Serum

Pandora managed to convince the City Lord to let Dirk take part in this assassination assignment. 

There was only one problem, though. They didn't actually know the exact identity of the monster general. It was hiding somewhere in the midst of the monster hordes. Only by tracking the greatest concentrations of monsters could they guess where the general was. 

The City Lord had intended to launch a reconnaissance mission first. The monster general had only begun to appear in the last week since killing the one prior. The only reason they knew it was there was due to the monster's oddly coordinated movements. 

Either way, finding this monster general wouldn't be easy. However, the City Lord truly was lucky. 

Not only was Dirk the perfect one for an assassination, but Pandora had the skill known as Eyes of Truth. She immediately volunteered to track down the monster general using her special eyes to pick out any abnormalities. 

The City Lord, while not entirely trusting this vampire princess, also wouldn't deny their attempts to help. 

And so they waited until the next day. When night came around, the monster attacks died down, giving everyone time to rest. The city was eerily quiet as darkness fell, a result of only a fraction of the previous population still being alive. The city was on its last legs. 

It was only until the following afternoon that the attacks picked back up. The soldiers moved as if robots, fending off the hordes from the walls and other fortifications. Pandora stood upon the western wall as all the soldiers beside her rushed to carry out their duties. Arrows and spells were constantly launched from above, killing those below. 

Many of those who passed the vampire princess were at first enraptured by her beauty. She radiated a palpable air of royalty, her purple hair waving along with the wind and red eyes scanning the monsters in the distance. 

But when the soldiers found her doing nothing but standing there, watching, they became irked. They wondered why this pompous princess wasn't doing anything but standing in the way. Many of them threatened to bump into her as they ran past, only, when they got close to touching her, their skin began to sting under the bite of extreme frost. It wasn't obvious, but she had an extremely cold aura surrounding her. 

And of course, she wasn't standing atop the walls aimlessly. Her eyes were viewing everything in front of her. The vast monster hordes appeared in her vision along with all the different elements that exploded out of their hosts. 

More than that, she could see faint lines. She caught sight of three different clusters of monsters, from their centers extending a web of mind-controlling threads. These threads made the monsters move like herds, an odd occurrence since monsters were mindless beasts that only sought to kill, eat, and grow stronger. 

"Tell Dirk to come back."

She suddenly spoke. Beside her was Spyte, and the cat nodded curtly. 

Below them, a few explosions of fire created a wave of heat that burned a dozen or so monsters. Then, a black figure jumped out of the hordes, aiming for the side of the wall. 

*Bang!*

Dirk shook the wall as his fingers clawed into its surface. With a little earth magic and a few bounds, he was able to climb it. 

Unlike Pandora, upon seeing Dirk, many soldiers eyed him with awe and respect. Dirk had been fighting down amongst the hordes, being the only one able to keep his life in such a chaotic environment. He had already killed hundreds in the few hours they fought. 

"What?"

He asked with a long breath. The featureless head created by Obsidius' armor retracted, revealing his face and covered eyes. 

"There are three monster generals."

"Three?"

"It seems like those three are fighting for control over the monsters. Their hordes occasionally attack each other, but only moderately. They're in a stalemate due to them attacking this city. Anyway, we'll have to kill all three, and the monsters will subsequently lose their coordination. Maybe they'll disperse, and the city will be saved. Though, that's being incredibly optimistic."

Dirk was silent as he looked off into the distance. His mana vision still wasn't as precise as normal vision, but with all the mana bursting from the monsters, he could see the hordes in the distance clearly. In fact, he found that having Obsidius equipped made his mana vision even clearer. It was like the blob amplified the elements he could sense, making them pop more and give more detail. 

"So what's the plan?"

He looked at Pandora.

"Simple. Infiltrate and kill the monster generals."

"How will I know which monster is the general?"

"Hm, I'll have to build a spell for it, but I can see the generals rather clearly in my vision. With the spell I have in mind, I'll be able to illuminate the specific monster with light mana. You just need to target the tagged monster."

"Alright. And what about the group formed by the City Lord?"

"Them?"

Pandora glanced at Dirk with a dumb expression.

"Come on. Since when do you work in a team? When we decide to operate, you can go by yourself. It'll allow you to kill and escape easier without the burden of others. The City Lord can thank us after we're done."

"...Fine."

Dirk just nodded. He truly was better off working alone. While partners brought more firepower, they also brought more uncertainty. 

Without any more words, Dirk jumped right back down the wall. Since they had until nightfall, he decided he would fight until a few hours before. 

Upon landing in the midst of the monster hordes, Dirk's body became taut. His anima activation was light as he slashed a large rodent with his shortsword, using that attack to dodge the clawed swipe of another monster. He went on the offensive, carving his own path of carnage. Every step forward not only took a life, but evaded an attack. In this situation, defending wasn't an option, or he would never be able to kill anything. 

