Serum

After finishing morning breakfast, everyone left to take care of business. 

Ethan still had his duties as a Marshal, as did Ryker as a Grand Marshal. And Viola worked closely with Ethan, so she wasn’t without responsibility. 

Cecilia also went with Ryker to go and find Alec, so that left Dirk and Pandora, along with Exos and Nova. 

Nova stuck by her mistress, as always, waiting to receive an order or tend to her. 

As for Exos, like during their ride here, he was focusing on his enchanting. 

For many weeks now, Exos had been doing nothing but studying and experimenting, improving his augmentations alongside his growing knowledge. He hardly talked or socialized and preferred to stay locked up in a room somewhere. 

So although he had come to this base, he didn’t come out of the house. The specifics of what he was doing was beyond Dirk and Pandora, and they didn’t know how long he would be like that. 

The only occasions that he emerged was when he sought Pandora for her knowledge. That was becoming rarer, but it still occasionally happened. 

Not that they minded. Their time at Horizon was meant for accumulation and strengthening. Pandora had already expressed how she intended to use this time to increase her magic power. She was able to break into Tier 5 whenever she wanted, but apparently she wished to create her Domain first. 

Naturally, doing so was extremely difficult, especially for her. Domains were usually created when someone was Tier 5, so not only was Pandora a step behind, but she had four attributes to make use of. It would be a complex process, but without a doubt, once she finished, her power would leap once again. And soon after that, she would advance another level, giving her another boost. 

She didn’t wish to leave Horizon before these things happened, so when they left depended on her. But it wouldn’t be quick, at least a couple months, possibly more. 

That being the case, Dirk planned to work heavily on his magic as well. He may not necessarily create his Domain, but he wanted to at least get close to Tier 5. 

For the time being, that was his primary focus. But first…

“Dirk. We found Alec.”

Dirk smiled when he received the news, making his way to another section of the base. 

……

…

“I got your right!”

“That lizard is mine!”

“Then I got the lava buffalo!”

On the battlefield, three people swam through a crowd of scattered monsters. Around them, rivers of lava bubbled and ashy soil kicked up dust with every step and disturbance. 

Behind them, there were more squadrons of soldiers, all of them moving in the same general direction. And their destination was the large monster a small distance away, a being that lived within a lake of lava. 

Their mission was to subjugate this newly developed monster general. It was currently only sitting at Tier 6, but the nature of its power to wield fire and lava combined with its home made it an especially tricky foe. 

These monster generals would crop up frequently as days and weeks passed, requiring regular missions to be run in order to keep their numbers low. However, there were some generals that were harder to kill than others, and if the initial missions failed, then the general would grow and require a stronger team to take it out. 

Alec and the two women fighting beside him were one of the teams called on in order to kill this lava monster, along with four other teams. 

Of course, unlike the other teams that had four people each, Alec only had himself and the two girls. This was naturally due to their relationship, and nobody was willing to be the fourth wheel stuck with this competitive group of lovers. 

Alec glanced at the two girls who shot ahead of him, attacking some monsters who got in their way. 

The first girl was a vampire. With slightly pale skin, she was a subtle beauty who had pitch black hair and a reasonablly tall height, standing only a bit shorter than Alec. Her eyes gleamed with silver light as she cast all kinds of dark spells, cursing her enemies before calling upon her domain to strangle and destroy them. 

The second girl was human. She had blonde hair and was only slightly shorter than the vampire. Her lithe figure covered in thin silver armor dashed between her enemies with finesse and grace, all her movements chaining together with stunning technique. Her greatsword carried constant momentum, every strike only serving to increase its power. It was clear that the sword technique she trained in was top class. 

And then, there was Alec. Clad in thick red armor, he wielded a large spear as he swept through several enemies at once, fire and light blooming from the tip of his weapon as it crashed into hordes beyond. 

Each of his steps were powerful, each of his thrusts or sweeps carrying unrelenting force. He was like a general on the fiery battlefield, his momentum acting as the momentum of every team in the vicinity. 

And he was in fact in the lead, acting as the spearhead for their entire effort to carve a path to the monster general. 

It wasn’t long before everyone arrived under his guidance. 

Alec jumped, planting his feet at the top of a pointed boulder that overlooked a large open pit before him. 

He saw the massive lava monster, their target, sitting inside a massive lake of lava. They couldn’t even reach it unless they made their way across the lava. And the only solace was the fact that no monster dared to even approach the lake, making it completely clear. 

The two girls caught up a few seconds after Alec, standing beside him while cringing as their faces were hit with a wave of heat a few magnitudes worse than the already oppressive atmosphere. 

The dark mage, named Magenta, was using her dark mana to interfere with all the fire mana that radiated from the lava lake. As for the knight, named Ivory, she utilized the enchantments of her armor as well as her anima to resist the heat. But even then, she couldn’t stop herself from sweating, though she didn’t seem to care. 

