Unbeknownst to Diru, the Body-Eating Pill was actually the foundational blueprint behind the creation of the EXP Potion. Through exhaustive research, Luna had discovered that the Body-Eating Pill functioned by forcibly siphoning mana into the user’s vessel. By modifying the formula and dampening its destructive side effects, the EXP Potion was born.

For the Asura race, whose bodies are saturated with Dragon Prana, the mana sucked in via this potion is immediately "devoured" and converted into Dragon Prana. However, EXP Potions cannot be used to replenish depleted reserves, as the converted energy is unstable and evaporates almost instantly. The only way to make that energy stick is to immediately channel it into filling the "evolutionary ladder." Essentially, an EXP Potion is a stabilized, domesticated version of the Genesis Pill.

Back on the battlefield, Diru was painfully aware that facing an enemy who had swallowed a Body-Eating Pill was a matter of life and death. Users of this pill would not die even if decapitated, while their strength surged multifold.

The most logical course of action was to retreat and wait for the pill’s effects to wear off or for the user’s body to self-destruct. However, before Diru could issue the order, a massive vortex of mana erupted directly in front of him.

Diru’s eyes widened. A blade of light appeared out of thin air, lunging straight for his face. Fortunately, his raw reflexes allowed him to tilt his head at the very last second—though at the cost of his left earlobe, which was sliced clean off.

Diru leaped back. The 4th Constellation mage he had been fighting had now completely transformed under the pill’s influence. Diru froze; he realized they couldn’t retreat. If he ordered his troops to run now, the Light Mage would hunt them down and butcher the young Asuras one by one with his nonsensical speed. Aside from himself, no Asura in his unit was fast enough to read the enemy’s movements.

The only way forward was to hold the veteran mage off alone, while leaving his men to handle the rest of the human mages.

"Defensive Formation! Retreat slowly while covering each other! Focus on wounding them, don’t force a kill! Watch your comrade’s back!" Diru barked within seconds. The strategy was set; he now had to trust his men’s lives to their own resilience. His focus snapped back to the enemy before him.

"[Vivid Dream: Nakula’s Playground]!"

The Intent Orb glowed before him. Diru instantly deactivated his Body Forging technique and activated his Kekayon Armor. It all happened in the blink of an eye, but in that split second, the enemy had already unleashed three light-blade slashes and two explosive spells. Diru managed to evade, though a few fresh grazes began to mark his body.

Under the influence of the Vivid Dream, Diru moved like the wind—slipping through the gaps in the opponent’s assault and leaving gaping wounds every time he passed. Yet, the wounds on the mage’s body closed almost instantly. Diru remained undaunted; he knew that every regeneration the enemy performed only accelerated their own demise.

The battle raged at a blinding speed, until both figures seemed to vanish from the naked eye. While Diru was technically superior, his attention was divided as he kept watch on his troops behind him.

His fears were realized. The young Asuras were struggling to maintain formation. The theories they had memorized at the training camp seemed to evaporate in the face of brutal battlefield reality. Some were too slow to take cover, leaving fatal openings for the comrades beside them. Casualties began to mount on the Asura side.

Diru tried to assist by firing Brajamusti or Brajadenta at enemies about to finish off his men. However, that distraction came at a high price; his own body took a direct hit that left a gaping wound. The mage in front of him no longer possessed human consciousness; his mind was filled only with a primal instinct to kill Diru.

The fight devolved into a desperate test of survival. The human mages fought like monsters that knew no pain. Though their skin began to peel and their eyeballs burst from the sheer mana pressure, the intensity of their attacks did not waver. Diru began to feel overwhelmed. He was forced to fight an effectively immortal enemy while trying to save a dwindling squad.

Asura regeneration is powerful, but it is useless if their heads are crushed or their bodies turned to dust. The enemy continued to bombard them with high-tier spells that should have drained their mana reserves long ago. Instead, the mana in the area had been completely siphoned into the mages’ bodies until they looked ready to pop. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

The battlefield had turned into a wasteland. Not a single plant remained. The once-rampaging Wolf Rhinos had been reduced to dust and mincemeat. Those that survived had long since fled that hellscape.

A young Asura was sent flying, his body tattered. He tried to control his dying Dragon Prana to mend himself, but another lethal strike was already hurtling toward him. Fortunately, his comrade managed to deflect the attack with a Brajadenta, though he himself was shaking with exhaustion.

Diru’s condition was no better. While he was certain he could survive, he couldn’t bear the thought of returning home with the news that his entire squad had been slaughtered on their first mission.

A massive impact slammed into Diru, throwing him through the remains of a stone cliff until it crumbled into ruins. With his remaining strength, Diru stood, bracing for the next assault. But the attack never came.

Diru looked up and saw his enemy frozen. Slowly, the mage’s body disintegrated into black ash, drifting away on the wind.

The same phenomenon gripped the other mages. One by one, the humans collapsed and died of their own accord, leaving behind charred, withered husks like mummies.

Diru panted, kneeling in the middle of a battlefield that now held only a sickening silence. Out of his twenty-three young warriors, only twelve were still standing—and even they were covered in horrific wounds.

"Captain... did we win?" one of the Asuras asked, his voice raspy.

Diru did not answer. His eyes were fixed on the pile of his fallen soldiers, mingled with the directionless ash of the enemy.