Dirk's body spun around as he went from monster to monster. His swords slashed open their necks, stabbed their chests, and slashed their limbs. Most of the monsters attacking were weak, not stronger than a rank 4. Most were merely rank 2, and Dirk's weapons glided through their bodies with ease. Some were magic monsters, casting spells of all elements that had no regard for friendly fire. Dirk used these to his advantage, killing monsters without so much as touching them. 

The area around him would only take a minute or so to become devoid of monsters. When that happened, Dirk would just dash to the nearest cluster, wreaking more devastation. His stamina seemed endless as he fought for hours at a time. Dirk smiled as he appreciated the perks of blood destruction. 

It was only when the sun began to set that Dirk finally calmed down. His breathing was labored, but through his effort he had ended the lives of nearly 4 thousand monsters personally. The endless hordes seemed to thin a bit under his lone effort. 

The only reason he could do this was due to him fighting in front of the western gate where the monster generals commanded from. The monsters gathered around them and then attacked the gates. Normally they would break through after several hours, moving the fight within the city where soldiers fell back to their secondary fortifications. This was how it had been for weeks now. 

But with Dirk there, he singlehandedly held them back. Nobody was crazy enough to throw themselves into that moshpit from hell, so they could only kill from afar with magic. Of course, this decreased everyone's ability to kill, outright making body refiners useless. But the battles were about preservation, not winning. 

Dirk had saved many lives today alone by throwing himself into that chaos. From above, Pandora smiled the entire time. 

At some point, Dirk jumped back up the wall, using previously created ledges for a foothold. He landed next to Pandora, taking deep breaths while kneeling, washing away his fatigue. 

She glanced at him, smirking.

"How's my supersoldier? It was like I was back on Earth, watching you devastate my armies from within."

"Don't call me that. And I need food. I'm starving."

"Here. Drink this. It'll recover your stamina."

Pandora took out a vial, filled with an unknown potion. She tossed it to him. When he saw it though, he grit his teeth and bat it away.

*Shatter!*

The vial burst after being backhanded, the liquid within spilling on the floor. Pandora's eyebrow raised, not expecting such a violent response. 

"...Sorry."

Realizing what he did, Dirk looked away.

"I... don't drink potions."

"...Alright. Let's get you fed then."

Pandora put out her hand, her voice surprisingly soft. Dirk lifted his head before taking it, pulling himself off the floor. 

The two made their way back to the castle. Because of Obsidius' armor, Dirk didn't have a single speck of blood on him after the blob retracted. The black slime bounced on his head excitedly, happy after protecting its master through such a long battle. 

Through the battle, there were some attacks Dirk either couldn't or didn't bother avoiding. In those moments, he had tested Obsidius' defense.

The armor really was metallic, being both flexible so Dirk could move around yet rigid enough to keep blades from slicing through. Dirk found the armor to be able to block the claws of a rank 3 monster, albeit with some noticeable scratches left behind. If it were a rank 4 monster, Dirk knew that Obsidius would be limited in its protection, though it would still be infinitely better than nothing. 

However, these protective abilities only applied if left alone. As Dirk had discovered a while ago, Obsidius could not only enhance his anima, but make use of it.

The glowing golden lines that appeared on the black armor were a result of Dirk infusing anima into it. And with his anima, Dirk could reinforce the armor, making it stronger according to the strength of his anima. This meant that, while he'd have to expend more energy, he could enable Obsidius to block the claws of a rank 5 monster. Rank 4 monsters couldn't so much as scratch the armor if he reinforced it. 

It also helped now that Dirk was a Rook class warrior, capable of infusing anima into objects without destroying them, instead enhancing them. Today's battles only helped him sharpen his ability to control anima. For nearly all of the battles, he strictly used his anima techniques and shortswords to attack, refraining from using magic. 

Though, one spell he used frequently was Void Walking. He found that he could use it much more than before with his larger dark mana reserves. His proficiency was also steadily rising, able to accurately void walk in the midst of dozens of monsters.

But as his mother pointed out, he still used it in his odd little way. He'd appear, for a split second, in two places at once while void walking. While it did indeed alert the monsters faster, he couldn't find a way to stop using it that way. It just didn't make sense otherwise. 

"You're back."

The City Lord nodded as Dirk and Pandora entered his headquarters. He noticed Dirk's haggard appearance, and smiled. 

"I've heard about your performance at the west gate. I thank you for your hard work."

"Unfortunately, City Lord Baren, his hard work can only do so much."

Pandora responded with a slight tinge of hostility, as if the City Lord was being proud of something he shouldn't be. She approached the table in front of them, Dirk just hanging behind her and gnawing on a strip of dried meat. 

"This city is on its last legs, as I've noticed after observing for all of today. Your soldiers are fatigued despite the abundance of food, giving them, at best, another week of constant fighting before giving in. You were the sole Rank 7, and you have no Tier 6's."