“Alec!”

Suddenly, there was a call, all three of them turning toward a man who jumped over. 

He was their captain for this mission and a Tier 6 earth mage. He was their greatest assurance against the lava monster as no normal fire mage would be able to do much. Knights were especially helpless. 

Alec nodded. 

“Captain.”

“Good job cutting your way here. You can leave the rest to us. Also, I received word from Base that your presence has been requested, so you should head back.”

“Go back? Why?”

“Not sure. Just relaying what I heard. Besides, I don’t want you getting hurt trying to fight this monster, so don’t worry too much and go. We got it.”

“Very well. Good luck.”

With that, Alec turned around as the Captain shot off toward the mosnter along with the other teams. 

Alec descended a small hill. But, just as he was about to start running, Magenta narrowed her eyes. 

“Hold on.”

She spoke, causing them all to stop. Ivory glanced at her from the side. 

“What is it?”

“I sensed something. A spatial fold.”

“...”

Ivory went quiet, looking ahead of her and trying to pick out any anomalies. 

Then, Alec suddenly equipped his spear, lowering his body. His helmet covered head scanned the surroundings. 

Then, only 3 meters away, a figure suddenly appeared. It startled all three of them, causing each of them to prime for battle. 

The figure was dressed in black scale armor. His helmet was sleek and the armor intricately crafted. He also held a black sword in his hand, one that vibrated through space like it was going to disappeared from reality at any moment. 

The hand that held the sword twirled around, as if playing with the sword like it was a toy. The tip of the sword left behind streaks in space, dark mana trailing like a tail. 

Ivory’s pupils constricted as her heartrate rose. She felt great threat from this person.

“Who are you?!”

“...”

He was quiet, his gaze settled on Alec. 

And then, he took a step, before suddenly disappearing. 

That’s when Alec spun around, his spear swinging before colliding with a blade behind him. 

*Ting!*

“Void Walking!”

Magenta called out as she started casting spells. At the same time, her Domain was extended. 

Ivory also pressed forward. It seemed like this dark figure wanted battle, so they intended to give it to him. 

After the clash, the man shot backward. While he did so, tendrils rose up from the ground, threatening to chain him down and inflict curses. 

But before they could, another weapon appeared in his hands. And when he pointed it, dark projectiles shot out, blasting apart the tendrils and poking holes in the Domain. 

Magenta grit her teeth, realizing that this dark mage had some special spells and weapons at his disposal that she had never seen before. Even his Void Walking barely resembled actual Void Walking. It was some kind of twisted spell that manipulated space and warped his body into multiple places at once. 

After that, Ivory pressed forward, her blade gliding through the air before arriving before the figure. 

According to her technique, she only needed to hit something once before she could cascade into a rhythmic flow of sword strikes. With every hit, she would apply further pressure, and once it started, it would become increasingly difficult to stop it. 

Thus, she intended to lock this figure into her own flow, allowing her team to attack from other angles. They had used this tactic against many powerful enemies before, especially those more powerful than them, and every time, it resulted in their victory. 

But, before she could even start, she was forced to a grinding halt. 

*TANG*

Her sword collided with that black blade, and all the momentum she had been gathering was dissipated just like that. She was locked into place by that dark figure, as if he knew exactly what not to let her do. 

She couldn’t help but feel like she was being read like a book, her evaluation of this person rising every second. 

But this wasn’t her only technique. So she shifted and prepared to overwhelm him with power. 

She swung again, but this time, when her blade was about to collide with his sword, he suddenly shifted. 

Her greatsword was deflected, its tip digging into the ground like she was a toddler wielding a sword for the first time. And then, the dark sword came swinging around, using her momentum to deliver a strike of his own. 

She could only use all her strength to dodge, the blade creating a streak across her shoulder pauldron before slicing off a few of her hairs. 

It was so close that her neck tingled, and even then, she felt like this person wasn’t really trying to hurt her. 

Then, a spear appeared in the corner of her eye, and that man was forced to abandon her to defend. 

She recovered as Alec pressed forward. 

His spear jutted forth dozens of times. All the while, Magenta cast various binding and cursing spells, anything to try and pin that man down. But he merely shot those mysterious bullets, and all of her spells were nullified. It baffled her to see him dealing with both Alec and her spells at the same time. 

And after Ivory recovered, she went to help pressure him. Magenta continuously cast spells while both of them attacked, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t lock him down. Sometimes his bullets would destroy her spells, but other times, he would outright shoot her, forcing her to block with the power of her Domain. She couldn’t seem to take a step without being disrupted in some way. It frustrated her to no end. 

“Agh! Dammit!”

She cursed, feeling like she was being played with. So with that shout, she poured power into her Domain, casting a grand spell comprised of 7 circles. 

More bullets flew over, but all of them were directly blocked by the Domain. It cost her much more energy, but nothing less seemed effective. 

