Serum

Dirk prowled through the monster hordes. 

He had run up to them, a large area upon the landscape where the generals and armies fought. This area was several square miles large, and even then there wasn't much room to move. 

The monsters out there were constantly running around. It was only for a few hours during the night that they retreated and went to sleep, everything becoming quiet. But even then, there would be monsters out patrolling, keeping an eye on the armies of the other generals. 

Dirk didn't aim for this time. 

Why? Because the armies weren't his concern. The monsters around the generals were the ones he needed to be concerned over. 

And those monsters around the general also had to sleep. However, they only did so while the armies were active. 

Pandora had surprised Dirk with some deep information. The monster armies slept around midnight, and they slept for close to four hours. After that, they would begin fighting again, and the guards would sleep under the protection of the raging armies. 

This was the window Dirk was aiming for. 

The time he headed out was just after the armies started back up. With Obsidius around him and his Stealth activated, he was able to weave through the armies completely undetected. 

Of course, he didn't have to evade monsters for long. Each of the generals were located an equal distance apart, thousands of monsters between them. Like most human generals, they placed themselves behind their armies. This also meant that their backs were the least guarded. So Dirk was sure to circle around, only needing to make his way through a few clusters of mindless monsters. 

The spell on his hand pulsed as he did so. It became more rapid as he got closer to the general. He could also feel a sense of direction from it. 

It wasn't long before he entered a small clearing. 

There were 6 large monsters in the middle of this clearing, the armies keeping their distance out of fear. 

Dirk insert himself into this exclusion zone, just between the surrounding army and the general's guards. 

He could see the general as the spell on his hand dimmed. 

The general was sitting in the midst of its guards, chomping down on a large gorilla-type monster. 

The figure of the general made Dirk frown in seriousness. 

It was a massive wolf. Its fur looked like metal as it bristled with pure violence and savagery. Its fangs tore into its prey's flesh like it was rubber, crunching bones along the way as if it didn't even notice them. Even its claws could poke through those bones as it grabbed different limbs of the monster. 

Dirk could feel earth and metal mana from this wolf, along with light mana. 

Pandora had already told him that all three of the generals had the light attribute. This light attribute was how they controlled the surrounding armies, using strings of mental manipulation to guide them. So it wasn't a surprise seeing the light mana. 

Dirk wasn't even nervous over the unbridled, rabid behavior of the wolf. 

It was the Tier 5 mana coming from its body that gave him a headache. 

Dirk was barely Tier and Rank 4. This monster was absolutely at least an entire Tier above him. As for its Rank, he wouldn't be sure until they fought. Still, by the way the wolf casually tore its prey limb from limb, he assumed it wasn't lacking. 

But although Dirk was lesser in sheer power, he wasn't a normal mage or warrior. 

*Grrrr...*

The wolf growled as it finished stripping the last slices of meat from its food. Its snout dripped with fresh blood as it raised its head, looking around. 

Dirk stood tall in front of the guards that surrounded the general. Each of the guards stared at the surrounding monster armies with ferocity, but their menacing gazes were clearly a mask to hide their fear over the general beside them. Dirk could even see one trembling. 

The wolf eyed this particular guard, and then approached. It was slow as it made its way closer, its claws treading the ground and nose sticking itself upon the back of this fearful guard. 

The wolf general sniffed its guard, as if inspecting it. Raising its paw, a claw pointed itself and placed itself upon the guard's back, tracing down and leaving an obvious trail of blood. 

Dirk watched the guard yelp in pain, and couldn't help but feel odd. The sight reminded him of Deliha, how she liked to play with him, drawing wounds across his body as she spoke with him. 

Unfortunately, this guard didn't have the life insurance he did. As if the yelp had displeased the general, the wolf opened its maw and chomped down on its neck. 

It was fast. 

Dirk's gaze hardened as he saw the wolf's teeth clamp down with surprising agility. It wasn't any speed that he couldn't handle, but combined with its obviously high Tier, this wolf was turning out to be a difficult opponent. 

With that single chomp, the wolf killed its guard, reducing the number of its guards to five. It didn't even eat this guard, just retreating with blood dripping from its fangs. 

Then, the general laid down upon a patch of leaves and grass, a makeshift bed perhaps. Once it put its head down, the other guards followed. 

Dirk's hand twitched as he watched. Then, he took a deep breath. 

His heart slowed. His mana vision sharpened. A weapon appeared in his hands. It was a large and heavy axe, crude in design but built with obvious power. 

