Mutagen

Above the forest at the north of the Eastern Mountain Territory, a young woman wearing a white dress and a crown made of flowers could be seen flying. Her long wavy hair fluttered with the wind as she flew, holding on to her wand.

She was Danaya, a young Diwata and the current overseer of the mountains in his area. The races around her jurisdiction would come to her for advice and resolve conflicts between themselves. She served as the merciful judge and the ruthless punisher. The innocents would receive justice while the guilty received banishment from the land.

Danaya was not only powerful but was always fair. The races that she looked after liked her, and her existence gave them peace.

Unfortunately, that peace was gone. Right now, Danaya served as the last lifeline for many. Despite the danger, she would regularly roam her land to search for those that survived and bring them to safety.

This time, however, she was returning to the Eastern Mountain with a sad expression. She did not find any survivor this time. And probably, she would not find any in the future.

While flying, several infected birds found Danaya.

These beautiful and lovely colored birds became flesh-eating monsters. That thought made Danaya even sadder. With a deep sigh, she waved her staff.

The infected birds froze in the air before their bodies plummeted to the ground, with their heads squashed by a strong force.

Danaya did not watch the fall and just left. There was no point in staying. She just wanted to return to the last fortress in her jurisdiction.

The Diwata entered the forest blanketed by illusion without any problem. She exited the woods soon, and she was welcomed by everyone that was currently living in this place.

This place could be said as the last line of defense in these mountains. Still, it was good to see that everyone was coping with the situation.

Danaya took her time walking towards the Stone Fortress in the distance. She wanted to see if everyone was doing fine and was looking at every house that she saw.

That was when she reached a certain distance from the Stone Fortress.

Her heart pounded as she felt some presence that she could not recognize. Furthermore, these individuals she felt had a demonic presence. This caused her to worry.

However, she was rational. Seeing that everything seemed to be fine, and she could not detect any feeling of danger, she decided to confirm things first before making any movement.

Danaya entered the gates of the fortress with the soldiers greeting her. That was when she saw three gigantic creatures waiting in the courtyard. What made her frown at first was that she could tell what they were. One was a demonic dragon, while two were Infecta. However, the crease on her brows disappeared. She noticed that the dragon was sleeping without worry, while the two Infecta were not moving at all.

It was very strange.

She remembered that there should be a meeting happening right now.

Thus, she decided to go there to ask about what was happening.

When she arrived at the meeting room, everyone kneeled before her and greeted her. The kings were not an exception. Well, except a single person, that is.

***

"We greet the Diwata of the Eastern Territories."

The folklore creatures inside the room, including Pefile, kneeled on one knee and greeted the beautiful woman that entered the room.

It left Mark to stand alone in the room. This caused some of the representatives to feel a bit annoyed. However, they knew that humans in this era did not follow these kinds of customs anymore. While annoyed, they could not reprimand him either.

Mark then felt the scrutinizing stare of the Diwata that entered. It was not a questioning stare, but something that was trying to pry into his soul instead.

Seeing Danaya staring at Mark, the King of Duendes decided to introduce him.

"Diwata Danaya, this man is called Mark. He here is a guest from the World of Mortals that came to exchange information with us."

"Information?"

Danaya turned to Hieromano and asked.

"Yes, Diwata Danaya. Just now, we learned from him what is the current state of the World of Mortals. It seemed that they had the same circ.u.mstances as ours and probably worse."

"Is this true?"

Danaya turned to Mark and asked with a serious face.

"As he said, I"m here to exchange information, I have no reason to lie. It"s not like they could not tell a lie from the truth."

Mark replied with a shrug.

This caused more animosity to be directed at him, and Pefile was even hitting Mark"s knee with his elbow.

Danaya felt a bit relieved as she realized that Mark was not lying.

Still, she wanted to be sure.

"Since you didn"t have the reason to lie, then tell me. Are you human, a demon, or something else?"

Her question made the heart of the representatives pound hard. They thought that Mark was human. However, it seemed that he was not. Furthermore, a demon? They actually let a demon into their final sanctuary?

They felt conflicted. However, they were in the presence of Danaya. None of them dare start a commotion.

With a bit of a playful att.i.tude, Mark replied.

"Can I pick all the choices?"

This caused everyone to become confused instead of feeling offended further.

"Why all?"

The Diwata questioned once more.

"Well..." Mark scratched his head. "I was a human before I became something that no one can tell what I am, and then, I awakened my dormant demon blood recently?"

His answer caused everyone, even the Diwata, to look at him strangely.

"Are you trying to feed us nonsense?"

That was when Pefile decided to speak.

"Please pardon me, Diwata Danaya, for speaking. However, what he said is true. Although I was not there every time, I witnessed how he awakened his demon blood."

"I see, a half-demon then," Danaya said. "Then, what about the others?"

Hearing that, Mark sighed. Of course, it would not be easy. He could say that he awakened his blood, and Mei, the little girls, and Alana were his family members. However, he could not justify things about Chaflar. Trying to cover it up would only lead to more suspicions.

