448 Entering the Spirit Dimension, An Immediate Battle Upon Entry (1/2)

Day 93 - 8:35 AM - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Quezon

Marking the arrival of the fourth month of the Apocalypse, everyone gathered around the Night Everred Spirit Tree.

Of course, even though knowing that everyone here managed to stay alive in the four months that the world they knew collapsed, they were not here to celebrate. All of them gathered to bid farewell and best wishes for Mark's team that would enter an even more dangerous world.

The people here had already been accustomed to the miracles that occurred in the base. Thus, they did not question the existence of the Spirit Dimension and wanted a glimpse of it. However, after hearing the current state of the Spirit World to those that knew, their eagerness turned into worry.

The Mortal World became enveloped in chaos, and it was already deadly for everyone. For a world filled with magic to face an even worse state, just who knew what danger awaits everyone on that side.

Unfortunately, investigating that side was also crucial to the future of mankind. Mutagen managed to slip into the Spirit Dimension and cause chaos, the opposite was not impossible to happen. In the least, if the investigation succeeded, they would have an advantage against any possible encounter against the infected that came from that side.

Soon, it became noisy. It was because the team that would enter the Spirit Dimension was about to depart.

The team was being led by Mark, Mei, Iola, Abbygale, and Miracle. The first family of the base. On Mark's shoulders were Aephelia and Amihan. Behind them were Pefile, Edzel, Pearl, Spera, Karlene, and Alana. There was also Mara and Janette, who tagged along behind Mark.

All of them wore their armors and equipped their personal weapons.

There were also two large creatures behind as both Chaflar and Gifre were present to serve as transportation and supply carrier for everyone. Logan also tagged along as Aephelia would not be able to control the Mutated Infected while she was in the other dimension.

On the back of Chaflar, Terremillio and his wives were present. If this was just a typical trip into the Spirit Dimension, they might be waving towards the people around. However, they could not do that, mainly because of Teremilio and Felenia.

That was all the members of the team. Along with some of the [Blood Children] that were all currently residing inside containers inside Mark's backpack.

These were all the members that Mark decided to bring into the Spirit Dimension. He actually wanted several more people, however, considering how dangerous it could be, he decided to focus on the strength of the group, while minimizing the number as much as possible.

And thus, he decided on this line-up.

Drowned by the noise of the people around the wishing them a safe journey, everyone was enveloped by the blinding light. Even after they vanished from everyone's sight, the people stayed for a few more minutes before going back to their duties.

***

Inside the Etherial Night Subspace, Mark stood in front while everyone waited behind him. He was checking first if it was safe around Chiyo on the other side of the portal.

Unfortunately, it was surely not a hundred percent safe.

Because of the barren land on the other side of the portal, it was easy to see the surroundings. Although the number of infected on the opposite side was little, many of them were near the Spirit Tree. If they entered carelessly, they would be spotted immediately.

Then, the chance finally came.

”Everyone ready?”

Mark asked.

Everyone, except the little girls and Janette, nodded in response.

Of course, it would be a lie to say that they were not nervous. It was even more apparent to Mara and Pearl. Mark actually wanted to only bring Janette. However, Mara did not want her sister to go alone, which made Mark allow her to come.

With Mark's signal, he jumped into the portal, and everyone else followed behind him.

Entering another dimension, it gave everyone a bit of nauseating sensation. The only one that did not was Spera.

Even with that sensation, Mark did not idle the moment he felt the feeling of stepping on the earth under his feet. He did not wait for everyone else to recover and kicked into a dash.

He pulled Ignis from his scabbard and charged forward the nearby monsters.

The first creature that fell from the sharp blade of Ignis was a black wolf-like creature. Mark could not sense a high concentration of magical energy from the creature, indicating that it could be nothing but an animal living in this dimension. It was infected without a doubt, though. Half of its body was already eaten and rotten.

Mark then charged unto another animal that could not be recognized anymore but bloated of flesh with green colored maggots. The largest one could be seen with its head protruded on a hole at the forehead of the animal. Seeing the maggots, Mark frowned. He immediately conjured a ball or black flame from his left hand and threw it at the animal without hesitation. The animal was just a normal magical creature. The maggots, however, were not ordinary at all.

It made him remember about the insects that Mambabarangs would use to curse their targets. However, he could not be sure about it and would rather not confirm it. He could tell that those maggots were several times more dangerous than the animal itself.

As he burned the animal, Mark almost cursed.

SSCCRREEEEEEEEE!!!

The largest maggot released a screech before exploding. The screech was not ear-piercing or too loud. However, with nothing else making a noise in the area, the sound traveled as if someone shouted on a microphone.

Mark expected all the creatures around to be alerted. That was when he felt some fluctuation surrounding the area around him. When he looked behind him, he could see Amihan using her magic to seclude the sound as much as possible.

Still, while the sound did not travel far, the use of Amihan's ability alerted the other infected nearby.

The worst, the eight feet tall blob of flesh that was around since the time Chiyo awakened was still here. That was one of the infected that charged towards Amihan. However, it was not running. It was rolling its disgusting body down the slope.

Even though the sound it gave as it rolled down was different, Mark could not help but hear an imaginary sound of flesh being squished in his mind.

By this time, everyone had already recovered from the nauseous feeling they had. Seeing the enemies charging towards them, everyone jumped into action.

With Aephelia's command, Gifre charged to stop the rolling blob of flesh.