One of the many weapons Pandora had brought along, this axe's blade was composed of Tier 5 Geode, a pure metal with an affinity to the earth element. With this weapon, Dirk could freely inject his mana into it and increase its magical properties. It could even be used as a medium for spellcasting, not unlike his pistol Stigma. 

After equipping the axe, he gave a command inwardly. 

'Go.'

[Happy hunting.]

Spyte jumped out of his body, the cat circling the group of guards. Dirk also circled around, his presence drifting through the shadows of the night. 

Suddenly, the wolf perked its head up. 

It looked before it, between two of its guards. Its black eyes rested upon a feline. 

That small figure with majestic black hair and golden stripes looked directly at it, its brilliant eyes enrapturing it for but a mere moment. 

The two only stared at each other for a bit. As Dirk knew, the monster generals weren't mindless. It was as if monsters earned intelligence through power. This wolf, along with the other two generals, was smart enough to utilize tactics and cunning as well as lead its armies. They could even bring down a city with a Rank 7 guarding it. They were not to be underestimated. 

So the wolf didn't immediately attack. It evaluated the cat before it, wondering how it suddenly appeared and what its purpose was. It was curious, but also wary. 

And then, it felt chills. The instincts of a beast forged through the fires of savage slaughter warned it. It was in mortal danger. 

The cat in front of it narrowed its golden eyes, taking a step forward and toward the wolf. 

The wolf kept its attention on the cat for a second longer than it should have. When it finally spun around to face the source of the chills, it was met with a deep blade. 

The mana in its body exploded, doing everything in its absolute power to evade this attack. 

"AWOO!!"

*Shing!*

Metal blades and spikes surged from the wolf's body and the ground around it. Several attacks were aimed at the area before it and the rest were focused on blocking the incoming blade. Even its own fur was utilized, blades materializing from its body, called upon for a heavy cost. 

The axe was barely diverted away from its skull, the blade crashing through every last defense before gracing its shoulder, drawing a deep wound that severed half of its front arm. 

Along with its previous movement, the wolf launched itself backward. The other guards also spurred alive, rudely waken and furious at the one who would dare attack their general. 

Dirk appeared in that moment, taking a step to steady himself before squaring with the guards who had surrounded their general. 

Then, he vanished before their eyes, drifting like a ghost into the shadows. 

The wolf growled, barking at one of its guards. 

"GRACKK!"

A guard that took the shape of a ferocious lizard let out a cry before opening its mouth. 

It reminded Dirk a lot of the fire skinks he once knew and loved. 

Fire bellowed from the lizard's mouth, washing through the land and surrounding the general. At the same time, the general called upon more of its spikes, blades surging from the ground and creating a barrier of death around them. 

Metal and fire raged for a few moments. The lizard was wholly focused on torching the enemy that could be anywhere around it. Its fire spread far enough to torch the armies running around them, not stopping until the surrounding 100 meters was nothing but a sea of flame. 

As it was doing so though, the wolf suddenly felt more chills. It suddenly grabbed the lizard with its mouth and flung its head around. 

*Slice!*

An axe blade cut down, cutting through the lizard that the wolf had used as a shield. The axe slowed and was unable to pierce through the extra defenses that the wolf mustered. 

Dirk appeared right before the wolf, in the midst of the guards. He hadn't distanced himself. He had moved in. 

The wolf dropped the bisected lizard before lunging toward its enemy. 

It was much slower now though. Dirk's first attack had forced the wolf to utilize the mana within itself in a dangerous way, hurting its own body in the process of saving its life. And even then, Dirk had disabled one of its front limbs, making it far more unsteady on its own feet. 

It was debilitating, and perhaps the wolf knew it, but it would really lose its life should it not take the initiative. 

Dirk waved his axe as the wolf lunged toward him. 

Crescent blades formed in the air, the blades spinning and heading toward Dirk from all odd directions. At the same time, the wolf threatened to chomp down on Dirk, tearing him apart. It was giving him no room and sparing no amount of mana or energy to kill him. 

To this, Dirk moved in as well. 

He met the wolf, and dodged the maws that tried to clamp down on his body. At the same time, he swung his axe outward, knocking away three of the crescent blades that tried to fly over and slice him apart. 

Dirk tackled the wolf to the floor, taking out a knife with his free hand and stabbing the wolf in the gut over and over again. 

The wolf cried out as it slashed at Dirk with its claws, each claw screeching across Obsidius' armor and cutting it open, slicing into Dirk's skin. Blades also surged from the ground and tried to impale him.