Thus, there was only one way.

Mark sighed.

"I"m not a half-demon, I"m a pure-blooded one they said."

As his words ended, two pairs of bat wings sprouted from his back, his eyes turned red, two blood-red horns grew on his forehead, and lastly, his fans grew longer. His transformation was accompanied by the glow of his veins and pressure that made everyone here s.h.i.+ver.

Seeing the transformation, Danaya stared at Mark wide-eyed. It was the same for the representatives here that already lived for hundreds of years.

"A... Blood Demon..."

Danaya could not believe it. The supposedly extinct race resurfaced once more, and a pure-blooded appeared before her eyes.

"Does this answer your question?"

Mark said with a bit of annoyance. He was really not used to having horns or fangs. His head felt heavy because of these features.

"I see, so the other individuals here are the ones you turned into your kind."

Danaya said.

"They are my family. You don"t have to worry about me forcing them. One of them even awakened on her own the same way I did."

Mark shrugged.

"I see..." 

Danaya nodded. It seemed that she was relieved now. Diwatas were fair and neutral individuals for the majority of their race. They did not care what kind of creature an individual was as long as they did not commit any sin before them.

Furthermore, Blood Demons were known to be a neutral race. Unless necessary, they would not start a conflict.

"One last question," Danaya spoke once more. "You are not here to avenge your race, are you?"

That question made the representatives wary. Because of what happened to the Blood Demons during that war, it would not be surprising if the remaining survivors hated both the Spirit Races and Demonic Races.

To that question, Mark t.i.tled his head.

"Why should I? That did have anything to do with me. I"ll repeat once more, I"m just here to exchange information. Is it that hard to understand?"

Mark"s annoyance was already obvious. Pefile was already hitting Mark with his elbow and whispering for him to calm down.

Those questions were enough for Danaya, it seemed. She walked to the highest chair in the meeting room and sat down.

"Then, I apologize if my inquiries offended you in any way." She said. "I just have to put the wellbeing of everyone here in priority."

Danaya was a reasonable individual. Even though she had the authority to question anyone here, she still apologized.

Mark accepted the apology, and the meeting continued. Of course, the representatives of the races were wary towards Mark even more. Before, they just viewed him as a human that had Spirits as friends. Now that they knew that he was a demon, the racial prejudice they had towards demons could not help but go out a bit.

It could not be helped after all. The Spirit Races and the Demon Races were enemies. There were very few that were an exception.

***

The meeting continued, and they started to discuss the thing that occupied the Kingdom of Sylphs.

Unfortunately, even with Danaya"s attendance, they could not think of an effective idea to deal with that thing.

If it was just that thing, they might be able to approach and try things to kill and destroy it. However, with over three thousand Sylphs roaming about the area, it was suicide to go and approach.

The closest thing they managed to think of was having someone lure away the Sylphs as they try to destroy that gigantic carpet of tentacle covered flesh. Unfortunately, it meant suicide for anyone that would be tasked to lure them away.

As everyone racked their brains about it, Mark raised his hand a bit.

"I have an idea."

Everyone looked at Mark. Although they were a bit glad that he was joining the discussion, there was really no reason for him to do so.

Then, Mark spoke as if knowing what was in their minds.

"Well, my Spirit Tree is within the area you guys call the Dead Territory. So this is my problem too."

That statement made everyone frozen.

Danaya could not help but stand up from her seat.

"That Red Spirit Tree is yours?! Then, that is an Everred Spirit Tree, isn"t it?"

Mark was a bit surprised, and he looked at Pefile. From all the Spirit Races he met, only Pefile was able to pinpoint what Chiyo was. Even Danaya and the representatives inside the room were shocked, hearing that it was actually an Everred Spirit Tree.

"That"s right," Mark replied.

"I see." Danaya sat back down. "What is your plan?"

"Well, you guys don"t need to do anything. I will go with two individuals from my team. All I need for all of you is to let them stay here safely. Until I return."

That made everyone surprised.

Even if all of them that were currently here in the fortress charged towards the Kingdom of Sylphs right now, half of them or more might die during the battle. Yet, Mark only needed three people? Just what was he thinking?

However, Mark seemed to be confident about it. Besides, if he could get rid of it on his own, everyone else here would benefit without needing to do anything.

Well, of course, the righteous Danaya would not let that happen.

"If that is the case, I will go with you. I want to see what you will do. If you are able to get rid of that creature, I will promise for a reward."

Those words caused murmurs between the representatives.

One, they did not really know him to entrust him such a mission. And two, having a Diwata promise a reward was enough for them to envy.

Nevertheless, they could not do anything at all.

As for Mark, he naturally agreed. He did not want to work for free, after all. If Danaya did not propose this, Mark would have asked the others to give compensation.

In any case, things were handled, and for most, Mark"s reveal did not receive a too negative reaction.

It was fortunate that he was a Blood Demon that was known for being neutral. If not, things would have been harder.