As she cast the spell, she was constantly paying attention to that figure. 

Ivory and Alec were both combing their attacks, and they were putting immense pressure on that figure. He was on the back foot the entire time, but the fact that he could even last a minute was baffling. His combat sense was beyond her comprehension. 

But then, she eyed that sword in his hands. For the most part, its enchantments weren’t being activated. But at some point, when he received enough pressure, she could see them activate. 

When that happened, the sword flickered and disappeared, his arm going with it before appearing across his body, blocking a sneaky blow from Ivory. 

When she saw that, her eyes widened. 

“The Sword of Dissonance! You’re from the Dark Kingdom! Who are you?! Did my father send you?! I refuse to go back! I don’t care if he doesn’t approve of Alec!”

Magenta cried out. She knew about that special sword, one that was stored in the royal treasury of the Dark Kingdom. It was famous for being the strongest Tier 6 sword, a masterpiece even greater than many Tier 7 weapons. And its deceptive nature had long earned it an exemplary battle record by its few wielders. 

But it was as powerful as it was difficult to wield. Not anybody could use that sword because it required great magical comprehension and elemental manipulation, as well as a strong body that could handle its use. After all, if your limb was teleported a short distance, shooting across the folds of space at high speeds, then it would naturally be placed under atrocious pressure and be torn apart. Unless, of course, you could keep yourself together with an equally strong body. 

Who was it that could wield this sword? And how did it get taken out of the treasury? Magenta wasn’t privy to everything, but the reappearance of this sword would surely be big news. 

And because this man was here, she was beginning to think that her father had sent someone for her. 

But, these words of hers also caused the man to stop for just a moment. 

His sudden moves caused Alec and Ivory to be thrown off. Both of their blades glided past him as he stood straight. 

He looked at her before she suddenly heard a laugh. 

“Hehehe, that’s funny. Hey Alec, where the hell did you find this one?”

“No way!”

After the man spoke, Alec suddenly jolted and took of his helmet, looking at the dark figure with wide eyes and a smile.

“Dirk!”

“That is indeed my name.”

Dirk smiled as his armor retracted, revealing his face and suave appearance. Alec’s spear then disappeared as he dashed over. 

“Shut up, asshole! Bring it in!”

“Agh!”

Dirk grunted as Alec scooped him up in a bear hug, squeezing him with all his strength. Dirk had to put in quite a bit of effort to resist. 

When he was finally put down, Dirk took a deep breath before laughing. 

“You’ve gotten stronger.”

“Me? What about you?! Taking on all three of us by yourself?! I was really beginning to think you were sent by Magenta’s dad!”

“And who exactly is her father?”

“He’s a Duke of the Dark Kingdom, Duke Hullen, a dark mage only underneath the Vampire Queen.”

“Well, isn’t that something? I guess you really did beat me that night.”

“That night… Oh! Hehehe, yeah, I did.”

Once he remembered what Dirk was talking about, Alec broke out into a goofy grin. Then, he wrapped his arm around Dirk’s neck. 

“Actually, I had been thinking that you were the biggest winner back then. After all, I wasn’t the one who walked away with the princess! Speaking of, where the hell have you been?!”

“We can talk about that later. I just came to see the two ladies you managed to tangle yourself with.”

“Oh! Right. Let me introduce you. This is Ivory, and this is Magenta. Ladies, this is my friend, Dirk.”

Alec introduced them, Dirk smiling and nodding to both. 

But both seemed wary. Magenta was the first to push past that and nod. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Dirk. If I recall correctly, you are Dirk Strider? You were at the Advent, yes?”

“I was.”

“I see…”

Magenta went quiet, her thoughts complex. 

As for Ivory, she stared at Dirk with wary eyes, barely mustering the will to sheath her sword. 

Dirk glanced over at her, and as he did, Alec spoke. 

“Ivory here is the daughter of the Fourth Prince, making her a granddaughter of Emperor Horizon.”

“The Emperor’s granddaughter? Hey Ivory, do you actually like this guy, or is he blackmailing you? It’s okay, you can tell me the truth.”

“Asshole!”

Dirk dodged a kick after asking Ivory that question, making her smile a bit. 

She spoke with a thoughtful face.

“I wonder.”

“Hey, there are some light spells that can make people fall in love with you. Maybe he cast one of those.”

Dirk spoke as he continued to dodge Alec, who was chasing with a pointed finger. 

“Hey, stop spewing lies! Ivory, don’t be deceived! I would never do such things!”

“Face it Alec, they’re both too pretty for you! Stop casting the spell and face the truth!”

“You’re just jealous of my brilliant charm and pretty face!”

“No no, I like my handsome appearance more. You could never match my maturity.”

Alec and Dirk continued to banter, causing the two ladies on the side to smile and snicker. 

They only stopped when a monster finally disturbed the peace, being dispatched as rapidly as it appeared. After that, they all made their way back to the base where they could properly talk.