"They died protecting the city in the initial attacks, Princess."

The City lord suddenly snapped, as if to ensure Pandora wouldn't degrade their sacrifice. She just nodded. 

"I figured as much. What I'm concerned about, City Lord, is your lack of longevity. This city is crumbling, and soon enough you're going to be overrun."

"That's why we're targeting the monster general."

"Actually, believe it or not, the presence of the three monster generals on the outskirts of the hordes is the only thing keeping you alive right now."

"..."

The City Lord was silent as Pandora smiled. 

"There are three monster generals that are fighting amongst themselves. One will come out victorious, becoming the true general. Until then, the majority of the monster's high end strength is occupied with this civil war. Now, if we kill these generals while they're still weak, all the hordes will disperse. They'll be uncoordinated, but that will only end with all of them attacking the city instead of small armies. Those generals are holding them back, for now."

"But if we level the generals alive, they'll grow stronger until the last of them stands, then launching strategic offensives on the city."

"You pick up fast. So you know how abysmal your ending is unless you enact another plan."

"..."

The City Lord went silent under Pandora's sharp gaze. Seeing as how the City Lord was being pressured, though, a captain beside them stepped forward in anger. 

"Hey! Do not disrespect the City Lord! We have only survived this long through his leadership!"

"I'm sure that's true. Unfortunately, no amount of reverence you have for your crippled City Lord will save your future selves."

"Hold your tongue, lady!"

*Shing!*

Suddenly, a dozen soldiers unsheathed their weapons. The air of rage and hostility poured out, making it seem like they would all impale the princess regardless of her background or seductive beauty. 

The nearby captain even pressed his spear against her throat. For a moment, everything was still, the slightest movement threatening to send the room into a frenzy. It was clear that everyone was on edge, exhausted and limited in patience. 

Pandora merely stood there, staring at the City Lord with a wide smile. Her ruby eyes bored into the man, and for a moment, everyone saw past the graceful and royal princess. She almost looked... a bit thrilled by the turn of events, her smile sending chills down everyone's spines. 

Then, the City Lord tore his gaze away from her, glancing at where Dirk... was supposed to be. The only thing he saw was a black cat, its golden eyes peering into him. 

"Stand down."

The City Lord commanded, and most of the soldiers sheathed their weapons. Except the captain, who still had an enraged face. 

"City Lord, this impudent wench should be tossed to the monsters outside the gates."

The captain snarled as he pressed further. Pandora's pointed teeth were further exposed as he drew blood. 

For a moment, he glanced to her side, seeing Spyte. When he looked into that cat's eyes, he was enraptured. 

The next moment though, he felt a sharp prick on the back of his neck. Chills shot through his body, suddenly feeling like his life was going to slip away. 

"Who?!"

He spun around, pulling back his spear and slashing behind him. The spear was stopped by an armored hand though, a knee shooting to its shaft and snapping it in half. 

Dirk grabbed the captain's arm after breaking the spear, spinning him back around and slamming his head into the table in front of him. The captain struggled but couldn't budge Dirk's hold, forced down by the lock in his own joints. 

Dirk's head turned up, staring at the City Lord. Dirk's eyes were covered by that cloth, but the City Lord could still feel a piercing gaze, one that went further than vision. 

The City Lord gulped. Even at his peak, he had never felt anything like Dirk's current aura. It wasn't amazingly threatening, not filled with bursting bloodlust or guttural rage. 

It was quiet, almost invisible. There wasn't any kind of killing intent or pressure. The City Lord didn't even feel like his life was in danger. Despite the knife Dirk now had at the captain's throat, it didn't seem like he had any intention of killing the man, either. 

But that's exactly was alarmed the City Lord. That utter disregard for life. The ability to kill without any form of emotion or motivation. The disconnect between an obvious threat and the nonexistent sense of danger made him shiver inwardly, like knowing a ghost was drifting around you but being unable to see it. And that wasn't even considering his uncanny ability to disappear from under their noses. 

"...You surprise me, Dirk Strider. I had thought you would be more like your elder brother, more like your father. But, it seems you inherited your mother's side. A compliment, of course, considering her abilities that were greater than mine, even at my prime."

"Mm."

Dirk just hummed at the City Lord's appeasing words. Then, everyone heard a clap, turning their heads to Pandora. 

"I'm sorry, but if we could get back down to business. City Lord, I suggest you remove any emotional soldiers from the room before you tell me exactly how you've planned on pulling this city out of its hellish pit."

"...Very well."

He nodded after a moment of silence, dismissing everyone but his highest advisors and officers. Dirk let his hostage go as well, the captain leaving without being able to look back at Dirk. 

After Pandora's small wound healed after a mere several seconds, they all gathered around the table. While Dirk remaining behind everyone was unsettling, nobody minded as Pandora bored into the City Lord, prompting him to spill his secrets.