared to the southern areas of Mount Malabito. It was likely due to the moderate number of mountains in these areas.

Mark, Spera, and Chalfar finally reached the mountain just beside the eastern coastline. By Mark's estimate, the distance increased around four times before the second wave. The mountain ranges now became a wide sea of trees composed of dozens of mountains and hills.

And there it was. The Stone Fortress...

Or what was left of it...

That was right. Most parts of the Stone Fortress were destroyed during the [Fusion of Dimensions].

It was already mentioned before. The [Eyes] protected humans from utter destruction using barriers fueled by the people's emotions. The stronger the unity and attachment of people to their current home, the stronger the barrier was.

However, while the humans were protected, the non-human residents of the [Spirit Dimension] did not receive such protection.

The residents of the [Spirit Dimension] were left to protect their own.

Diwata Danaya, the protector of the eastern mountains of General Nakar, might be a strong being. However, she was young. She was less powerful compared to the older [Diwatas].

On the island of Catanduanes, Diwata Iraya managed to protect the whole island. And it was not only from the fusion but also from the crash of the [Mechid Factory].

Diwata Danaya did not have such capability, not to mention she had to protect the Stone Fortress as it was transported from the [Spirit Dimension] to Earth. Since Earth's geography took precedence, the lands within the [Spirit Dimension] were torn apart before scattering to form new terrain.

In that case, it was already an amazing feat for Diwata Danaya to be able to prevent the utter collapse of the Stone Fortress and the deaths of most of its residents.

And currently, the people of the Stone Fortress were rebuilding.

Mark observed the ruins as they flew closer. By the looks of it, the rebuilding was going slow despite the [Brown Duendes] being known to manipulate the soil and stone. However, from the information Berrak brought back, it was because the upper echelon of the [Brown Duendes] contributed to protecting their home. It caused them to have the same weakened status that Diwata Iraya also had currently.

Besides, the rebuilding efforts were concentrated more on building defenses. The dwellings would come next while restoring the rest of the fortress would come last.

But before everything else, Diwata Danaya and the upper echelon of the [Brown Duendes] made sure of one thing.

It was to make sure that the chamber that sealed the core of the enemy of the past remained intact, even if it cost their lives.

Looking at the Stone Fortress, the most intact location was the area where the royal chamber was. The part of the fortress directly above the sealed chambers underneath the fortress.

As per usual, the sight of a giant winged lizard flying from the sky caused quite a stir among the residents of the Stone Fortress.

However, the commotion died fast before the warriors could grab their bows to aim at the incoming monster.

The residents of the Stone Fortress quickly moved away, creating a clearing within its newly reconstructed walls.

Mark tapped on Chaflar's neck and told it to land in the clearing.

Warriors of the Stone Fortress surrounded the clearing. Nonetheless, they did not exhibit any hostility. It was probably, only to keep the civilians away and stop them from making any rash actions.

And there, Diwata Danaya, with a group of warriors, appeared. Her appearance was pretty conspicuous among the hundreds of creatures in the area. It was because she was the only one with a white dress among the magical creatures that wore either brown leather or dark-colored clothing.

But as they approached closer, Mark realized something unbelievable.

Chaflar landed in the cleared courtyard without problems. Mark jumped off the [Quasi-Dragon's] back and helped Spera climb down.

"It had been a while, Savior."

Diwata Danaya welcomed Mark with a greeting.

Savior. It was now the title that Mark was given in this place. It was something that came about after Mark's group left this place. This title was not surprising considering the circumstances in the past. Not to mention that Mark's race as a [Blood Demon], a race that maintained the balance, was now well known in this place.

Murmurs came from the gallery after Diwata Danaya called Mark the Savior. Many creatures present were clearly new to this place. And the most surprising thing, there were Demons among them.

The Demons were not disguised or anything. These creatures were present in the area in their true forms for everyone to see. Still, most of them were in a group in another area, not mingling much with the other residents of the Stone Fortress.

Mark ignored the stares filled with either eagerness or disappointment. Those who had seen Mark before were eager to see him. After all, he saved their lives when the corrupted [Lesser Eye] attacked the Stone Fortress]. On the other hand, the new people felt disappointed. After all, the so-called Savior did not look anything valiant. Rather, he was far from it.

And in response to Diwata Danaya's greeting, Mark responded with a question.

"Is that okay?" Mark gestured at the group of Demons lurking from afar since they were the easiest to point at. "Your predecessor isn't screeching about letting Demons here or anything?"

Diwata Danaya felt troubled about Mark's response. After all, her predecessor was extremely hostile when she met Mark within the Sealed Chambers.

But before the troubled Diwata could make up a response to Mark's question, a commotion ensued.

WHOOOOOOOOOOO!

The sound of a war horn echoed into everyone's ears. It came from the north watchtower.

Due to the sound, the residents were enveloped in subtle tenseness. None of them were blindly panicking, but they were scared.

A [Sylph] was seen flying from the direction of the watchtower and immediately relayed information to the Diwata.

"It's back! The Metal Giant!"

The [Sylph] reported in a hurry.

Although the words were in Spirit Language, Mark translated them in his mind. And the first thing that came to his mind when he heard Metal Giant was...

A [Mechid].

And following the words of the [Sylph], it was clear that this was not the first time the enemy attacked the Stone Fortress.

That was quite odd in that case if it was actually a [Mechid]. After all, [Mechids] also behave like the [Infected]. They attack without retreating. They would only stop if either they destroyed the target or they were the ones that got destroyed.

Then, what was the enemy?

As Diwata Danaya was about to tell her followers to guide Mark inside the fortress, Mark spoke to her.

"We're also going."

Mark voiced out.

Diwata Danaya was surprised at first. But she looked relieved as she thanked Mark as he followed behind her.

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