Dirk reinforced the armor with his anima after several wounds opened on his body, causing golden circuits to appear on the black armor. And along with Earth Guard creating metal plates around his body to block the spikes, he used the wolf's body itself to guard himself from its own attacks. 

During all this, Dirk's hand moved over a dozen times, and each time the knife was planted into the wolf's body. Dirk stabbed several vital areas, and once he felt it was enough, he stopped evading and grabbed the wolf, throwing its large body to the side.

And as it tumbled, the pistol appeared in his hand. It was steadily aimed, his armr unmoving even as the wounds across his body sent pain through his body. 

The magic circuits on the body of the gun glowed. 

*Zip!*

A metal bullet flew out, taking an entire 10% of Dirk's mana supply with it. It pierced through the wolf's eye socket, Making the mosnter collapse limply just as it started to regain itself. 

Just like that, it was dead.

[Target 1 terminated. Acquire confirmation and move on.]

Spyte spoke within his mind, her instructions familiar to Dirk. 

And he moved on instinct, taking a second to behead the wolf before storing his weapon and head in the pocket ring.

After that, he disappeared from view. The guards couldn't even react before he was gone. They did nothing to protect their general, but that was only because the battle was beyond their abilities to contribute to.

Then, Pandora's spell suddenly activated. 

Her voice also appeared in his mind.

"Good job. Nice and quick, in exchange for a few wounds. Make these other ones quicker, because their power with the light element grows with less competition. The light element thrives through control."

With a cryptic ending, the spell on Dirk's hand exploded. Light mana washed across the fields of armies, and with it, Dirk was suddenly opened up to a new world. 

The spell highlighted all the strings of mind control that the generals used to manipulate the armies. And all these strings converged upon two locations, obviously the generals. 

Only, the generals seemed to realize what had happened, as those strings began to spread like a virus, taking more and more monsters under their wings. 

Dirk felt odd, seeing that. 

The dark element was often seen as the manipulator. The dark schemer that sought to take over through underhanded means. Although there wasn't any discrimination against dark mages since they were so valuable, there was no doubt a certain stereotype associated with them. Take Garel for example. Dirk was sure that Garel was the textbook example of how dark mages were seen 

The dark element was inherently chaotic, and it turned its mages chaotic. 

People often thought that it was the dark mages one needed to be wary of. They might curse you, try to turn you into a minion to do their bidding. 

But now, it was the light element doing just that. Dirk's mana vision could see the light element taking control of thousands of monsters. The monsters seemed to struggle against it, but it was futile as they all eventually succumbed to the rule of their new masters. 

This level of mind control far surpassed that of the dark element. Dirk wondered what would have happened to him if Asura was a light mage instead of a dark one. Could he have taken control of Dirk if that were the case? What kind of havoc could he have sown through the Horizon Empire as he manipulated armies of assassins to do his bidding?

As for those with the light attribute, like Pandora...

The people he needed to be wary of were different than he imagined. 

Dirk acted fast. He moved along the outskirts of the armies, making his way toward the next general. He followed all those strings of light mana, quickly arriving at their nexus. 

At some point though, the general he was nearing released another surge of light mana. 

The wave of light mana washed over him, directly disrupting his Stealth and revealing him to the world. 

The monsters around him, as well as the general who could feel the void of dark mana he created, turned their attention. 

And with him revealed, he was unable to vanish from their sights again. The light mana focused on him. The generals felt the threat he posed. They knew he had already killed one. 

So they attacked. 

Thousands of monsters surged toward him from all directions. From the air, from the ground, spells of all elements threatened to wipe him out. 

But they were too weak. Too slow. With a step, Dirk divided himself. 

The spells crashed upon his body, but when the dust settled he was gone. 

Instead, his body had reappeared several meters away. 

Void Walking.

Seeing the monsters converge on him, Dirk equipped two of his shortswords. He thought back to Pandora's words as well. 

She told him to prepare, that he would need to slaughter his way after making his first kill. 

It looked like she was right. 

He shook his head. And then his hand shot out, burying his sword into the heart of a monster that tried to slash him in two. 

After that, he shot forward, stepping through the hordes and making his way toward the generals. 

Pandora watched from afar. She watched his figure as it weaved, as spells and the elements surged across the sky. 

As the generals prepared themselves for their inevitable deaths. 

She smiled and waited for the vision in her mind to play out just as she imagined it.